{"id":54403,"date":"2019-12-03T12:39:52","date_gmt":"2019-12-03T17:39:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=54403"},"modified":"2024-04-25T15:10:29","modified_gmt":"2024-04-25T19:10:29","slug":"fake-wills-forged-bibles-lay-claim-to-mark-hopkins-huge-estate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/fake-wills-forged-bibles-lay-claim-to-mark-hopkins-huge-estate.html","title":{"rendered":"Fake Wills & Forged Bibles Lay Claim to Mark Hopkins\u2019 Huge Estate"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry writes about the probate battles over the huge estate left by railroad magnate Mark Hopkins. <\/em>Melissa is a genealogist who has a website, americana-archives.com<\/a>, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When California railroad tycoon Mark Hopkins died in 1878 his estate was the largest inheritable fortune ever in the world. He died intestate and without an heir. His wife Mary was duly appointed administratrix and adopted the son of her maid, which provided an heir.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: Mark Hopkins, American railroad magnate, co-founder of the Central Pacific Railroad. Credit: I.W. Taber; Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

She was dubbed \u201cAmerica\u2019s Richest Widow\u201d by the press, who loved to chronicle her extravagant and eccentric lifestyle. Mary erected mansions and hosted seances. She \u201ccougared\u201d her interior decorator, which resulted in a scandalous marriage.<\/p>\n

Mary died in 1891 and the estate was battled out in probate court between young hubbie and a disinherited son. Mark Hopkins\u2019 estate was later called into question by a swarm of Hopkins hopefuls in the 1920s who turned up with bogus pedigrees, fake wills, and forged Bibles that claimed a genealogical connection to the magnate. The newspaper headlines screamed \u201cA New Gold Rush Is On!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Winston-Salem Journal (Winston-Salem, North Carolina), 15 August 1926, page 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mark Hopkins, the \u201cVanderbilt of the Pacific Slope,\u201d was a true pioneer and a \u201c49er.\u201d He sailed on the ship Pacific<\/em> from New York City on 22 January 1849 to seek his fortune in California. He started the New England Mining and Trading Company with a group of 26 men, who each invested $500 to purchase goods and ship them to California for sale.<\/p>\n

He was one of the \u201cBig Four\u201d that formed the Central Pacific Railroad, along with Leland Stanford, Charles Crocker, and Collis Huntington.<\/p>\n

Mark married his cousin Mary Frances Sherwood on 22 September 1854 in New York City. Their family lineage can be traced back to Mayflower passengers, settlers of Massachusetts Bay Colony and Connecticut.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: Mary Frances Sherwood. Credit: Bancroft Library, U.C. Berkeley.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mary loved romance novels and castles. Mark \u201cliked hard work more than the laziest man liked to loaf.\u201d He was known as \u201cUncle\u201d Mark by his partners, who relied on his even temperament and solid business sense.<\/p>\n

Mark was the anchor for many, including Timothy Nolan, the son of his widowed housekeeper. Timothy became part of Mark\u2019s household early on and he groomed the young lad for business and Harvard. When Mark Hopkins died in 1878, plans for attending college were cancelled and Timothy\u2019s life was altered forever. He would play a convenient role for Mary Hopkins and her financial affairs.<\/p>\n

On 21 May 1878 Mary Hopkins filed a petition in the San Francisco County Court for letters of administration. She received most of her husband\u2019s estate, and a portion was given to brothers Samuel Frederick Hopkins of Michigan and Moses Hopkins of California. She also adopted Timothy Nolan and he became the Hopkins\u2019 official heir.<\/p>\n

Soon after the estate was settled Mary moved into a mansion on Nob Hill, San Francisco, and retained the Herter Brothers firm of New York to decorate her palace. The papers noted \u201cAmerica\u2019s Richest Widow\u201d was living it up large in her fancy mansion and traveling like a princess in her Midland Railway \u201cDrawing Room Car\u201d to New York.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: the Hopkins mansion on Nob Hill, San Francisco, California. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mary told the press that she loved to indulge Timothy with all his desires. She spent $7,000 on rare books on one shopping trip to New York, hoping to encourage Timothy\u2019s reading. Timothy loved his new digs and told the press: \u201cMy room is magnificent, and I just gave Herter carte-blanche, and suits of armor are hung up on the walls, he has made it look like a castle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the courts were swamped with letters from chaps who claimed Hopkins promised to adopt them too, and one Midwest woman lay claim for $1,000,000 that she said the railroad man had promised he would leave for her. This would be just a taste of what would come later.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, North Carolina), 6 March 1927, page 45<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mary encouraged Timothy to do his apprenticeship with Central Pacific Railroad and to marry her niece, Mary Kellogg Crittenden. The couple married on 28 November 1882. For a wedding gift Mary purchased Governor Milton Lathrop\u2019s estate at Menlo Park and named it Sherwood Hall. She hired the Herter Brothers firm again to decorate.<\/p>\n

Herter sent out a young interior decorator from Massachusetts\u2026 I think you know where this is going. Check back tomorrow for Part 2 of this story!<\/p>\n

Note:<\/em><\/strong> Just as an online collection of newspapers, such as GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a>, told the stories of Mark Hopkins\u2019 life, they can tell you stories about your ancestors that can\u2019t be found anywhere else. Come look today and see what you can discover!<\/p>\n

Genealogy:<\/strong><\/p>\n