The Adams County Historical Society and the managers of Lincoln Cemetery announced in October 2025 that they would restore the Jack Hopkins House and turn it into a black history museum. Why did prominent historians in town choose the Jack Hopkins house? As various articles explain, the house itself is possibly the last edifice in the town and county built by a free black man in the antebellum period. But beyond that, the Hopkins family has its own fascinating history that intertwines with the Underground Railroad, the battle, the war, and civil rights.

Early Life and Background

John “Jack” Hopkins was born in 1806 in Maryland, though it is unclear whether he was born enslaved or free. By the early 1840s, he had arrived in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where he met and married a local African American woman named Julia Ann (maiden name unknown). In 1847, Pennsylvania (now Gettysburg) College hired Jack as its first Black employee – the steward and janitor responsible for cleaning classrooms, tending fireplaces, raising the flag, and ringing the college bell. Jack’s reliability and character earned him deep respect on campus; students dubbed him the “Vice President” of the college in acknowledgment of his importance.

In 1857, Jack and Julia purchased a modest one-story frame house at 219 South Washington Street, a log home built in the 1840s. Notably, they bought this property from Abraham Brian, a Black Gettysburg resident known for his role in the Underground Railroad. (Recognize Abraham Brian? The sale of his house allowed him to move to a small farm that is now preserved at the center of the day 3 fighting. Not only was Brian a conductor on the Underground Railroad, he was the widower of Catherine Payne who had endured a horrific kidnapping after being manumitted. Her legal cases eventually led to her permanent freedom.) Jack and Julia would go on to raise a family of at least three children: John Edward Hopkins, their eldest son, and two younger children, Wilson Hopkins and Mary Hopkins. The Hopkins house on South Washington Street became a home base for the family, though Jack’s job eventually provided them housing on campus as well.

A Free Black Family in Pre–Civil War Gettysburg

Jack and Julia Hopkins were part of a small community of free Black families in Gettysburg before the Civil War. In the mid-19th century, Gettysburg’s African American population numbered around 200, and people like the Hopkinses played central roles in that community’s life. Jack’s position at the college afforded the family a degree of stability and prominence. By 1860, the college built a new two-story brick residence for Jack on campus (near Pennsylvania Hall), which he occupied with Julia and their two sons at that time. This campus home, originally a washhouse in the 1830s, was tucked behind the main college building – a humble dwelling, but one closely integrated into campus life. Because Jack himself was illiterate (the 1850 census noted he could not read or write, and his will is signed only with an X), little written record exists of his personal voice. Yet the esteem in which he was held speaks volumes. Faculty and students saw him as far more than a janitor; he was a beloved figure whose “uniform and gentlemanly deportment” left a lasting impression.

Off campus, the Hopkins family was active in Gettysburg’s Black social life and networks. Jack Hopkins is reported to have assisted freedom seekers moving along the Underground Railroad – unsurprising given that the prior owner of his Washington Street house, Abraham Brian, was himself an Underground Railroad conductor. The Hopkins home was also a social center. One newspaper noted a “Grand Fancy Ball” hosted at John Hopkins’ residence on July 4, 1860 – an event suggesting the Hopkinses’ standing in the Black community. In an era when opportunities for African Americans were limited, Jack and Julia’s ability to own property and cultivate a respected family life in Gettysburg made them symbols of progress. Their modest log-and-frame house, owned and built by a Black family, stood out in a town where few Black residents owned real estate. (In fact, it has been noted that the Hopkins House is “one of the last remaining landmarks” tied to Gettysburg’s early Black history.) All of this set the stage for the Hopkins family’s trials and contributions when the Civil War erupted.

