John Henry Hopkins

John Henry Hopkins (January 30, 1792 – January 9, 1868) was the first bishop of Episcopal Diocese of Vermont and the eighth Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. He was also an artist (in both watercolor and oils), a lawyer, an ironmonger, a musician and composer, a theologian, and an architect who introduced Gothic architecture into the United States.

Early life and education John Henry Hopkins was a descendant of the Hopkins family of England that was conspicuous in the reign of Richard II of England in the fourteenth century. In the reign of William III of England in the seventeenth century Isaac Hopkins was granted an estate in Ireland, where he married Mary Fitzgerald. From them the line of descent runs through the eldest son in two succeeding generations to Thomas Hopkins, who became a merchant in Dublin, Ireland, "dealing both in flour and linen." In April 1791 he married Elizabeth Fitzakerly, "a highly accomplished young bride of sixteen." John's mother was "a skilled musician," an artist with brush and pencil, and a reader of the best literature.

On January 30, 1792, John Henry Hopkins was born in Dublin, the son of Thomas and his wife Elizabeth. He was their only child.

After John was weaned he was sent to Athlone in Ireland to live with his paternal grandmother for several years. She instilled in her grandson the "lesson of daily private prayer," which he kept up the rest of his life. She also taught him to read the Bible, which he also continued the rest of his life.

Moving to Philadelphia In 1801 the family emigrated from Dublin to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Neither parent was religious, but both valued education: Elizabeth Hopkins established a school for girls in Trenton, New Jersey, while continuing her son's education at home. That "education was the leading labor of her life" and "her chief joy." William Paley's writings, and Charles Leslie's Short and Easy Method with the Deists. These writings convinced him that the balance of probabilities lay heavily with the Christian believers. Thus Hopkins adopted and "stoutly maintained" a Christian faith. However, there was no evidence that he would ever feel called to the ministry.

In his late teens Hopkins was one of the best violinists in Philadelphia and belonged to the best amateur orchestra in the city. He also learned to play the cello so that the orchestra, which was well supplied with violins, should have at least one cellist. For some years he was the only solo cellist in Philadelphia. In addition to music, Hopkins was skilled with his "brush and pencil."

Although they brought up their son in "an atmosphere of culture and refinement," Hopkins's parents did not connect themselves with a church until after their son was ordained.

Early careers Hopkins had four careers before he was ordained a priest in the Episcopal Church: working in a counting room, doing art work, working as an ironmaster, and practicing as a lawyer.

Counting-room Hopkins's first career was working in a counting room. However, he did not like this work.

Artist The young scholar found "a more congenial occupation in coloring the plates for the first volume of Alexander Wilson's Birds of America." Hopkins then went into partnership with James O'Hara of Pittsburgh, an Irish immigrant who became the wealthiest man in Pittsburgh. Peace with England in 1815 seriously curtailed the iron business, and the partnership failed. O'Hara initially paid all the indebtedness, but over the years Hopkins repaid his half to O'Hara.

Lawyer After the iron business failed, Hopkins and his wife moved to Pittsburgh, where he taught drawing and painting and his wife taught music. A trip to Greensburg to be a witness in a lawsuit revived Hopkins's interest in becoming a lawyer. In 1816 he borrowed Blackstone's Commentaries and other books from a Greensburg lawyer and studied them. He completed his studies in Pittsburgh, where he was admitted to the bar in April 1819. His law practice was soon the largest in Pittsburgh. Hopkins continued to practice until he gave it up in order to be ordained.

Marriage Hopkins did not encounter a girl who "enlisted his affections" until he met Melusina Mueller, a daughter of Casper Otto Mueller. Mueller had been a wealthy merchant in Hamburg, Germany until the upheavals caused by the Napoleonic wars caused him and his family to flee to America. They embarked on the last ship that left Hamburg before the great embargo, and landed in Baltimore, Maryland. The couple's shared appreciation of "music, art, and culture" brought them together.

