1858 Johns Hopkins signed B&O Railroad Stock Certificate plus Free 1854 Receipt

Description

Pre Civil War Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
Co
.
stock certificate
No. 224809
issued May 14
, 1858
to
Johnston Bros.
& Co.
for 25 shares.
Johns Hopkins was Chairman of the powerful Finance Committee of B&O and
signed
on the front of the certificate as President Pro Tem of B&O
.
He also endowed the world renowned Johns Hopkins Hospital and The Johns Hopkins University.
The certificate was printed by Toppan, Carpenter, Casilear & Co. The signature of
Johns Hopkins
is punch canceled but is
bold and legible.
The initials immediately above the signature are those of
Chauncy J. Brooks, the 5th President of B&O.
Also included at no extra cost is B&O Stock Certificate Receipt No. 3639 issued November 17, 1854 covering 25 shares received from  T. Morgan Jr.  Receipt is hand signed by B&O Treasurer J J Atkinson and was canceled  January 15, 1855 as evidenced by two round red cancellation stamps.
JOHNS HOPKINS
J
ohns Hopkins
, philanthropist, born in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, May 19, 1795; died in Baltimore, December 24, 1873. His parents were Quakers, and their son was trained to a farming life, but received a fair education. At seventeen years of age he went to Baltimore, became a clerk in his uncle's wholesale grocery store, and in a few years accumulated sufficient capital to establish himself in the grocery trade with a partner. Three years later, in 1822, he founded, with his two brothers, the house of Hopkins and Brothers. He rapidly added to his fortune until he had amassed large wealth.
Retiring from business as a grocer in 1847, he engaged in banking and railroad enterprises, became a Director in
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company
, and, in 1855, chairman of its finance committee. Two years afterward, when the company was seriously embarrassed, he volunteered to endorse its notes, and risked his private fortune in its extrication.
In March, 1873, he gave property valued at ,500,000 to found
The Johns Hopkins Hospital
which, by its charter, is free to all, regardless of race or color, presented the City of Baltimore with a public park, and gave ,500,000 to found
The Johns Hopkins University
, which was first proposed by him in 1867, and was opened in 1876, embracing schools of law, medicine, science, and agriculture, and publishing the results of research by  professors and students. At his death he left a fortune of ,000,000, including the sums set apart for the endowment of the university and hospital, which were devised to the trustees in his will.