The Hopkins Family During the Battle of Gettysburg

When the Civil War reached Gettysburg in the summer of 1863, the Hopkins family’s world was upended. As Confederate forces advanced into Pennsylvania, free Black residents faced a terrifying prospect: Confederate soldiers were known to capture African Americans and send them south into slavery. Like most of Gettysburg’s Black community, Jack and Julia decided to flee the town in late June 1863 to keep their family safe. On June 30, 1863 – one day before the battle began – Gettysburg College’s Board of Trustees even noted Jack’s absence, directing someone else to ring the bell “in the absence of the janitor.” This simple line in the records poignantly confirms that the Hopkins family had left their post and home to avoid danger.

During the three-day Battle of Gettysburg (July 1–3, 1863), the empty Hopkins residence on campus was commandeered by Confederate troops. The brick janitor’s house just north of Pennsylvania Hall was turned into a makeshift field hospital and quarters for Southern soldiers. In the process, virtually all the Hopkins family’s personal property was stolen or destroyed. After the battle, Julia Hopkins filed a detailed claim for damages, describing the shocking inventory of losses: 19 quilts, 8 blankets, 11 comforts, 5 feather beds, 20 yards of imported carpet, 2 rocking chairs, a clock, 4 tablecloths, 30 towels, and many other household items – even a 150-pound hog and several chickens were taken by the occupiers. Confederate soldiers had stripped the home of everything from bedding and kitchenware to food and livestock. Julia valued the lost personal property at about $339, and also claimed an additional $5 for “potatoes in the ground” that were never harvested. Witness testimony from the college president’s wife confirmed that Rebel soldiers had indeed ransacked the Hopkins house and used its contents for the comfort of their wounded. In 1868, Julia’s formal damage claim to the state of Pennsylvania was approved in full, and by 1871 the family received compensation for the $344.35 in losses.

When the fighting ended, Jack Hopkins returned with his family to a devastated hometown. Gettysburg College itself had been transformed into a hospital complex, with Pennsylvania Hall and other buildings filled with hundreds of wounded men. Jack, as college custodian, faced the grim task of cleaning up after the battle. He and his helpers labored to restore the campus, disposing of bloody bandages and even amputated limbs scattered around the grounds. For months after, signs of war lingered – blood-soaked books in the college library, which had been used as makeshift pillows for injured soldiers, were a haunting reminder of what Gettysburg had endured.

The war touched the Hopkins family in another profound way. Inspired by the fight for freedom and perhaps angered by what his family had suffered, John Edward Hopkins (Jack and Julia’s oldest son) volunteered for the Union Army. In January 1864, at age 21, John Edward enlisted in Company F of the 25th United States Colored Troops (USCT). (If you recognize the 25th USCT, it was the unit Samuel Butler joined. Samuel was the son of Ole Liz Butler who escaped from Confederate cavalry intent on sending her into slavery.) He was one of at least 50 Black men from Adams County, PA to serve in the Union forces. Like many USCT units, the 25th was sent to the South; John Edward’s regiment guarded Union installations in Florida and did not see front-line combat, much to the men’s disappointment. Still, Hopkins served honorably – he was quickly promoted to sergeant by October 1864. He endured hardships such as disease (an outbreak of scurvy hit the regiment in 1865, and Sgt. Hopkins spent weeks in the infirmary). When the Civil War ended, John Edward returned home in 1865 as a proud veteran. The Hopkins family’s commitment to the Union cause would soon translate into new forms of community leadership in the Reconstruction era.

Reconstruction and Later Years

After the war, the Hopkins family worked to rebuild their lives in Gettysburg. Jack Hopkins resumed his duties at Gettysburg College and continued to serve as the school’s janitor for several more years. Sadly, his health may have suffered from the war’s toll; on July 19, 1868, Jack Hopkins died at the age of 62. The college community that had long cherished him turned out in full to honor “Old Jack.” The entire faculty and student body attended his funeral, and the college passed a formal resolution praising “his long and devoted services – his strict integrity…and the high esteem in which he was held by all.” This outpouring of respect showed how much a Black man in 19th-century Gettysburg had been able to bridge the racial divide in at least this small campus sphere.