On May 8, 1816, in Harmony, a Lutheran pastor, Johann C.G. Schweitzerbarth, united Hopkins and Melusina Mueller (1795–1884) in marriage, with family and a few friends in attendance. Hopkins is attributed to the gothic design of St. Paul Lutheran church in neighboring Zelienople, Pa. The Mueller family were founding members of this church. Hopkins brought Melusina and her sister Amelia back to Hermitage Furnace. Amelia Mueller lived with them and helped raise the children.

Hopkins and Melusina were married fifty-four years and had fourteen children, eleven of whom (three daughters and eight sons) survived to adulthood. The sons were pioneers in the ministry, education, music, medicine, insurance, and journalism, working in New York, Vermont, and San Francisco in the United States, and in South America. As of 1937 their descendants and connections totaled almost 150. Hopkins's "religious awakening" happened during his first winter of work in the Ligonier Valley, during his association with James O'Hara. He was alone, reading a work of Hannah More, when, as Hopkins described it, "a sudden beam of divine Truth shone into his inmost heart." For the rest of his life "the love of Christ Crucified" was Hopkins's "guiding and ruling principle."

This "religious awakening" inspired Hopkins to provide "spiritual help to his workmen." There were no clergy or churches in the area, so Hopkins invited everyone to Sunday services he conducted in his own lodgings. He used the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church and read "the Bible to them, with portions of Scott's Commentary and such sermons as he could obtain, to which were added some simple exhortations of his own."

Trinity Church, Pittsburgh: 1823 In Pittsburgh Hopkins and his wife at first attended the Presbyterian Church, but he was invited to be the organist and choirmaster at Trinity Episcopal Church in Pittsburgh. It was not long before John Henry and Melusina began to receive communion.

Hopkins was soon elected to the vestry. In 1823, when a replacement for the rector could not be found, Hopkins was unanimously elected by the vestry as the rector (in absentia, since he was away at court). He considered the vestry's action "a call from above." He therefore closed his legal practice and applied for admission to Holy Orders. That move reduced his income to sixteen percent of what it had been when he was a lawyer. The parish raised Hopkins's salary from $800 to $1,000, and then to $1,200 a year, but his rapidly growing family made a larger income necessary, so he started a day-school for both girls and boys. He himself led the classes in painting and drawing, and he composed much of the music taught in the school. From 1824 to 1830 he was also a professor of rhetoric and belles-lettres at the Western University of Pennsylvania, now known as the University of Pittsburgh.

In 1824, within a year of Hopkins's becoming rector, the vestry of Trinity Church had built a sanctuary to seat one thousand people. The number of communicants quadrupled, That journey was still notable, for it involved a trip on the very new, 363-mile-long Erie Canal from Buffalo, New York, to Albany, New York. During the journey Hopkins drew thirty-seven watercolor and pencil sketches of the canal, its operation, and communities along the route. Hopkins's long-lost drawings of the canal were accidentally discovered in 2015 in the William L. Clements Library at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

During his tenure at Trinity Church, Hopkins established eight Episcopal churches in the Pittsburgh area, including in Butler, Pennsylvania Grace Episcopal Church in Mercer, Pennsylvania St. Paul's in Erie, Pennsylvania (now the cathedral church of the Episcopal Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania) St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Blairsville, Pennsylvania

Bishop of Vermont Vermont had been a part of the Episcopal Eastern Diocese, under Bishop Alexander Viets Griswold. Griswold was planned to make Vermont an independent diocese. Vermont at that time reported a population of 280,652. Within a year after Hopkins had arrived in Boston as assistant in Boston's Trinity parish, he was elected bishop by the first diocesan convention of Vermont on May 30, 1832. Hopkins accepted his election.

