Stephen Hopkins

Stephen Hopkins, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was born on March 7, 1707, in Providence, Rhode Island. Providence was later divided, and the area where Hopkins was born became Scituate. His maternal grandfather was one of the first Baptist ministers in Providence. Stephen did not have many opportunities for formal education, but he sought learning and became self-taught.

Stephen was a farmer until he moved to Providence in 1731 to open a business. The next year he became a delegate representing Scituate in the General Assembly. He was re-elected annually until 1738. When he was re-elected in 1741, he also became Speaker of the House of Representatives. He continued as speaker of the assembly until 1751 when he was chosen as Chief Justice of the Colony.

Hopkins held many political positions: delegate to the Colonial Convention in 1754, Governor of the Colony from 1756 until 1767. As Governor during the French and Indian War, Hopkins encouraged volunteers to enlist in the service.

Stephen opposed Great Britain’s oppression of the colonists. He held three different offices of responsibility in 1774: Chief Justice of Rhode Island, representative in the Provincial Assembly, and delegate to the Continental Congress. He introduced a bill to prevent the importation of slaves into Rhode Island and personally freed all of his own slaves.

In 1775 Stephen was a member of the Committee of Public Safety for Rhode Island as well as serving as a delegate to the General Congress. He was again chosen as a delegate to the Continental Congress of 1776 where he signed the Declaration of Independence. His last time as a delegate to the General Congress was in 1778 when he was part of the committee that drafted the Articles of Confederation for governing the colonies.

Hopkins suffered for many years with what was called “shaking palsy;” this made his signature on the Declaration of Independence very shaky. Stephen was married twice. He married Sarah Scott in 1726, and they were the parents of seven children, five of whom lived to adulthood. Sarah died in 1753 after 27 years of marriage and in the same year that two of her sons died. Stephen married a widow named Anne Smith in 1755. She was 38 years old and had three living children. Ann died about 1783, and Stephen died on July 19, 1785, at age 78.