Stephen Hopkins

Stephen Hopkins was born on March 7th, 1707. He grew up on a farm in Rhode Island and at the age of nineteen married Sarah Scott. In 1730 the surrounding town was named Scituate, separating it from Providence. He was promptly given the positions of clerk, president of the town council, justice of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas, and representative for the new town of Scituate. In 1742 he and his family moved to house in Providence, on what is now the corner of South Main and Hopkins Street. After the death of his wife, Stephen Hopkins remarried to Mrs. Anne Smith. In Providence Hopkins was a successful merchant and held the positions of “clerk of the Providence Town Council, justice of the peace for Providence, justice of the Superior Court of Judicature of Rhode Island” (Conley, 122), member of the Rhode Island Committee of War, Chief justice of the Superior Court, Colonial Governor of Rhode Island and Delegate to the Continental Congress. In 1764 he wrote The Rights of Colonies Examined, which “was among the first publications to put forth a federal theory of the British Empire---the assertion that colonial assemblies possessed sovereignty in local affairs, including taxation” (Conley, 116). Appropriately following, twelve years he signed the Declaration of Independence. On July 13th, 1785, two years after the death of his second wife, Stephen Hopkins died at his home. (Conley, 116-131)

Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology