Johns Hopkins

From DAS Wiki

Johns Hopkins: residential addresses

1813-1873

1851 annotated detail from Sidney & Neff, Plan of the City of Baltimore, https://lccn.loc.gov/2004629026

It is uncertain what  year Johns Hopkins came to live with his Quaker Uncle, Gerard T. Hopkins to learn the grocery business. Some sources indicate he was seventeen which would bring him to Baltimore in 1812, two years before his father Samuel died.  He was in Baltimore by September 17, 1813  when he was received into the Lombard Street Meeting, and that is more likely the year in which he arrived in Baltimore to stay, 12 months before the British attack on the City.

Swarthmore College, Minutes, 1794-1883, Baltimore Yearly Meeting Minutes, RG2/B/S361, 3.7

https://exhibits.library.jhu.edu/omeka-s/s/johnshopkinsbiographicalarchive/item/2864

(1) 1813-1820

Pratt Street

1813: Johns Hopkins  went to live with his uncle and aunt, Gerard T.  and Dorothy Hopkins, staunch Quakers.  There he resided for about seven years to learn the trade of grocer.

  • According to Helen Thom, at  the South River school he was known as “Johnsie Hopkins,” a name that he apparently was known by only to his family and servants after he moved to Baltimore.  See Thom, p. 12, and p. 60.  Pietila, Antero. The Ghosts of Johns Hopkins: The Life and Legacy That Shaped an American City. 2018) uses "Johnsie" as the title of a chapter about Johns Hopkins career in Baltimore. It is possible that he was known by his family as 'Johnsie'. There was another contemporary Hopkins in Baltimore County that is listed on the  tax records as "Johnzey” to distinguish him from his father, Johns Hopkins, the part owner of Friend’s Discovery.

1816: Gerard T Hopkins, merchant, 1 County Wharf, dw  78 W Pratt

1819: J[G]erard T. Hopkins grocer, 1 County wharf dw 78 Pratt

(2) 1820-1832/33

Baltimore Street

1820-1832: Johns Hopkins lived at Beltz[h]oover’s Hotel, Baltimore Street, until he contracted Cholera.  

Beltzhoover’s Hotel was a fashionable place to stay.

  • Henry Clay stayed there in March of 1829.
  • “Between his unsuccessful stints in the Army and at West Point, [Edgar Allen] Poe spent a few months in 1829 sharing a room with his cousin at the Beltzhoover’s Hotel on the corner of Hanover and Baltimore streets.”
  • The German Society of Maryland met regularly at Beltzhoover’s Hotel “southeast corner of Baltimore and Hanover streets.  It was also called “Indian Queen” Hotel, and celebrated in its days.

1831 directory: Beltzhoover,  Geo. proprietor of Indian Queen Hotel, SE corner Hanover and w Baltimore sts

  1. Hopkins Bros, grocers 5 W Pratt [no residence]
  2. Hopkins Saml, comm. mercht.; dw 31 n Charles st
  3. Hopkins Gerard T. &l Co. grocers, 3 and 4 Light
  4. st wharf; dw Gerard T. cor Hanover & Barre
  5. Hopkins & Brothers, grocers, 5 w Pratt st
  6. BC Directory, 1831

1822 directory: Gerard T. Hopkins, Grocer, sw corner of Pratt and Light Street, dw 78 Pratt

1822 directory: [no entry for Johns Hopkins]

  1. Hopkins, Nicholas, hatter, 71 Pratt
  2. Hopkins & Moore, grocers, Pratt st. whf. N side W of Calvert st.
  3. Hopkins, Greenbury, coach maker, Liberty, E side N of McElderry, o t .
  4. Hopkins, Jumes, cordwainer, rear of 2 Low, o t
  5. Hopkins, Grace, Great York, S side E of Lloyd, o t
  6. Hopkins, Gerard T. grocer, SW corner of Pratt & Light st. whf. dw. 78 Pratt
  7. Hopkins. William, grocer, SW corner of Pratt st & Light st. whf dw. 80 Pratt
  8. Hopkins, Solomon, cabinet maker, William's alley, S side E of Spring-st. o t
  9. Hopkins,Richard, currier, 51 S Calvert, dv/. 69 Pitt, o t
  10. Hopkins, Sarah, widow, Pitt, N side W of Aisquith, o £
  11. *Hopkins, Hager, laundress, Garden, E side S of Biddle
  12. *Hopkins, Charles, drayman, Hartford, E side S of the intersection of Hartford and Aisquith, o t

1827 directory: [no entry for Johns Hopkins]

