Stephen Hopkins (1707 - 1785)

Born 7 Mar 1707 in Providence, Providence County, Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

Ancestors

Husband of Sarah (Scott) Hopkins — married 9 Oct 1726 in Providence, Providence, Rhode Island

Husband of Ann (Smith) Hopkins — married 2 Mar 1755 in Smithfield, Providence, Colony of Rhode Island

Descendants

Died 13 Jul 1785 at age 78 in Providence, Providence, Rhode Island

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Biography

Gov. Stephen Hopkins served with American Founding Fathers during the American Revolution.

Stephen Hopkins is a DAR Patriot Ancestor, A058185.

Stephen Hopkins is Notable.

Stephen Hopkins was a governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations and a signer of the Declaration of Independence.^[1]

He was the son of William Hopkins and Ruth Wilkinson,^[2] and was born on March 7, 1707 in then Providence, Providence County, Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. ^[3]

Governor Hopkins said of himself, "Stephen Hopkins of Providence, in the county of Providence, was born in Cranston."^[4] This was dated Feb. 3, 1754. Cranston was incorporated in 1754.^[5] Foster, the author of a Hopkins biography, then asks the question, where exactly were his parents living in 1707. Hopkins determined that they lived in what was then designated as Providence. Arnold's "Rhode Island Vital Records" records his birthplace in Providence but says he was born in Scituate.^[3] Scituate was not settled until 1710, and was part of Providence until 1731. When the citizens of Scituate held their first town meeting, at the Angell Tavern in South Scituate, Stephen Hopkins was elected as the first moderator.^[6]

Hopkins was raised as a Quaker and trained to be a farmer. However, he was employed primarily as a surveyor.

He had little formal education and was taught by his mother. She inspired him to be a prolific reader of Greek, Roman and British history. Despite his informal training, he made the most of it and attained great success in life.

He married Sarah Scott (c1707-1753), a Quaker and daughter of Silvanus Scott and Joanna Jenckes, Oct 9, 1726, in Scituate (then sitill part of Providence).^[3] They had seven children; five sons and two daughters. At least one of his daughters and one son died in their childhood. His second son, Captain John Hopkins (1728 - 1753) died in Spain of the smallpox, and Sylvanus Hopkins (1734-1753) was killed by Indians at Nova Scotia. His youngest son, Capt. George Hopkins (1739 - 1775) is noted to have also died at sea.^[7]

After the death of Sarah, Stephen Hopkins, of Providence, remarried 2 March 1755, in Smithfield, Providence County, to Ann Smith, widow^[3] (1717-1782). She was the daughter of Benjamin Smith, of Providence, (her first husband had the same surname, but no relation). She was thirty-eight years old at the time of her second marriage, and brought with her three living children, Benjamin, Ruth, and Amery. It is said that Stephen Hopkins became very fond of his stepchildren and the feeling was mutual. His son George married Ann's daughter Ruth.^[8]

Timeline of Stephen Hopkins Public Service^[2]

• 1730-31 Moderator first Scituate Town Meeting
• 1731/2 to 1741 Town Clerk of Scituate
• 1732-34, 1735-38, 1741-42, Deputy to the Rhode Island (RI) General Assembly, from Scituate. He was speaker of the Assembly 1741/2
• 1735-41 President of Scituate Town Council
• 1736 Elected Justice of the peace for Scituate
• 1736-40 Justice of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas, Providence County
• 1740 Appointed surveyor and clerk of the proprietors' lands
• 1740, 1741 Member of the eastern boundary commission
• 1741-1744 Clerk of Providence County Court of Common Pleas
• 1742-43, 1744-45, 1746-49, 1751-52, 1770-75, 1777, Deputy to the General Assembly from Providence and Speaker of the Assembly 1742/43, 1749
• 1744 Elected Justice of the Peace, for Providence
• 1746 Commissioner from RI to a congress of the colonies.
• 1747-49 Justice of the Superior Court of Judicature, of RI
• 1748 Member of the northern boundary commission
• 1751-55, 1755-56, 1770-76 Chief-justice of the Superior Court.
• 1754 Commissioner from RI, to the Albany congress of 1754. Committee which framed the "plan of union"
• 1755-57, 1758-62, 1763-65, 1767-68, Governor of the colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.
• 1755 Commissioner from RI, to the second Colonial congress Albany
• 1757 Member of committee of war, RI
• 1757 Commissioner from RI, to a colonial congress held at Boston.
• 1764, 1773-74 Chairman of the RI committee of correspondence
• 1764-1785 Chancellor of Rhode Island College and Member of it's board of trustees.
• 1774, Member of the committee of safety, Providence
• 1774, Delegate from RI, to the First Continental Congress
• 1775-76 Delegate from RI, to the Second Continental Congress
• 1776, 1777, 1778, Member of the RI Council of War
• 1776 Delegate from RI, to the conventions of New England States at Providence, Chosen president
• 1777 Delegate from Rhode Island to the convention of the New England states at Springfield Chosen president.
• 1777, 1778, 1779, 1780 Elected delegate from Rhode Island to the Continental Congress, but was obliged to decline on account of ill health.
• 1779 Delegate from Rhode Island to the convention of the New England states at Hartford
• 1779 Delegate from Providence to convention of Rhode Island towns in relation to address of congress on national loans