Hopkins was consecrated on October 31, 1832, in Saint Paul's Church, New York. He was consecrated with three other Bishops, namely, those of the Diocese of Ohio, the Diocese of New Jersey, and Diocese of Kentucky. Under his' leadership, the church grew, so three enlargements were required. As he had in Pittsburgh, Hopkins drew the plans and superintended the work. Hopkins retained the two positions of rector and bishop for twenty-seven years.

Almost from the beginning of Vermont's history, younger Vermonters migrated farther west. From 1830 to 1840 the State's population had increased only about 11,000. This migration persisted during all the thirty-six years of Hopkins' episcopate, The 1860 census, the last one taken before his death in 1868, showed that the total increase of the whole of Vermont during the previous ten years, was only nine-hundred and ninety-six people. Some of the places where there were Episcopal Churches decreased in population. Active parishes would sometimes lose of fifty per cent of their communicants, thereby, reducing revenues and discouraging the remaining members.

On December 1, 1834, Hopkins started on a visitation, leaving his whole family in their usual good health. Eight days later, he returned home to find that typhoid fever had invaded his household. The only one who died during that grievous season was his third daughter, Melusina, in her eleventh year.

School for boys and financial ruin Hopkins started a school for boys "as soon as possible." The school was successful from the first. It soon enrolled eighty boys, many coming from Canadian families. Before the spring of 1836, Hopkins had prepared plans for a "vast enlargement" of the school. When the plans were shown to his wife, "her heart misgave her." She implored her husband to be content with the building as it was or "to enlarge on a much more moderate scale." However, Hopkins refused to heed his wife's warning and ended up losing all his property. Hopkins borrowed the money at a bank on a note. The note's endorser was protected by a mortgage on every bit of land then owned by Hopkins in Vermont.

The new buildings were soon built, and they were "almost filled as soon as they were opened." However, in spite of the enlarged school's auspicious beginning, the Panic of 1837 wrecked the enterprise and left Hopkins "penniless." Hopkins decided to seek aid in Great Britain, but was only able to raise a bit more than four thousand dollars. This sum was wholly inadequate, and the school was abandoned. Hopkins had lost all his personal property. He was constrained to depend in part for his support upon the proceeds of lecturing. The indebtedness incurred in building a vastly enlarged school harassed him for many years.

Before the end of 1834, a sheriff's sale was held on the premises. All the furniture needed in the school together with the Library and everything else was sold. The buildings were worth $40,000, and they were sold for a debt of $10,000. A permanent solution for housing came when "kind friends combined to purchase the lot of an hundred acres, which includes nearly the whole of Rock Point. The terms were that Hopkins should have a lease of the land for ten years, paying rent. He also had the right to fell the timber to pay for permanent improvements. The papers were executed on July 17, 1841. The work began at once, and on December 1, 1841 the new house was occupied.

Several years after 1841, there occurred one of the most humiliating experiences of Hopkins' life. He was invited to Boston for a series of lectures. While there, one of his former Burlington creditors had him arrested under a Massachusetts law. The original debt of $8,500 had been paid down until only $1,000 remained. Two friends furnished bail, so the creditor did not succeed in imprisoning Hopkins.

Retrospection in 1853

In 1853, improvement in the diocese had been so great that Hopkins gave a retrospective summary of the twenty years of his Episcopate. (1) The eleven clergymen whom he found in the Diocese on his arrival had been increased to twenty-five. (2) The sixteen Church buildings had become twenty-eight, besides two entirely rebuilt, one much enlarged, and many others greatly improved. (3) The one parsonage had become seven, with others in contemplation. (4) There had been 2,595 confirmations. (5) The property of the Church was generally free from debt. (6) Compared with the population, which had been nearly stationary, Vermont had no reason to be ashamed of her Church strength. (7) Hopkins then spoke of the divisions among the Clergy when he came. But now, there is no "bitterness or dissension."

