Mary Hopkins Searles

Mary Frances Sherwood Hopkins Searles (March 8, 1818 – July 25, 1891) was an American millionaire. During her lifetime, she was one of the richest women in the United States, and used her wealth to realize her architectural interests.

Life

Mary Frances Sherwood was born in New York City, the daughter of headmaster William Sherwood. She was educated at Kellogg Terrace School in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. She married her first husband, railroad tycoon Mark Hopkins, Jr., on September 22, 1854. Hopkins and Sherwood were first cousins. The childless couple lived for most of their marriage in Sacramento, California, moving to San Francisco for the last four years of Hopkins' life.

The San Francisco Hopkins estate

Sherwood developed her interest in grand architecture during this marriage. She convinced her husband to build a grand estate in San Francisco to match those of the other railroad tycoons of the era. The house was furnished by Herter Brothers, and was completed in 1880 (two years after Hopkins' 1878 death). The house was later used to house the San Francisco Art Institute. The house was destroyed in a fire resulting from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Sherwood's inheritance from Hopkins his home on Kellogg Terrace in Great Barrington; she prepared it as her summer residence after Hopkins' death.

Sherwood Hall (earlier known as the Barron-Latham-Hopkins Gate Lodge)

On November 7, 1887, Sherwood married Edward Francis Searles. On the occasion of this marriage, Sherwood gave her home in Menlo Park to her adopted son Timothy. Sherwood and Searles together built Searles Castle in Great Barrington on the grounds of the Kellogg Terrace home that Sherwood had owned since 1881.

The bulk of her estate passed to Searles, while her adopted son Timothy, who had married Sherwood's niece, received only a small portion, resulting in a prolonged dispute. When Searles died in 1920, he left his inherited estate to the Methuen Memorial Music Hall.

Sources
  • Ingham, John N. (1983). Biographical Dictionary of American Business Leaders. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0-313-21362-3.
  • Naugle, June (2007). The Great American Swindle. Authorhouse. ISBN 1-4259-9003-7.
  • "Obituary of Ms. Hopkins Searles". The Record-Union. Sacramento. July 27, 1891.
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