  1. Hopkins Bros, [no dw], see: https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/000001/000491/html/am491--135.html
  2. Hopkins Richard, grocer, E side of Reisterstown road, 6 of intersection of Cove
  3. Hopkins & Brothers, grocers and commission merchants, 5 Pratt "st wharf
  4. Hopkins John, 24 Fell st
  5. Hopkins mrs. Ann, Potter, W side, S of N Gay
  6. Hopkins Gerard T. 8c Moore, SE corner Pratt and Light
  7. Hopkins Gerard T. (firm of Hopkins &. Moore) dw 78 Pratt

1829 directory:

  1. Hopkins and Brothers grocers, 5 Pratt st whf [no residence]: see: https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/000001/000524/html/am524--160.html
  2. Hopkins mrs Sarah, cor of Comet and Pitt
  3. Hopkins mrs Ann, seamstress, Bond near Fleet
  4. Hopkins mrs Eliza, French w of totter
  5. Hopkins miss Emily, cor of Baltimore and East
  6. Hopkins Gerard T. & co. merchants, 1 Light st whf
  7. Hopkins Gerard T. of the firm of G T. Hopkins & Co. Hanover second door from Barre
  8. Hopkins Thos. cabinet maker, Pratt w of Hanover
  9. Hopkins Wm. L. flour and commission merchant, cor Light and Conway, dw Barnet near Charles
  10. Hopkins Jas. cordwainer, Caroline near Pratt
  11. Hopkins Jas. currier, High near Water
  12. Hopkins Greenbury, coach maker, East N of Douglas
  13. Hopkins Rich'd, cordwainer, Jefferson E of Aisquith
  14. Hopkins and Brothers grocers, 5 Pratt stwhf
  15. Hopkins J. & G. curriers 63 s Calvert
  16. *Hopkins Cato, labourer, Salisbury st near Harford run [Free Black]
  17. *Hopkins Matilda, shop beeper, Saratoga E of Cove [Free Black]
  18. *Hopkins Hannah, laundress, Davis near Bath [Free Black]

(3) 1832-1840

Franklin Street

According to Helen Thom, Johns Hopkins Resided at Belshoover’s [Beltzhoover Indian Queen Hotel] until he suffered an attack of Cholera and  moved “to one of two houses on Franklin …  left to him by his father, taking his two brothers with him.”   In fact Johns Hopkins bought two houses on Franklin Street, east of St. Paul in June 1833 and sold them to his mother Hannah in December 1842, by which time he was living at his new rental address, 177 Lombard Street, the former Dr. Peter Macaulay mansion.

1835/36 directory: Hopkins & brothers, grocers, 6 Pratt st wharf, dw J. Hopkins, Franklin st 2d door from St Paul

  • see: https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/000001/000493/html/am493--146.html
  • see:  https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/000001/000492/html/am492--94.html
  1. Hopkins Wm. L. corner Calvert and Pratt sts
  2. Hopkins Jerard J. dry goods mt. IS Centre Market space
  3. Hopkins Samuel, mt. Bowly's wf. dw St Paul st n of Mulberry
  4. Hopkins Wesley, tailor, Jew alley n of Dutch
  5. Hopkins miss Charlotte, corner Pitt and L. Comet sts
  6. Hopkins Samuel, Biddle st e of Penn avenue
  7. Hopkins James, corner Exeter and Granby sts
  8. Hopkins T. W. & G. grocers and Commission merchants, corner Pratt st and Light st wharf
  9. Hopkins Samuel, firm Matthews and Hopkins, dw St Paul st e side, 3 doors s of Franklin
  10. Hopkins Grace R. n w corner Baltimore and East sts
  11. Hopkins Edward, shoemaker, 11 Thomsen st
  12. Hopkins Wm. M. dry goods merchant, 101 Baltimore st
  13. Hopkins James, watchman, Bond st n of Wilk
  14. Hopkins Bazil B 77 Lombard st
  15. Hopkins G. T. dvv Barre st near Sharp
  16. Hopkins Johns, Franklin st near St. Paul's lane
  17. Hopkins Thomas, pilot, Wolf st n of Thames
  18. Hopkins Richard, broker, 39 Albemarle st
  19. Hopkins &. brothers, grocers, 6 Pratt st wharf, dw J. Hopkins
  20. Franklin st 2d door from St Paul
  21. tHopkins Hannah, Davis st near Pleasant [Free Black]

1837 directory: Johns Hopkins’ residence- Franklin Street  e St. Paul [note: the addresses on Franklin east from St. Paul were in the 9th Ward in 1840, and in the 8th by 1842].

https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/000001/000489/html/am489--172.html

In 1840, Johns Hopkins moved to a rental house on Sharp Street, apparently renting out the Franklin Street properties.

