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RHODE    ISLAND 

HisTOEicAL  Tracts 


NO.    19. 


STEPHEN    HOPKINS, 


RHODE  ISLAND  STATESMAN 

A  Study  in  the  Political  History  of  the 
Eighteenth  Century. 


BY 


WILLIAM    E.    F(3STEK. 


P^RT    ONE. 


■y 


RHODE   ISLAND         W'^ 


Historical    Tracts. 


NO.    19. 


PROVIDENCE  / 

SIDNEY    S.   RIDEIl. 

1884. 


Copyright  Ijy 
S  1  1)  N  E  Y    S  .    K  I  U  E  K  . 

1  S  7  8  . 


PiiOVIDLXCE   PRESS  fOMTASY,  PKIXTEKS. 


STEPHEN  HOPKINS 


RHODE  ISLAND  STATESMAN. 


STUDY  IN  THE  POLITICAL  HISTORY 


OF  THE 


EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY. 


BY 


WILLIAM    E.    FOSTER, 


P^RT    ONE. 


PROVIDENCE 
SIDNEY    S.   RIDER. 

18  8  4. 


F^'^.  ^ 


>? 


,u> 


•H^dF'j 


Copyright  by 
SIDNEY    S  .    RIDER, 
1883. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

Preface  .......  xiii. 

ackko^  ledoment  of  ocligatioxs  .         .         .        xvu. 

chapter  i. 
Intboductoky,       .  .  .  .  •  .        •.  1 

Contrast  between  Rhode  Island  in  1700  and  that  state 
in  1799.-  Due  partly  to  natural  growth  and  partly  to  in- 
dividual effort.— Names  o[  some  whose  influence  was  a 
factor  in  this  change.— Hopkins's  position  among  these. 

CnAPTER  II. 

Ancestry  and  fajht.y  c6nnections,  ...  9 

His  birth.-  Thomas  Tlopkins,  the  emigrant  ancestor. 
—The  Arnold  family.— Major  William  Hopkins.— Tlie 
Wliipple  family.- -William  ITopkins,  Jr.— The  Smith, 
^^'ickendcn,  and  Wilkinson  families.— Marriage  of  Wil- 
liam Uopkins  and  lluth  Wilkinson.— Their  children.— 
Ancestral  traits  represented  in  Stephen  Hopkins. 

CHAPTER  III. 
Earia'  influences,  [1707-30]       .....         ^55 
Lack  of  means  of  communication  in  the  up-countrj- 
settlements.— The  lack  of  means  of  culture  among  the 


VI  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

tliird  goiu'ialion  of  New  Englanders.— Lack  of  .school 
facilities  in  IMiode  I.sland.— Stephen  Hopkins's  faniilj 
snriouiidings.— An  early  "circulating  library."— His 
efforts  at  self-culture.— The  valuable  discipline  of  Lis 
training  in  surveying.— The  appearance  of  the  commer- 
cial instinct.— The  Quaker  training  of  his  early  home. — 
His  marriage  and  start  in  life  as  a  farmer. 

CHAPTEK  IV. 

Entkance  on  public  life  as  a  "COUNTKYMEM- 

BEi;,"  [1730-42],  ......  03 

His  inherited  disposition  for  public  life.— Official  con- 
nection  with  the  town  of  Scituate. — In  the  General 
Assembly  as  a  "country  member."— The  mea.sures  of 
the  Wanton  administrations. — First  connection  with 
Newport.— His  home  life  at  Scituate.  Gradual  with- 
drawal of  his  family  fnmi  Scituate. — Concentration  of 
his  own  interests  at  Providence.— Removal  to  Provi- 
dence in  1742. 

CHAPTER  V. 

A  CITIZEN  OF  Providence,  [1742-70],       ....       8 

Stephen  Hopkins  the  most  distinguished  native  of 
Providence.— His  capacity  for  retaining  his  hold  on  asso- 
ciations once  formed. — His  peculiar  identification  with 
the  interests  of  Providence. — His  marked  agency  in 
developing  its  commercial  growth.— The  town  of  Provi- 
dence in  1742. 

