John Hopkins

Thirtieth Mayor of the City of Chicago (1893-95)

The first Irish Catholic Mayor of Chicago, John Patrick Hopkins was elected to carry out the remainder of Carter Harrison's term after he was assassinated. Before being elected, Hopkins had been paymaster under George Pullman.

During his term he went after Charles Tyson Yerkes, called off raids on brothels, and fought to make railroads safer for pedestrians.¹

However, he also created a dummy corporation for a municipal franchise, called Hopkin's Ogden Gas. It was chartered by the city council on February 25, 1895. Businessmen desiring to use this franchise, then, had to buy out the dummy corp at a very high price.²

Footnotes

1. Merriner, James L. Grafters and Goo Goos. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2004. Pg 63-4

2. Merriner 66