Hopkins Family letters

Erastus Hopkins (1810-1872) of Northampton, Massachusetts, was a Presbyterian minister, founding member of the Free Soil Party, and a legislator for Massachusetts on Beacon Hill. He was born on April 7, 1810 to John and Lydia Hopkins, and attended Boston Latin School and then Phillips Andover Academy. He graduated from Dartmouth College and then attended Andover and Princeton Theological Schools. At 23, he became the Secretary of the Colonization Society of America. He married Sarah Bennett in 1834. Their son, William Swinton, was born in 1837. Sarah Bennett died of pleurisy in 1837, followed two days later by their newborn daughter. Erastus married Charlotte Freylingheusen Allen in 1841. Hopkins was also founding president of the Connecticut River Railroad, and an active agent of the Underground Railroad. Hopkins died in 1872 of "paralysis." He had nine children; six of whom predeceased him. Hopkins' house still stands at 101 King Street, Northampton, Mass.