Tlie  commercial  development  of  Providence. — Hop- 
kins's corrtH't  forecast  of  the  direction  taken  by  it. — 


I 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS.  VI 1 

The  lack  of  custom-liouse  records  before  1790.— iSteplieii 
Hopkins's  early  and  unbroken  connection  with  the 
Brown's,,  the  "four  brothers."— Moses  Brown's  com- 
mercial records  of  twenty-five  years.— The  predomin- 
ating share  of  the  Brown  and  Hopkins  families  in  the 
conmieree  of  this  period.— Hopkins's  attention  to  the 
needs  of  tlie  growing  connnerce  of  the  town.— A  better 
harbor  front  needed. 

The  question  of  hi(/hi':a>js  and  sti-eets.— Better  com- 
munication with  tlie  interior  towns  needed.  —  More 
intelligent  internal  arrangements  needed  for  the  satis- 
factory development  of  the  town.— The  new  policy  as  to 
lands  and  streets. 

Other  enterprises.— His  connection  with  the  establish- 
ment of  the  public  market;  with  rebuilding  Weybosset 
Bridge;  and  with  an  early  system  of  insurance. 

Education  in  Providence.— Kis  efforts  in  behalf  of 
public  education. 

Libraries  in  Frovidence. —B.is  connection  with  the 
establishment  of  the  Providence  Library,  "  to  promote 
useful  knowledge." 

His  literary  labors.— His  historical  researches.— His 
political  writings.— The  Providence  Gazette  established. 


IS 


iSeveral  FrankUn  ideas.— Two  other  '"Franklin  ideas 
introduced  at  Providence;  the  post-office  and  the  fire 
department. 


Vlll  STEPHEN    HOPKIKS. 

Family  conneciiO«s.— Changes  in  his  family,  from 
1742  to  1755. 

Politicdl  connections. — His  connection  with  political 
life  (luring  this  period.— The  questions  at  issue  in  the 
General  Assembly. 

Connection  vith  the  courts.— l\\>i  service  as  Chief- 
justice. 

His  influence.— iHswes  growing  out  of  tlie  develop- 
ment of  the  town  and  of  the  colony. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

The  statesmanship  of  the  Ai.p.axv  coxopess,  [1754].  155 

The  significance  of  this  conference. — The  four  pre- 
dominating political  ideas.— Self-government  the  earliest. 
— Its  extreme  development  in  TJhode  Island.  —  The 
ir.odification  due  to  connnercial  connections. — Tluit  due 
to  tlie  agitation  oC  boundary  disputes.— The  accession  of 
the  five  border  towns  in  1747.— Liberalizing  tendency  of 
the  piinting-]>ress,  tlie  libraries,  and  the  movement 
towards  education.- Necessity  of  combinatioji  for  mili- 
tary defence.— The  system  of  colonial  congresses.— Pur- 
pose of  tlie  home  government  in  relation  to  the  Albany 
congress.— A  plan  of  union  abeady  conceived  by  Frank- 
liu.— Tlie  emiuence  of  tlie  delegates  to  this  congress.— 
Appieheusions  of  (he  cbarter  colonies  in  relalion  to 
their  charters —Tbe  |)osili(m  of  tlie  loyalist  elenunt.— 
Fraulclin's  plan  agieed  to  by  the  delegates.— Stephen 
Hopkins  apparently  the  only  active  collaborator  of 
Franklin.— I'oints  of  resemblance  between  Franklin  and 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS.  IX 

Hopkins.— Hopkfns's  intelligent  support  of  the  princi- 
ple of  colonial  union.— The  excited  opposition  to  the 
plan  in  Rhode  Island.— Stephen  Hopkins's  pamphlet  in 
defence  of  the  action  of  tlie  congress.— The  pamphlet 
published  in  reply  by  "Philolethes."— Rejection  of  the 
plan  of  union  in  every  colony  and  by  the  home  govern- 
ment.—The  remarkable  extent  to  which  this  plan  was 
the  prototype  of  the  constitution  of  1787.— Stephen  Hop- 
kins's exceptional  service  in  rendering  its  principles 
familiar  and  approved  in  Rhode  Island. 


