Stephen Hopkins
Born: March 7, 1707
Died: April 13, 1785
Colony/State: Rhode Island
Occupation / Public Role: Merchant, legislator, governor, chief justice
Contribution to the Founding Era: Delegate to the Continental Congress, signer of the Declaration of Independence, longtime Rhode Island political leader, and one of the oldest signers of the Declaration.
Stephen Hopkins was born in Providence, Rhode Island, and became one of the colony’s most prominent public figures long before independence. Over the course of his career, he worked as a merchant and businessman, served multiple terms in the colonial assembly, and held office as governor of Rhode Island. He also served as chief justice of the Rhode Island superior court, giving him a long résumé in both politics and law.
Hopkins was already a veteran statesman by the time of the Revolution. He served in the Continental Congress from 1774 to 1776 and signed the Declaration of Independence as one of Rhode Island’s two signers. The National Archives lists him as 69 years old in 1776, making him one of the oldest men to sign the Declaration.
He also had a notable connection to education in Rhode Island. Britannica notes that Hopkins helped found the Providence Gazette in 1762 and later served as the first chancellor of Rhode Island College, the institution that became Brown University. That means he had a hand not only in politics, but also in the civic and intellectual life of the colony.
Stephen Hopkins died in 1785. He is sometimes remembered today as one of the elder statesmen among the signers, a man whose public service stretched across decades before the break with Great Britain. He was not one of the flashiest names of the founding era, but he was one of the seasoned ones, and sometimes seasoned beats flashy by a country mile.
Related Links
- Signers of the Declaration of Independence
- Declaration of Independence
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- John Adams
- Thomas Jefferson