With Jack gone, Julia Hopkins had to forge ahead as the matriarch of the family. The college provided Jack’s position (and the campus house) to a new janitor, so Julia moved into the Washington Street house that the family still owned. By the 1870 census, the household at 219 S. Washington St. was headed by John Edward Hopkins, then 25 years old, with his 20-year-old wife Margaret and their young children (a toddler John R. Hopkins and an infant William) living under the same roof as Julia. John Edward, no longer a soldier, found work as a restaurant waiter to support the extended family. His Army service, however, had boosted his social standing. Historian Donald Shaffer notes that Black veterans often secured higher-status jobs than their civilian peers, and John Edward would soon leverage his leadership skills in public life.

During the 1870s, John Edward Hopkins emerged as a key leader in Gettysburg’s African American community. Along with other Black veterans in town, he helped found the Sons of Goodwill, a benevolent association that provided disability assistance to African Americans wounded in the war. (Basil Biggs was also a founder.) The Sons of Goodwill also spearheaded the establishment of a new burial ground for Gettysburg’s Black citizens. Since Black soldiers killed in the battle had been excluded from the National Cemetery, the community created Lincoln Cemetery as a dignified final resting place for African American veterans and residents. John Edward took part in Memorial Day ceremonies and efforts to honor Black soldiers’ legacy, ensuring that their service would not be forgotten. In the political realm, John Edward broke new ground. He became the first Black elected official in Gettysburg’s history when he won the post of majority inspector for the town’s Third Ward. This was a minor office (overseeing elections in the ward), but it was a milestone for African American civic participation during Reconstruction. It’s noted that Gettysburg’s Black voters strongly supported Republican candidates in that era, reflecting their engagement in political life after Emancipation. John Edward’s service in elected office marked the start of Black representation in local government – a significant achievement in a formerly all-white arena.

Meanwhile, Julia Hopkins navigated widowhood with determination. She never remarried after Jack’s passing. To make ends meet, she reportedly took in boarders at the Washington Street home in the years after the war. Julia also persisted in seeking the financial dues owed to her family. In addition to the state damage claim (paid in 1871), she later pursued a federal pension as the dependent mother of a deceased veteran. This came after a tragic turn in 1890: John Edward Hopkins, her devoted son, suffered a stroke and died on March 8, 1890 at only 46 years old. His death left behind his wife Margaret and three young children, and it left Julia without her primary means of support. Demonstrating remarkable tenacity, Julia applied for a U.S. pension based on John Edward’s military service. Such pensions for mothers of Black soldiers were rare – only about 36% of Black applicants succeeded, compared to 70% of white mothers – due to stringent proof requirements and systemic bias. With the help of an attorney (and character affidavits attesting that she had “never aided the rebellion”), Julia proved both her son’s service and her own financial need. In doing so, she accomplished something her late husband Jack could never do: Julia signed her own name on the application, a small but telling sign of empowerment in an era when many Black women were denied education. Julia Hopkins died in 1891, at around seventy years of age, having lived to see freedom, war, and a new generation come of age. After her death, the historic family home passed out of Hopkins hands – by 1892 it was sold to a local attorney and became a private residence for many decades thereafter.

Legacy and Descendants of the Hopkins Family

The story of Jack and Julia Hopkins and their family provides a vivid window into the African American experience in Gettysburg before, during, and after the Civil War. In many ways, their lives were representative of the struggles and triumphs of Black Americans in that era. They experienced the anxiety of the pre-war years as a free Black family living under the shadow of slavery’s expansion. They endured the fear and dislocation of Confederate invasion, fleeing their home to avoid being kidnapped into bondage. Their son fought for the Union and for freedom, contributing to what President Lincoln called “a new birth of freedom” in the nation. They celebrated Emancipation and the right to vote (guaranteed by the 15th Amendment in 1870), and they faced the challenges of rebuilding lives in a radically changed post-war society. At the same time, the Hopkins family’s particular circumstances left an outsized historical footprint. Jack Hopkins’ long tenure at Gettysburg College meant that unusually rich documentation – from college records to local newspaper anecdotes – survived about the family’s daily life. The college’s affection for “Jack the Janitor” was even immortalized in student poetry. One sentimental verse hoped that the old janitor would live many more years to ring the college bell before it tolled for his funeral. Such personal details are seldom recorded for 19th-century Black families, making the Hopkins story all the more valuable.

