HOPKINS
HOPKINSON
he was a member of the naval committee. He
had for liLs colleague in the first and second ses-
sions Samuel Ward, his political opponent in the
annual contests for governor of Rhode Island,
(1755-64), and to etfect a reconciliation with
whom he declined further to be a candidate
after 1764. His colleague in the third session was
William Ellery. He served as a member of the
committee of safety of Providence during the
Revolution; and as delegate from Rhode Island to
the conventions to promote tiie common defences
of the borders of the Xv>\v England states, and
presided over the meetings at Providence, R.I.. in
1776, and Springfield, Mass., iu 1777. He wasadele-
gate to the Continental congress in 1778, and was a
member of the committee that drafted the Articles
of Confederation. He founded the town library
of Providence in 1750. It was burned in 1758. and
re-established by him the following year. He is
the author of: The Grievances of the American
Colonies Candidly Examined [17 d-i); History of
The Planting and Growth of Providence (Gazette,
17G5). William Eaton Foster published in 1884,
Stephen Hopkins, a Rhode Island Statesman. He
died in Providence. R.I., July 13, 1785.
HOPKINS, William Fenn, educator, was born in Connecticut in isoi. He was graduated at the U.S. Military academy in 18-^5, and received the honorary degree of A. ^I. from Yale in 1831. He was assistant professor of natural sciences at West Point, 1826-27, and acting professor of chemistry, mineralogy and geology, 1827-85. He resigned from the army in 1836 and engaged in mercantile pursuits. He declined the chair of mathematics in Jefferson college. La., in 1837; accepted tiie principalshipof the academy at Nor- folk, Va. , 1843, superintended and was professor in the Military institute, Georgetown. Ky., 1846-40; was president of the Masonic university, Clarks- ville, Tenn., 1849; professor of chemistry at William and Maiy CvoUege, Va., 1849-50, and pro- fes.sor of natural and experimental philosophy in the U.S. Naval academy. 1850-59. He received the honorary degree of LL.D. from H.jbart col- lege, N.Y., in 1853. In March, 1859, lie was ap- pointed by President Buchanan U.S. consul to .Jamaica. W.I.. wlu-re he died, July 13, 1859.
HOPKINSON, Francis, signer of the Declara- tion of Independence, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., Sept. 21, 1737; son of Thomas and Mary (.Johnson )Hopkinson. His fatlier (born, 1709, died, 1751), <a native of London, England, emigrated to America and settled in Piiiladelphia in 1731, where he was a public court official, member of the provincial council, an incorporator of the Phil- adelphia Library company, charter member and trustee of the College of Plnladelphia, and first president of the Philosophical society. Fran<-is was graduated at the College of Philadelphia.
A.B., in 1757, A.M., in 1760, and received an
honorary A.M. degree from the College of New
Jersey in 1763. He was admitted to the bar in
1761; and was librarian and secretary of the
Philadelphia Libraiy compaii}', 1764-65. He vis-
ited Europe in 1766,
with the view of an
appointment as com-
missioner of customs
for North America,
but failed to secure
the office. He re-
turned to Philadel-
phia in 1767, and
practised law and at
the same time con-
ducted a store. He
was a member of the
American Pliiloso]ih-
ical society, 1768-91;
a director and secre-
tary of the Library
company, 1771-73; collector of customs at New-
castle, 1772-76, when he was removed as a dis-
loyalist. He removed to Bordentown and Avas
a member of the provincial council of New Jer-
sey. 1774-76. He was a delegate from New
Jersey to the Continental congress, 1776-77. He
was on the committee that drafted the Articles of
Confederation, voted in favor of the independence
of the colonies and signed the Declaration of
Independence of July 4, 1776. He was chief of
the navy department of the confederation, and
treasurer of the Continental loan office. He was
judge of the admiralty appointed b}' the state of
Pennsylvania, 1779-89, and first judge of the
U.S. district court of Pennsylvania, 1790-91. He
was a trustee of the University of Pennsylvania,
1778-91, and received the honorary degree of
LL.D. from that institution in 1790. He was
married to Ann, daughter of Joseph Borden, of
Bordentown, N.J. He is the author of: The
Treaty, a poem published soon after he was
secretary at a treaty with the Indians in 1761;
The Battle of the Kegs, a mock-heroic ballad
descri|)tive of the attempt to destroy the British
ship[)ing at Philadelphia in 1777; The Xew Poof:
a Song of Federal Mechanics, besides polit-
ical writings including: The Pretty Story (1774);
Tlie Prophecy (1776); The Political Catechism
(1777), and essays: The Typogritphical Mode of
Conducting a Quarrel, and Tlionghts on Di.'ieases
of the Mind. See The MisceUaneoiis Essays and
Oecasiontd Writingsof Francis Hopldnson (1792).
IT.' di.^d in Philadelpliiji. Pa.. May 9, 1791.
HOPKINSON, Joseph, jurist, was born in Philailclphia. I'.i.. Nov. 12, 1770; son of Francis and Ann (Borden) Hopkinson, and grandson of Judge Thomas Hopkinson. He was graduated ac
