George Washington HOPKINS, Congress, VA (1804-1861)

HOPKINS, George Washington, a Representative from Virginia; born near Goochland Court House, Goochland County, Va., February 22, 1804; attended the common schools; taught school; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1834 and commenced practice in Lebanon, Va.; member of the State house of delegates 1833-1835; elected as a Jacksonian to the Twenty-fourth Congress, as a Democrat to the Twenty-fifth Congress, as a Conservative to the Twenty-sixth Congress and as a Democrat to the Twenty-seventh through the Twenty-ninth Congresses (March 4, 1835-March 3, 1847); chairman, Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads (Twenty-eighth and Twenty-ninth Congresses); was not a candidate for reelection in 1846 to the Thirtieth Congress; appointed by President Polk Chargé d’Affaires to Portugal and served from March 3, 1847, to October 18, 1849; again a member of the State house of delegates in 1850 and 1851; member of the State constitutional convention of 1850 and 1851; judge of the circuit court of Washington and other counties; elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-fifth Congress (March 4, 1857-March 3, 1859); chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs (Thirty-fifth Congress); was not a candidate for renomination in 1858 to the Thirty-sixth Congress; resumed the practice of law in Abingdon, Va.; again elected to State house of delegates and served from 1859 until his death in Richmond, Henrico County, Va., March 1, 1861; interment in Sinking Springs Cemetery, Abingdon, Va.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present