{"id":103246,"date":"2025-06-26T09:46:47","date_gmt":"2025-06-26T13:46:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=103246"},"modified":"2025-07-10T12:22:23","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T16:22:23","slug":"mayflower-descendants-whos-who-part-48-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/mayflower-descendants-whos-who-part-48-part-2.html","title":{"rendered":"Mayflower Descendants: Who\u2019s Who, Part 48 (part 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction:<\/em><\/strong> In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry continues her series on Mayflower descendants, again featuring the Hopkins family line. Melissa is a genealogist who has a website, americana-archives.com<\/a>, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Today I continue my series on \u201cMayflower Descendants: Who\u2019s Who,\u201d again featuring a group of California pioneer families.<\/p>\n

Here are portraits of railroad tycoon Mark Hopkins (1813-1878) and his wife Mary Frances (Sherwood) Hopkins (1818-1891), direct descendants of Mayflower<\/em> passengers William Bradford, Thomas Rogers, John Alden, and Priscilla Mullins.<\/p>\n

\"Illustrations:
Illustrations: Mark and Mary Hopkins. Credit: UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library Collections.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Part one<\/a> ended with some early genealogy and history published in a New York newspaper about one of my subjects: Mark Hopkins, the millionaire railroader and one of the five children born to Mark Hopkins Sr. (1779-1828) and Anastasia Lukens (Kellogg) Hopkins<\/a> (1780-1837).<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: Mark Hopkins. Credit: UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library Collections.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Some of Mark\u2019s siblings died young. However, Samuel Frederick Hopkins (1803-1884) married and left many descendants which I will cover in another story. I hope to have photos of his family which I requested from the archives.<\/p>\n

Another brother, Moses Hopkins (1817-1892) was a successful rancher and horse breeder in California. Below is a daguerreotype of Moses sporting a handsome goatee.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: Moses Hopkins. Credit: UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library Collections.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mark Hopkins married his first cousin Mary Frances Sherwood, daughter of William Sherwood (1786-1871) and Lydia Ann (Kellogg) Sherwood (1793-1865).<\/p>\n

Below is a daguerreotype of Mary taken in 1850.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: Mary Frances (Sherwood) Hopkins. Credit: UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library Collections.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A diary from one of Mary\u2019s contemporaries discloses a luxurious lifestyle complemented by charitable activities. Amidst the elegant gatherings and shopping excursions, the Hopkins women and their social circle engage in numerous philanthropic endeavors. I found several hefty donations made on behalf of Mrs. Hopkins and her relations. One was with the Chinese Mission School.<\/p>\n

I return to one of my articles from 2019 entitled \u201cDiary of Young Girl Recalls Gilded Age<\/a>,\u201d describing life in the Menlo Park, California, estate \u201cSherwood Hall\u201d owned by the Hopkins family.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: Thurlow Lodge, later renamed Sherwood Hall, Menlo Park, California. Credit: Stanford University, Department of Special Collections and University Archives.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The diary was written by Isabella Cass (1857-1932) of Great Barrington, Massachusetts, who stayed at Sherwood Hall in 1884-1885. Accompanying Isabella was Mary \u201cMay\u201d Kellogg Crittenden, niece of Mary Hopkins and the future wife of Timothy Nolan Hopkins, Mary\u2019s adopted son. I covered May\u2019s lineage in part one. Below is a photo of her from the diary book.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: Mrs. Timothy Hopkins, born Mary \u201cMay\u201d Kellogg Crittenden. Credit: UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library Collections.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Isabella was the daughter of Dr. Jonathan and Mary (Peet) Cass. Her family had connections with the Hopkins in their California missionary work. Isabella attended the Rose Cottage Seminary, also known as \u201cMiss Kellogg\u2019s School,\u201d run by Mary and Mark Hopkins\u2019 aunts Nancy and Mary Kellogg. The two sisters were daughters of Lieutenant Ezra Augustus and Mary \u201cPolly\u201d (Whiting) Kellogg.<\/p>\n