Plan for reviving the Institute in 1854

Hopkins laid out a plan for reviving the institute before the Diocesan Convention in September 1854. Some of the church people of Burlington thought that their bishop's plan to revive the Institute would again lead to financial ruin. They thought that the kindest act they could do for their bishop would be to render impossible the execution of this new scheme. A paper was therefore prepared, and was passed round privately until it had received the signatures of 28 members of the parish. The paper embodied various reasons for a request with which they concluded:

That sufficient reflection had not been given at the outset That the subscribers had not entertained the thought that it would be seriously undertaken That the times were so hard that they were unable to aid any new object That the enterprise could not obtain means enough anyhow to secure the object aimed at That they doubted the expediency of such an institution even if the money could be had That the parish yet owed $3,200 for the last improvements of the Church in the previous three years, and they could not pay that and aid the Institute plan at the same time. They therefore closed with the request "that the Trustees surrender the subscription thus far made, to those who have subscribed it, and that they abandon all future efforts in the prosecution of the object."

In 1860, Hopkins accepted charge of Trinity Church, Rutland, and raised enough money to build a new church after his own plans. It was finished in 1865. He also drew the plans for the new church building for Thomas & Grace Episcopal Church in Brandon, Vermont.

Retrospection in 1862 At the Diocesan Convention of 1862, thirty years since his episcopate began, Hopkins reported that the number of clergy in the diocese was greater than it had ever been before. There were also six candidates for Orders, a large number for such a small a diocese. The churches had attained a ratio of communicants to population, which placed the Diocese of Vermont ahead of the dioceses of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Ohio, and nineteen other dioceses besides. He reported also, that while there were then twenty-seven states out of thirty-three superior to Vermont in population, there were only sixteen states which exceeded it in the number of communicants, and only seventeen outranked it in the number of the clergy.

Presiding Bishop, 1865 On January 13, 1865, Hopkins became Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church by reason of the death of Bishop Thomas Church Brownell. Hopkins served as Presiding Bishop until his death on January 9, 1868.

During the Civil War, Hopkins had the names of all the Southern bishops called at every vote taken in the House of Bishops. After the end of the War, as the Presiding Bishop, Hopkins played a large role in reuniting the Bishops of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Confederate States of America with the United States Episcopal Church. At the General Convention of October 4–24, 1865 held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Hopkins invited the Southern bishops and delegates to resume their seats in the General Convention. The invitation was accepted. of his diocese to ascertain whether the diocese would pay his expenses. A committee of five laymen was appointed to raise funds to defray the Bishop's expenses and more than enough was raised.

With funds to cover his expenses in hand, Hopkins attended the first Lambeth Conference of Bishops in 1867. The conference was convened upon invitation from the Archbishop of Canterbury. At the insistence of the other American bishops, Hopkins preached the opening sermon. Hopkins had suggested such a Conference to the Archbishop in 1851. During the Conference, he "took an active part in the deliberations." While in England, Hopkins was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Civil Law (D.C.L) by Oxford University.

Return home and death When Hopkins returned home from the Lambeth Conference, he received a warm welcome by the clergy of the diocese at Burlington. On December 1, 1867, he preached for the last time in St. Paul's Church.

During Hopkin's absence at the Lambeth Conference, the enlargement of St. Paul's Church, Burlington had been made, and a new rector had been installed. Thus, Hopkins was relieved from parish work and enabled to spend more time on his episcopal work which included the diocese and the church at large.

On the third day after his return, a meeting of the leading churchmen in Burlington was held. There were two resolutions. One was that money could be raised to relieve Hopkins from pecuniary embarrassment. The other resolution was that Hopkins plan for a School was, "under all the circumstances, impracticable." Furthermore, they said that the diocese required Hopkins' entire episcopal services. If Hopkins agreed to devote himself entirely to his episcopal and parochial duties, his salary would be raised to $2,000. Hopkins closed the school and sent the remaining pupils home.

