Signature on the Declaration of Independence
Stephen Hopkins (March 7, 1707 –
July 13, 1785) was an American political leader from Rhode Island who
signed the Declaration of Independence. He served as the Chief Justice
and Governor of the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence
Plantations and was a Delegate to the Colonial Congress in Albany in
1754 and to the Continental Congress from 1774 to 1776.
Hopkins was
also the first chancellor of the College in the English Colony of
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (predecessor to Brown
University) in conjunction with the presidency of the Baptist Reverend
James Manning.
Hopkins was born in Providence, Rhode Island, the son of William
and Ruth (Wilkinson) Hopkins. Hopkins' younger brother, Esek Hopkins,
became the first commander in chief of the Continental Navy. Hopkins
grew up on a farm in Scituate, Rhode Island and was self educated. He
moved back to Providence in 1742 and worked as a foundryman, merchant,
ship owner, and surveyor.
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