\"Photos:
Photos: Nancy Kellogg (left) and Mary Kellogg. Credit: \u201cThe Hopkins Hoax,\u201d Helen Kincaid, 1972.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In her diary for Thursday, 19 February 1885, Isabella records:<\/p>\n

\u201cHad a nice letter from Mother [Mary (Peet) Cass] and Mrs. Frank Whiting, telling me of the Chinese Missions in San Francisco.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Mrs. Frank Whiting, born Harriett W. Curtis, married Francis \u201cFrank\u201d Whiting. He is the son of John<\/a> and Hannah (Kellogg) Whiting and cousin to Mary Hopkins.<\/p>\n

Below are their photos, published in Isabella\u2019s diary transcription.<\/p>\n

\"Photos:
Photos: Frank and Harriett (Curtis) Whiting. Credit: UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library Collections.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In her diary for Thursday, 5 March 1885, Isabella writes:<\/p>\n

\u201cTook the cable car up Calif. St. to Mrs. Hopkins [at Nob Hill estate]. Found May in her lovely \u2018pompadour room,\u2019 she went with me across to Sacramento Street till we found the Chinese Mission. I inquired about Miss [Margaret] Culbertson, of whom Mrs. Frank Whiting had written to me.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here is a photo of Margaret Culbertson, daughter of Samuel C. and Nancy (Johnson) Culbertson of New York.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: Margaret Culbertson. Credit: UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library Collections<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I found a newspaper clip on Miss Culbertson assisting one of her charges, a young Chinese girl named Fong Ping.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
San Francisco Bulletin (San Francisco, California), 29 August 1889, page 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This article reports:<\/p>\n

A Chinese Slave.<\/p>\n

The Efforts of Highbinders to Get Possession of Her.<\/p>\n

A Chinese girl named Fong Ping was taken before Judge Rearden yesterday afternoon on a writ of habeas corpus sued out by Ah Wong, who claimed her as his wife. The girl was recently rescued from a degraded life and placed in charge of Miss Margaret Culbertson, matron of the Chinese Mission Home. When Miss Culbertson started from the Home on Sacramento Street to take the girl to the courtroom, a party of highbinders [thugs from Chinese Americana criminal gangs] attempted to capture Fong, but they were frustrated by the presence of Officer Holbrook. Judge Rearden granted a continuance of the hearing until next Tuesday on motion of the attorney for petitioner. As Miss Culbertson was leaving the courtroom with her charge and had scarcely reached the sidewalk, the highbinders made another attempt to capture the girl. But Miss Culbertson had taken the precaution to intimate to the police that she feared such an attempt would be made, and the highbinders were met by two officers who dealt Wong a blow that laid him out on the sidewalk. The matron, girl, and Attorney Ruef then boarded a McAllister Street train and reached the Mission Home in safety. Wong says he is married to the girl and considers her worth $1,700.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Returning to Isabella\u2019s diary:<\/p>\n

\u201cShe [Culbertson] took us to the school room, and introduced us to Miss Cable, the teacher there. We saw a small room with the rows of desks, and the Chinese girls studying.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: Miss Cable and her class of Chinese girls. Credit: UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library Collections.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cOne little thing, five years old, sat at the front desk near up, she was very bright and cunning, she read very well, as did a class of older girls. One, Ah Yoke, who Mrs. Whiting supports, writes beautifully.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother Chinese child had been deserted on board ship, and the officers had brought her there [Chinese Mission Home] also. They sang for us, and I was much interested in them and their teacher.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter luncheon, I went down into the city to an art store, also to the Palace Hotel to see Madam Grand Jean, but she had gone \u2013 but saw Mrs. Rathbone in her pretty room.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Stay tuned for more from the diary, including intel about Mrs. Rathbone and her husband, who was Mary Hopkins\u2019 horse breeder and confidant.<\/p>\n

Explore over 330 years of newspapers and historical records in GenealogyBank. Discover your family story! Start a 7-Day Free Trial<\/a><\/p>\n

Note on the header image:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cMayflower in Plymouth Harbor,\u201d by William Halsall, 1882. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.<\/p>\n

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