Although Hopkins was becoming infirm and in spite of opposition from his friends and family, he began making visitations before the end of 1867. At the request of the Bishop of New York, he made a visitation to Trinity Church, Plattsburgh, New York. It was here that Hopkins did his final celebration of Holy Communion, with sermon and Confirmation. The difficult journey to his home on the other side of Lake Champlain involved crossing Lake Champlain, and subjected him to heated railroad cars in Vermont and open sleigh rides in bitter cold. The resultant pneumonia laid Hopkins low on January 9, 1868. He died in the arms of his son Theodore.

The four periods of Hopkin's episcopate

Hopkins' episcopate lasted for thirty-six years. It can be divided into four periods:

First period During the first five years, there was "prosperity, growth and promise" from 1832 to the "failure of the first Vermont Episcopal Institute in 1837," as a result of the financial Panic of 1837.

Second period The second period lasted from 1837 to 1854. The Rockpoint property was purchased, partly cleared, Bishop Hopkins' home was built, and farming was started.

Third period

The six-year third period was "a time of courageous and dogged resilience." It began with the sixty-two-year-old Hopkins going to Boston to give lectures and being arrested for a $1,000. debt incurred by the failure of first Vermont Episcopal Institute in 1837. He "earned money where he could" to raise the $1,000. He solicited contributions "to revive the Institute." He worked three months at the University of the South doing "landscape planning." He "served three days a week as rector of Trinity Church, Rutland, Vermont and he donated his "salary to the Institute."

Fourth period

The eight-year fourth period of Hopkins' episcopate was "a period of climax, success, large prominence and final benediction." This period encompassed Hopkins' 68th to 76th years.

His "diocesan school for boys" prospered. His three daughters were "happily married," two to Episcopal priests. His eight sons were established in various occupations. Three were priests and five were engaged in "church journalism, fire and marine insurance, music, education, and bacteriology." Hopkins' "national influence" was shown by his election as the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. His "international influence" was shown when the Archbishop of Canterbury took his suggestion and assembled the first Lambeth Conference in 1867. Hopkins attended. He died the following January.

Five bishops and fifty other clergy quickly came to St. Paul's Church, Burlington, for the burial. Not since Bishop White's episcopate had any Presiding Bishop gained such a high degree the affections of the Church.

At noon, the procession of five bishops and nearly fifty surpliced clergy from eight dioceses moved down the broad alley of the church towards the porch. The Bishop of Quebec began the service. The body was placed in the midst of the choir, facing the altar. The Bishops of Quebec and Connecticut delivered addresses.

Burial The day of the funeral was comparatively mild, but cloudy. A feathery snow was falling as the white-robed train passed on its winding way to the snow-clad cemetery. They were followed by a large crowd. At the grave, one of the younger clergy took up the Pastoral Staff, to be delivered to the next Bishop.

Monument Hopkins is buried under a monument of an elaborate marble Celtic Cross in the cemetery at Rock Point, which lies near the Vermont Institute. Contributions to the amount of nearly $3,000 poured in from every State in the Union and from nearly every parish in Vermont for the monument. The monument was planned by John Henry Hopkins, Jr.

In response to Hopkins' position, a letter was written by John R. Bolles criticizing Hopkins' justification of slavery. Bolles' letter against Hopkins gave a strong voice of reasoning to the anti-slavery movement.

Although Hopkins came under fire for his views on slavery in the North during the Civil War, he had a key role in uniting the northern and southern Episcopalians after hostilities ended.

Hopkins' views on slavery increased his popularity in the South, but it made for him many influential enemies in his diocese, in Philadelphia and throughout the North. The book "went through several editions." Nothing else that Hopkins ever wrote brought upon him such abuse. However, it is likely that his influence in preventing the Southern schism after the American Civil War was due to his avowal of the views defended in these forty-eight "Letters" to the Bishop of Pennsylvania.

Family On May 8, 1816, John Henry Hopkins married Melusina Mueller, daughter of Casper Otto Mueller, of Harmony, Pennsylvania They had 13 children. Eleven survived to adulthood. Her daughters included pianist Amy Fay, writer Melusina Fay Peirce, and writer Rose Fay Thomas.

