Stephen Hopkins’ signature on the Declaration of Independence. His whole family was involved in civic activities. For example, his great-grandfather was appointed as a member of the Newport Town Committee in 1661, and his maternal great-grandfather was a member of the Colonial Assembly in 1659. Hopkins’ cousin, Benedict Arnold, became a Revolutionary War general who subsequently committed treason. Hopkins was definitely not a traitor. After marrying at age 19, he became a surveyor at age 24, a prominent position that subsequently led to him becoming the Scituate town clerk, then president of the Town Council in 1735. He represented the township at the General Assembly from 1732 to 1741 and became speaker in 1742. By 1774, he and his growing family had moved to Providence, where he continued his public service career that included stints as justice on the Court of Common Pleas, justice of the Superior Court and then chief justice. In 1755, he was elected governor of Rhode Island for the first of nine terms. He was also appointed as Rhode Island’s delegate to the pan-colonial congresses in four consecutive sessions. Stephen Hopkins’ house in Providence, Rhode Island Hopkins was born in 1707 in Providence and grew up in a nearby small farm town now known as Cranston. His mother was from a prominent Quaker family and, contrary to the existing Quaker disdain for learning, invested in Stephen’s education. Along with his farm chores, his grandfather and uncle taught him Greek, Roman and British history and English poetry, as well as mathematics. UCLS Foresights 21
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