Hopkins died, in Providence, 13 July 1785,^[3] at the age of 78, and is buried in the North Burial Ground.^[9][10][11]

Family 1^[12][2]

• Sarah Scott (c1707-1753)

Children

• Rufus, who married Abigail Angell of Providence
• John, who married Mary Gibbs of Boston, died in Spain of the smallpox.
• Ruth, died young
• Lydia, who became the second wife of Col. Daniel Tillinghast of Newport
• Silvanus, who died unmarried, killed by Indians
• Simon Hopkins (1736 - 1744)
• George, who married Ruth Smith, daughter of his father's second wife.

Family 2^[2]

• Ann Smith (1717-1782) - no issue from this marriage

Sources

1. ↑ Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. "Stephen Hopkins (1707 - 1785)
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} Foster, William E. Stephen Hopkins, a Rhode Island Statesman. Providence: Sidney S. Rider, 1884.Parents & family Appendix C p. 209-214; Timeline Appendiz Z p. 253
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4} Rhode Island Vital Records, 1636–1850 - Town and Church Records] (V.1-V.12). (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014), Originally Published as: Vital record of Rhode Island 1636-1850: First Series: births, marriages and deaths: a family register for the people, by James N. Arnold. Providence, RI: Narragansett Historical Publishing Company.
   • Birth Vol 2. p. 228
   • Marriage, Sarah. Vol 3. p. 18
   • Marriage: Anne Smith. Vol. 7 (Friends and Ministers) p. 168.
   • Death Vol. 2 p. 268
4. ↑ Foster, William E. Stephen Hopkins, a Rhode Island Statesman: A Study in the Political History of the Eighteenth Century. Providence: S.S. Rider, 1884. Google Book. In the footnote on page 1. Hopkins wrote a record. It has not survived, but a copy, made by Senator Theodore Foster preserved at the Rhode Island Historical Society (Foster Papers VI. 12.), has.
5. ↑ "Cranston, Rhode Island." Wikipedia Article
6. ↑ 123 "History of Scituate." Town of Scituate, Rhode Island Website.
7. ↑ Gaspee Virtual Archives "Governor (and Chief Justice) Stephen Hopkins (1707-1785)"
8. ↑ http://colonialhall.com/hopkins/hopkinsAnne.php
9. ↑ Wikipedia
10. ↑ Death: (index to Probate) Providence, RI: Index to Probate, 1646-1899 . (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2002), (The Providence Press, Providence, RI. Edward Field, Index to the probate records of the Municipal court of the city of Providence, Rhode Island. From 1646 to and including the year 1899, 1902)
11. ↑ Death: Reported in the "Newport Mercury" 16 July 1785 Rhode Island Vital Records, 1636–1850 - Town and Church Records (V.1-V.12). (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014), Originally Published as: Vital record of Rhode Island 1636-1850: First Series: births, marriages and deaths: a family register for the people, by James N. Arnold. Providence, RI: Narragansett Historical Publishing Company.
12. ↑ http://colonialhall.com/hopkins/hopkinsSarah.php

See Also:

• Essex Institute Historical Collections (Salem, Massachusetts) Vol. 2, No. 3, AJune, 1860, Page 117

• Pease, John Chauncey & Niles, John Milton. A Gazetteer of the States of Connecticut and Rhode-Island (William S. Marsh, 1819) Page 230

• Stephen Hopkins: Society of the Descendants of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence.

• Holbrook, Albert. Genealogy of One Line of the Hopkins Family, Descended from Thomas Hopkins in Providence, from 1641 to 1692. Washington [District of Columbia]: Filmed by the Library of Congress Photoduplication Service, 1980. Google Book.

• Brown University Brunoniana on Stephen Hopkins
• Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame Stephen Hopkins

• Stephen Hopkins on Kouroo