PUBLISHER'S  NOTE. 


It  was  the  iutoutioii  of  the  publisher  to  bring  the  First  Series- 
of  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Tracts  to  a  close  with  the  20th 
number,  iu  which  Tract  it  was  his  intention  to  have  made  cor- 
rection of  such  errors  and  omissions  as  had  been  printed  or  left 
out,  and  which  was  also  to  have  contained  an  index  to  the  entire 
series.  The  verj'  great  enlargement  of  Mr.  Foster's  monograph 
making  it  far  too  large  for  a  single  number,  necessitates  the 
printing  of  it  in  two  parts.  It  will  thus  form  numbers  19  and  20 
of  the  present  series,  and  the  index  and  other  papers  referred  to 
will  be  issued  in  a  closing  Tract.  It  is  the  further  intention  of 
the  publisher  to  begin  the  publication  of  a  second  series  of 
these  Tracts  immediately  after  the  close  of  the  present  series. 


1 


PREFACE. 


Tliere  are  several  reasons  why  a  publication  like  the  present 
one  is  a  desideratum.  The  study  of  Stephen  Hopkins's  career 
shows  it  to  be  connected  in  a  very  marked  degr^  with  the 
whole  political  development  of  the  century  in  which  he  lived. 
At  the  same  time,  scarcely  one  of  his  contemporaries  is  a  less 
familiar  character  to  the  young  men  of  this  generation.  Yet 
there  are  the  best  of  reasons  why  this  is  so.  Not  only  has  no 
published  biography  of  him  been  accessible,  —  beyond  the  most 
meagre  of  sketches,'  —  but  the  historical  student  is  deprived-  of 
the  opportunity  of  access  to  his  papers  and  memoranda.  Nor 
is  this  deprivation  by  any  means  a  slight  one.  Stephen  Hopkins, 
like  his  distinguished  compatriots,  Franklin,  the  Adams's,  and 
others,  was  constantly  busy  with  his  pen  duriug  the  greater  part 
of  his  life.  He  left  behind  him,  at  his  death,  an  invaluable  col- 
lection^ of  papers   and  discussions,   not  merely  in  the  form  of 

1    See  Appendix  A,  for  mention  of  tlie  most  important  of  these. 

■>  These  papers  were  lost  in  1815.  In  tile  great  storm  of  September  in  tliat 
year,  sa3-s  John  Howland,  "  tlie  tide  swept  througli  the  house  where  they  were 
lodged,  and  they  were  carried  olT  and  lost  in  the  multitude  of  waters."  (Stone's 
"  Life  and  recollections  of  John  Howland,"  p.  47). 

.3    "  He  left,"  says  John  Howland,  "  a  large  trunk  of  papers,  connected  with 
the  transactions  of  his  public  life."    (Stone's  "John  Howland,"  p.  ir). 
B 


XIV  STKI'HKN    HOPKINS. 

coiTcspoiulenco,'  but  of  reports,  nieinoriiiidii,  iiud  notes,  benriiiy; 
on  such  topics  as  the  stamp-act  discussions,  tlie  Albany  con- 
gress; the  various  plans  of  union  subsequently  discussed;  tlie 
gradual  progress  towards  armed  resistance  on  land  and  sea;  and 
the  equally  gradual  assumption  of  national  powers,  by  tlie  col- 
onies acting  together.  Some  small  portion  of  this  material,  not 
collected  witli  the  rest,  remains  to  us.'^  The  greater  part  is  a 
total  loss.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  tliat  '•  tlie  oblivion 
Avliieh,"  saj;^s  Mr.  Edmund  Quincy,-'  "  is  so  swift  to  swallow  up 
American  reputations,"  should  have  seemed  to  be  in  a  fair  way 
to  await  Stephen  Hopkins's  name. 