2. Matilda Theresa (Mrs. Rev. Dr. Norman W. Camp) Matilda Theresa was born on May 16, 1817, in Derby, Vermont. She died on November 10, 1898, in Maryland. Her husband Norman attended the University of Vermont, Class of 1837 where he earned a Doctor of Divinity degree and was ordained as an Episcopal minister in 1839. He served five churches. He served in the Civil War as a military Chaplain.

3. John Henry, Jr. John Henry Hopkins, Jr., D.D. was born on October 28, 1820, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the University of Vermont in 1839 and from the General Theological Seminary in New York city, in 1850. In 1872, he was ordained an Episcopal priest. In February 1853, he founded the Church Journal and was its editor and proprietor until May 1868. He was noted as a hymn writer. In 1867, he accompanied his father Bishop John Henry Hopkins to the Lambeth Conference. He was ordained priest in 1872. In that year, he became rector of Trinity Church, Plattsburg, New York. In 1873, he published The Life of his Father. In 1876, he became rector of Christ Church, Williamsport, Pennsylvania. In 1885, he delivered the eulogy at the Funeral of President Ulysses S. Grant in 1885. John Henry Hopkins, Jr. died on August 14, 1891, in Hudson, New York, and is buried with his father at Bishop's House, Rock Point.

6. Casper Thomas Caspar Thomas Hopkins was born on May 18, 1826, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was not inclined to the ministry, He tried many occupations. Shortly after his graduation from the University of Vermont in 1847, he started a periodical called The Vermont State Agriculturalist. In 1849, he moved to California to mine for gold. In 1853, he married Almira Burtnett (1828–1875), and they had four children. Caspar finally settled on a career in marine and fire insurance. In 1861, he established the first insurance company on the Pacific coast and served as its president for 35 years until 1884, when he retired on account of impaired health. In addition to numerous magazine articles and pamphlets, he published a civics textbook entitled A Manual of American Ideas. Caspar Thomas Hopkins died on October 4, 1893, of an overdose of morphine which he was taking for pain. In the summer of 1860, Theodore and his wife, Alice Leavenworth Doolittle Hopkins, moved back to Burlington where he held the position of principal of the Vermont Episcopal Institute. He held that position for 21 years before retiring in 1881.

10. William Cyprian William Cyprian was born in Burlington, Vermont, on April 28, 1834. He was an Episcopal Clergyman. He married Julia Gibson Hopkins. He died on January 7, 1910, in Toledo, Ohio.

11. Charles Jerome Charles Jerome Hopkins was known intimately as "Charlie" and professionally as "Jerome." He was born April 4, 1836, in Burlington, Vermont. He soon developed a talent for music. Except for one year at the University of Vermont, he was educated at home. Hopkins became a well-known organist, composer, and musical educator and essayist. He married Sarah Lucinda Lee in 1869, who died October 23, 1876. They had no children.

Jerome lived and worked most of his life in New York, City. For five years, he was a professor at Cooper Union in New York City. He was, also, organist at St. Ann's Church, Brooklyn. Jerome served as editor of several music publications.

Jerome traveled throughout the United States. He gave concerts and lecture-concerts in one hundred and twelve cities. In 1866, he founded and maintained his New York Free Orpheon Choral School for Children. In 1867, he originated piano lecture-concerts for lyceums. He was the first musician in America who trained children to sing Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus." In addition to songs, secular and sacred, two symphonies, and three operas, he has published First Book of Church Music (1860); a class-book of notation study (1865); and Second Book of Church Music (1867).