(4) 1840-1842

Sharp Street

This image is taken from a kmz file that places the 1851 Poppleton Map of Baltimore on Google Earth Pro.  The faint yellow lines are the streets as of 2021.

1840-1842 directories: Johns Hopkins, firm Hopkins & Brothers, dw e side Sharp st 4 doors s of German  

1840:

  • In 1840 Johns Hopkins also acquired a county estate, Clifton,  at an auction by the trustees of Henry Thompson.  He resided there in the summers, and created a park-like setting for a mansion he remodeled  according to plans by  Architect John Niernsee (ca. 1850-1852) and his partner, James Crawford Neilson.
  • In 1840 (possibly as early as late 1839) Johns Hopkins moved to a rental on Sharp Street.  From the Sharp Street address in April of 1840, he wrote his mother inviting her to come to Baltimore.  By late 1842 she was in Baltimore and Johns Hopkins had rented the mansion built by Dr. Peter Macaulay at what was then 177 Lombard Street to accommodate her and his two sisters.
  • According to the 1840 Census, submitted in November of 1840,  the Sharp Street residence was in the 9th Ward and consisted of 7 individuals, of whom two were “free colored persons” and one a slave between the age of 10and 24.  In the tax lists for the 9th Ward compiled by September 1841,  Johns Hopkins owned no slaves at Sharp Street.  He had furniture, plate, two horses and a carriage, assessed at $1600.  None of his immediate neighbors (some who were his future Trustees for the Hospital and the University)  owned slaves, but nearby L. Collins Lee was taxed for Martha (age 20) and William (age 14), assessed for a total of $525.  Who owned the slave noted on the 1840 census and whether or not he had been acquired for the purpose of setting him free, has yet to be determined, but it is possible given the ages of the two white men in the household, that the younger male was Johns Hopkins’s brother who was disowned by the Courtland Street Orthodox Friends meeting for owning slaves in 1839.  
  • In 1842 the tax ledger for Baltimore City still places the Sharp Street residence in Ward 9, even though the Wards had been re-drawn.  In that year all of Johns Hopkins’s properties in the city are listed in Ledger 4, f. 144 and he is not taxed for any slaves.  His brother Samuel, whose entry follows that of Johns Hopkins, however is, which means that following Samuel’s being read out of the Orthodox meeting for selling liquor and owning slaves in 1839, he continued to do so.

1842 Ledger 4 of Property and Taxes due, excerpt f.144

note  Samuel’s slave assessed at $375

(5) 1843/1850

Lombard Street

The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, Maryland, 06 Mar 1850, Wed  •  Page 3

detail from Lloyd’s Elevated Building Map, ca. 1891

1843:  177 Lombard Street-  According to Helen Thom, Johns Hopkins “bought a large house on Lombard Street, the second door east of Sharp Street” where he brought his mother, Hannah (b. 19 May 1774 –d.  25 November 1846), and two sisters, Hannah and Eliza to live with him.  In fact Johns Hopkins rented Dr. Macaulay”s Lombard Street House just around the corner from Sharp Street.

1845: dw 177 W Lombard

1847/48: Johns Hopkins, dw 177 w Lombard st

1849/51 directory: dw 177 w Lombard

1850: Baltimore Sun article about late residence of JH on Lombard Street

1851 BC Directory,  compiled in 1850: Johns Hopkins, dw 177 W Lombard

(6) 1851/1873

Saratoga Street

81 Saratoga Street (later 18 Saratoga), detail from 1869 Sachse Birds Eye view of Baltimore.

1851: In 1851 Johns Hopkins purchased 81 Saratoga Street for $50,000 on an installment plan from the Widow of Richard Dorsey.  It would remain his city home for the rest of his life, dying there on Christmas Eve, 1873.  According to the surviving tax records for Baltimore City from 1850-1864, Johns Hopkins was not taxed for owning slaves.

1860: BC Dir:

  • Hopkins Johns, president Merchants' Bank, 81 Saratoga
  • Hopkins Johns, office Commercial Buildings, n e cor Gay and Lombard, dw 81 Saratoga
  • Hopkins Joseph J. hardware merchant, 15 n Howard, dw Baltimore Co

1868/69: President Merchants Bank, office Commercial Bldg, dw 81 Saratoga

1873/12/24: Johns Hopkins died at his Baltimore residence, 81 Saratoga Street and was buried in Greenmount Cemetery

Johns Hopkins’ grave, Greenmount Cemetery, 6/30/2021, courtesy of David Papenfuse

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