Yet,  though  late,  it  may  not  l)e  too  late,  aiiproximately  to 
counteract  this  tendency.  That  which  is  now  possible  is,  merely 
to  construct  from  the  widely  scattered  material  of  his  time, 
something  which  shall   serve  as  a  partial   representation  of  his 

1  'I'liosf  li'ttfi-s  comprised  CDrrosiioiKlcncc  with  \Vas!iiiii;toii  ami  .lettVrsoii, 
.Io)in  Aflanis  and  .Sainui'l  Adams,  ratiick  lli-nry,  llioliard  Ilt-nrv  Let',  and 
Henjainin  Franklin; — in  tact,  with  most  (li  those  wlio  were  It-adi-rs  in  the 
stlri'ing  events  of  Ids  time.  AVith  nio-t  of  these  men  his  intercourse  dates 
back  several  years  before  they  met  in  tlie  (didinental  Congress,  during  winch 
time  they  were  hi  active  connection  with  the  committees  of  correspondence. 
With  Franklin  his  intimate  association  date(l  l)ack  to  at  least  as  early  a  point 
as  tlie  Albany  congress,  in  17.54. 

2  .See  .Vpiienilix  11,  lor  a  meuioraiKhim  of  sucli  writings  of  Stephen  Hop- 
kins as  are  ikjw  acci'ssilile. 

:l  .Mr.  (^uincy,  in  tlie  preface  to  his  father's  Life,  says  that,  "  having  met 
with  well-educated  persons  wlio  had  never  heanl  of  I'ishej-  .Vines,  and  even 
with  geiitlemeu  of  the  law  wliose  notions  of  Samuel  Uexter  wiTe  nebulous  to 
the  last  degree,"  lie  nearly  despaired  of  his  fatlier's  name  surviving,  U^.iincy's 
"  Life  of  .losiah  Quincy,''  p.  iii). 


rREFAcr:.  xv 

life  and  work.  To  bring  togetlier,  in  their  proper  relations  and 
in  consecutive  order,  tlie  incidental  allusions  to  him, — in  official 
documents,  in  state  papers,  in  the  general  and  special  histories 
of  liis  time,  in  verbal  tradition  wiicn  it  can  be  relied  on  as  trust- 
worthy, and  in  the  lives  and  writings  of  his  contemporaries, — 
is  the  ol)jcct  of  the  present  publication.  That  this  work  should 
not  have  been  left  until  our  own  generation,  to  be  tluis  iuade- 
quatel}'  accomplished,  needs  no  argument  to  show.  It  should 
have  been  executed  when  his  career  was  still  fresh  in  the  minds 
of  men  who  were  contemporary  with  him.  Nor  should  it  have 
been  left  to  be  undertaken  by  one  wlio,  like  the  present  writer, 
is  not  a  native  of  Rhode  Island.  Fully  recognizing  the  fact  that 
few  not  born  and  brought  up  in  Rhode  Island  can  adequately  ap- 
preciate in  all  their  bearings,  tlie  nearly  unique  conditions  of 
society  characterizing  the  earlier  history  of  this  colony,  the  ' 
writer  has  gratefully  availed  himself  of  the  valuable  assistance 
so  courteously  attbrded  him  by  those  wliose  acquaintance  with  the 
details  of  various  portions  of  the  subject  is  intimate  and  com- 
prehensive.^ Late  as  it  is,  however,  and  necessarily  limited  as 
are  the  opportunities  for  treating  the  subject,  the  present  work 
will  serve  to  render  somewhat  tardy  justice  to  a  man  whose 
services  to  his  colony,  and  to  the  nation,  as  well,  were  such  as 
entitle  him  to  no  unimportant  position  among  the  founders  of 
the  republic. 