Hopkins' compositions include:

John and Melusina's golden wedding anniversary In 1866, most of their family gathered at the family home at Rock Point to celebrate their golden wedding anniversary, and their daughter-in-law, Alice Leavenworth Doolittle, published a book to commemorate the event. and Harvard University hold many of the Hopkins' family papers. Hopkins introduced Gothic architecture to the Episcopal Church. Much of his architectural legacy has been lost, including his Gothic Saint Paul's Cathedral in Burlington. It was destroyed by fire in February 1972. However, Saint Paul's Lutheran Church in Zelienople, Pennsylvania, which was built in 1826, still survives.

Works by and about Hopkins During Hopkins' thirty-six years as Bishop of the Diocese of Vermont, he became "one of the nation's most noted (and controversial) clergy persons. He published more than fifty books and pamphlets.

Books Christianity Vindicated in Seven Discourses on the External Evidences of the New Testament (Edward Smith, 1833). The Primitive Creed, Examined and Explained; In two Parts. The First Part Containing Sixteen Discourses on the Apostles' Creed; designed for popular use. The Second Part containing a Dissertation on the testimony of the Early Councils, and the Fathers, from the Apostolic Age to the end of the fourth Century, with Observations on certain Theological Errors of the present day. (Burlington: Edward Smith. 1834). The Primitive Church, compared with the Protestant Episcopal Church of the present day: Being an examination of the ordinary objections against the Church in Doctrine, Worship and Government, designed for Popular use; with a Dissertation on Sundry Points of Theology and Practice, connected with the subject of Episcopacy. (Burlington: Smith & Harrington. 1835). The three above books were "widely circulated, and commanded such respect that Harper Brothers offered to publish any succeeding work from Hopkins' pen, without question. The Vermont Drawing Books in Six Lithograph Numbers, The Vermont Drawing Book of Flowers, and The Vermont Drawing Book of Figures (1838). Sixteen Lectures on the Causes, Principles, and Results of the British Reformation. (James M. Campbell & Co., 1844). History of the Confessional (Harper & Brothers, 1850). The History and Results of the Confessional. (Harper & Brothers, 1850. The End of Controversy Controverted: A Refutation of Milner's "End of Controversy," in a series of letters addressed to the Most Rev. Francis Patrick Kenrick, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Baltimore. In two volumes: Volume One. and Volume Two. Francis Patrick Kenrick, A Vindication of the Catholic Church: In a Series of Letters Addressed to the Rt. Rev. John Henry Hopkins, Protestant Episcopal Bishop of Vermont (J. Murphy, 1855). The American Citizen: His Rights and Duties (Pudney & Russell, 1857. A Scriptural, Ecclesiastical and Historical View of Slavery, from the Days of the Patriarch Abraham to the Nineteenth Century: Addressed to The Rt. Rev. Alonzo Potter, D.D., Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in the Diocese of Pennsylvania. (W. L. Pooley and Co. 1864). The book "went through several editions." The book "elicited several replies" because of Hopkins'supposed "misuse of the Sacred Scriptures" exposed by a Clergyman of the Protestant Episcopal Church. A Letter to the Bishops and Delegates of the Protestant Episcopal Church now assembled at Montgomery (1861). This is a Letter to G. M. Wharton, etc., in reply to a requested Hopkin's Views on the Aspect of Slavery. Hopkins' Letter on Slavery elicited several replies. One claimed that Hopkins "ripped up" and "misused" the Sacred Scriptures exposed by a Clergyman of the Protestant Episcopal Church. "Review of a Letter from Hopkins on Bible View of Slavery by a Vermonter. (Free Press Print, 1861). The Bibliography of Vermont: or A List of Books and Pamphlets Relating in Any Way to the State. With Biographical and Other Notes. Autobiography in Verse,1866). The History of the Church in Verse (W. I. Pooley, 1867). A Candid Examination of the Question Whether the Pope of Rome is the Great Antichrist of Scripture (Hurd and Houghton, 1868). The book "was noted for its entire fairness and great dignity".

Unpublished writings The above listing of Hopkin's published does not include "Communications to the Daily or Weekly Press" of works left in Manuscript form, or of "incomplete or of unprinted Sermons of which the number left is very great."