James C. Hopkins (lawyer)

James Campbell Hopkins (April 27, 1819 – September 3, 1877) was an American lawyer and politician from New York and Wisconsin.

Life

Born in Pawlet, Vermont, Hopkins read law and was admitted to the bar in 1845. He was in private practice in Granville, New York from 1845 to 1853, and was Postmaster of Granville from 1850 to 1855. He was a member of the New York State Senate (13th D.) in 1854 and 1855. He practiced law in Madison, Wisconsin from 1856 to 1870.

On July 9, 1870, Hopkins was nominated by President Ulysses Grant to a new seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin created by 16 Stat. 171. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on July 9, 1870, and received his commission the same day. While on the bench, he was a professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School in Madison from 1876 to 1877. Hopkins served on the bench until his death, in 1877, in Madison.

His daughter Jessie married Nathan Smith Davis, Jr., a physician and later dean of Northwestern University's Medical School.

Sources

• James Campbell Hopkins at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.