No  apology,  certainly,  is  needed  for  the  minuteness  r)f  the 
references  in  the  foot-notes.  More,  perhaps,  than  in  any  other 
work  of  similar  scope,  it  is  important  that  the  reader  should 

1     Set-  the  "Acknowledgment  of  obligations,"  on  pages  xvii.— xx. 


XVI  STEPHEN    HOrKINS. 

have  "  chapter  ami  verse "'  as  the  authority  for  tlie  statements 
which  lie  liere  finds.  Tlie  tield  is  very  nearly  "  virgin  soil;"  and 
those  citations  will  serve,  to  (juote  lYom  another  writer,  "to 
help  others  in  testing  "  his  own  statements,  "and  in  prosecut- 
ing similar  studios  for  themselves." 

The  subject  is  not  wholly  a  new  one  to  the  author,  but  has 
engaged  his  attention,  to  a  considerable  extent,  for  several  years 
past.  While  he  has  endeavored  to  treat  his  subject  in  the  spirit 
of  a  judicial  inquirer,  rather  than  of  an  advocate,  yet  the  result 
of  his  researches  has  been  to  heighten  his  respect  for  a  man 
who,  with  many  limitations,  and  with  marked  faults  even,  was 
nevertheless  an  iuliuence  and  a  power  for  gooii,  iu  so  many 
directions. 

Pkovidence  I'unLic  Library, 
December  1,  18<S3. 


ACKNOWLEDGMEXT  OF  OP,LIGATIOXS. 


The  author  in  the  prosecution  of  his  researches  has  found 
himself  at  every  step  placed  under  indebtedness  by  the  courtesy 
and  thoughtful  interest  of  others.  It  would  be  impossible  liere 
to  mention  all  the  instances  of  this  kind,  but  some  of  them 
require  special  acknowledgments. 

For  original  papers  and  letters,  he  has  been  constantly  placed 
under  obligation  to  the  following  members  of  Governor  Hop- 
kins's  family   and   of  allied   families:  James  Tillinghast,  Esq., 
Miss  Sophie  L.  Tillinghast,  Miss  Ruth  Hopkins  Smith,  and  Mr. 
^  Albert  Holbrook.      The    two   last  mentioned  have    rendered 

'j-\  especially  valuable  co-operation.     He  is  also  largely  indebted  to 

Mr.  C.  W.  Hopkins  and  Mr.  E.  !S.  Hopkins,  of  Providence, 
and  Professor  Samuel  M.  Hopkins,  of  Auburn,  N.  Y.  VaUial)le 
papers  also  have  been  placed  in  his  hands  l)y  Mr.  Sidneys.  Kider, 
his  publisher,  whose  familiarity  with  the  history  of  this  state 
has  been  of  constant  service,  and  wliose  invaluable  Rhode 
Island  collection  of  papers,  i)aniphlets,  reports,  etc.,  has  been 
placed  freely  at  his  disposal.  He  is  also  deeply  indebted  for 
copies  and  originals  of  otlier  important  papers,  to  Hon. 
William   V.    Shellield,  Mr.  William   T.    Shellield,  Jr.,  and  James 


XVUl  ^TEl'lir.N    IIOPKIXS. 

Eddy  Maurau,  Esq..  of  Newport ;  to  Dr.  Tlioiiui.s  Addis  Einmel, 
and  Henry  T.  Drowne.  Esq.,  of  New  Yoi'k;  to  ]\fv.  Dr.  Thi^nas 
Staflbrd  Drownc,  of  Garden  City,  N.  Y. ;  to  Mr.  Richard  Battey. 
of  VVoousocket,  R.  I  ;  to  Mr.  J.  N.  Arnold,  of  Hamilton,  R.  I. ; 
to  F.  W.  VauLilian,  Esq  ,  of  Boston  ;  and  to  Nathaniel  I'aine, 
E<q.,  of  Worcester,   Mass. 

