James Herron Hopkins
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James Herron Hopkins (November 3, 1831June 17, 1904) was a Democratic member of the
U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
representing the
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
area in
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
.


Education and career

James H. Hopkins was born in
Washington, Pennsylvania Washington is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Pennsylvania. A part of the Greater Pittsburgh area in the southwestern part of the state, the city is home to Washington & Jefferson College and Pony League baseball. The populat ...
. He attended the common schools and was graduated from Washington College (now
Washington and Jefferson College Washington & Jefferson College (W&J College or W&J) is a private liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania. The college traces its origin to three log cabin colleges in Washington County established by three Presbyterian missionaries to ...
) in Washington in 1850. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1852 and practiced in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
, for twenty years. He was also engaged in banking, manufacturing, and mining. For several years he served as vice president of the Pittsburgh chamber of commerce. Hopkins was an unsuccessful candidate for election in 1872. He was elected as a Democrat to the Forty-fourth Congress. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1876. He was again elected to the Forty-eighth Congress. He served as the chairman of the
United States House Committee on Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...
during the Forty-eighth Congress. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1884.


Interstate Commerce

He introduced the first (successful) bill implementing federal regulations on interstate commerce in 1872. Originally a supporter of such centralized power the oil lobby led by
Standard Oil Standard Oil Company, Inc., was an American oil production, transportation, refining, and marketing company that operated from 1870 to 1911. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co-f ...
unsuccessfully fought the measure.
Muckraker The muckrakers were reform-minded journalists, writers, and photographers in the Progressive Era in the United States (1890s–1920s) who claimed to expose corruption and wrongdoing in established institutions, often through sensationalist publ ...
Ida Tarbell Ida Minerva Tarbell (November 5, 1857January 6, 1944) was an American writer, Investigative journalism, investigative journalist, List of biographers, biographer and lecturer. She was one of the leading muckrakers of the Progressive Era of th ...
cites Hopkins in many of her works and speeches


Retirement

After his time in Congress, he engaged in the practice of law in
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
He died at his summer home at
North Hatley, Quebec North Hatley is a village of 675 people (2021 Census), located at the north end of Lake Massawippi. It is part of the Memphrémagog Regional County Municipality in the Eastern Townships region of Quebec, Canada, also known as Estrie or Cantons de ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, in 1904. He was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C.


References


Sources


The Political Graveyard
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hopkins, James H. 1831 births Washington & Jefferson College alumni 1904 deaths Pennsylvania lawyers Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania 19th-century American politicians Burials at Oak Hill Cemetery (Washington, D.C.)