All members of the Hopkins family were interred in Gettysburg’s Lincoln Cemetery, the resting place they helped establish for the Black community. John Edward Hopkins’s grave is there, inscribed with his service in the 25th USCT, as are the graves of Julia and likely other family members. John Edward’s children did not remain prominent in Gettysburg public life, and over time the Hopkins name receded from local headlines. Yet the family’s descendants carried their legacy forward. John Edward’s widow Margaret eventually moved with their children to nearby Chambersburg, PA, and his line continued through his three children – ensuring that Jack and Julia Hopkins have living descendants even today (some of whom have been traced through genealogical research on platforms like Ancestry and FamilySearch). Each generation of the Hopkins family would have stories of perseverance to tell, built on the sturdy foundation Jack and Julia laid.

From Family Home to Gettysburg’s Black History Museum

In the 20th century, the Hopkins House at 219 South Washington Street aged into a quiet anonymity, its significance largely forgotten by the wider public. By the 2010s, the humble log-frame house – now one of the very few Civil War–era African American homes still standing in Gettysburg – had fallen into severe disrepair. Windows were boarded up and the structure faced possible condemnation. That is, until local historians and community members galvanized to save it. In 2023, the Adams County Historical Society (trading as Gettysburg History) partnered with the Lincoln Cemetery Project Association to acquire and stabilize the property. Preservationists were delighted to find that beneath later additions, the original 1840s log cabin core was still intact and sound. This modest building, once home to Jack and Julia Hopkins, is a tangible link to a side of Gettysburg history that has often been overlooked. As Gettysburg History president Andrew Dalton explained, “The Hopkins House is a landmark for Gettysburg’s Black community. Jack Hopkins, a long-time janitor at Gettysburg College, and his family were central to the town’s history. His son Edward…became Gettysburg’s first Black elected official. It’s just a really great location to tell the story of this community…their courage, their sacrifice, what they overcame.”

The Hopkins House has now been designated to become Gettysburg’s first permanent Black history museum, precisely because of its powerful connections to Black life in the town. It is slated to open by 2027 after a full restoration. The original log home will be restored to its mid-19th century appearance, and a new addition will be built to host exhibits and educational programs. The museum’s mission is to honor both the Hopkins family and the broader African American community of Gettysburg across generations. Artifacts unearthed in the house (over 100 items were found inside the walls during restoration) and donated collections – from military records and photographs to personal objects – will help tell these stories. In partnership with the Lincoln Cemetery Project, the museum will connect the story of the Hopkins home to the nearby Lincoln Cemetery, creating a more complete narrative of Black Gettysburg from antebellum days through the Civil War and beyond.

The selection of the Hopkins property for this museum is fitting on many levels. Not only did Jack and Julia Hopkins personally witness pivotal chapters of history at this site, but the house itself embodies the Black experience in Civil War Gettysburg – from striving for freedom and property ownership, to suffering in war, to persevering in reconstruction. It is, as one preservationist noted, “the last Civil War-era house [in Gettysburg] that was built by, owned by, and lived in by a Black family,” making it an irreplaceable historical and cultural treasure. After nearly 180 years, the walls of the Hopkins House are set to speak again – telling the tale of Jack and Julia Hopkins, their family, and their community’s journey from slavery to citizenship. This new Black history museum will ensure that the Hopkins family’s legacy, and the often untold Black history of Gettysburg, will be remembered and celebrated for generations to come.