Ill  the  investigation  of  nui)ul)lished  jKipiMs  in  the  custody  of 
national,  slate,  county,  and  nninicipal  authorities,  he  has  also 
been  placed  under  great  obligations.  lie  would  especially  re- 
turn thanks  to  Theodore  F.  D wight,  Esq.,  of  the  Rolls  Office,  in 
the  Department  of  State,  Washington,  I).  C. ;  to  Hon.  J.  M. 
Addenian,  Secretary  of  State  of  Rhode  Island ;  to  Dr.  Edward 
Strong  and  David  I'ulsifer,  Esq.,  of  the  Massachusetts 
Archives,  uiulcr  the  charge  of  the  Secretary  of  State  of 
Massachusetts;  to  Chief-justice  Durfee,  and  Justice  Stiness,  of 
the  Rhode  Inland  Supreme  Court,  and  the  clerks  of  the  Rhode 
Island  Supreme  Court  autl  Providence  County  Court  of  Common 
Pleas,  Messrs  Charles  Blake  and  Geo.  E.  Webster;  to  George 
W.  Nichols,  Esq.,  Clerk  of  the  Massachusetts  Supreme  Court, 
Boston,  Mass.  ;  and  to  Major  W.  T.  Harlow,  Assistant-clerk  of 
the  Worcester  County  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  Worcester,  Mass. 
Also  to  Mr.  F.  A.  Williamson,  of  the  Registry  of  Deeds,  in  the 
City  Hall,  Providence,  and  to  Mr.  George  T.  Hart,  of  this  city, 
for  exceedingly  valuable  co-operation  in  the  tracing  of  land 
records. 

For  access  to  the  valuable  papers  of  President  Stiles  at  New 
Haven,  the  author  is  indebted  to  the  courtesy  of  Mr.  F.  B.  Dex- 
ter, of  New  Haven.  For  similar  courtesies  in  connection  with 
both   manuscrijit  and   pamphlet  collections,  he  has  been  placed 


t 


L 


ACKNOWLEDCxMENT    OF    OBLIGATIONS.  XIX 

under  repeated  obligations  to  Dr.  Samuel  A.  Green,  of  tlie 
Massachusetts  Historical  Society.  He  would  acknowledge  also 
similar  courtesies  from  Mr.  John  Ward  Dean,  of  the  New  Ei^^,- 
land  Historic  Genealogical  Society,  in  Boston;  and  Mr.  Edmund 
M.  Barton,  of  the  American  Antiquarian  Society,  at  Worcester, 
Mass.  The  resources  of  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society 
have  of  course  l)een  in  uninterrupted  use,  not  only  as  regards 
the  volumes  in  it  which  are  in  oidinary  cii'culation,  but  the 
manuscripts,  re[)orls,  and  pamplik'ts,  both  bound  and  unbound, 
the  consultation  of  which  has  been  of  so  constant  and  essential 
service.  The  author  is  uuder  great  obligations  not  only  to  the 
librarian,  Mr.  Amos  Perry,  but  to  the  library  committee  of  the 
Society,  for  well  appreciated  efforts  to  place  tiie  resources  of 
the  collection  at  his  disjwsal. 

Nor  is  he  unindebted  to  the  custodians  in  cliai'ge  of  other 
libraries  than  those  of  historical  societies; — particularly  to  the 
librarians  of  Brown  University  and  the  Providence  Athenjeum, 
Dr.  H.  A.  Guild,  and  Mr.  Daniel  Beckwith;  to  the  librarian  of 
the  Redwood  Library,  Newport,  Mr.  B.  F.  Thurston;  to  Messrs. 
Knapp  and  CUnnmings  of  the  Boston  rul)lic  Library;  and  to  the 
ever-obliging  librarian  of  the  Boston  Athenasum,  Mr.  Charles 
A.  Cutter.  He  is  also  very  largely  indebted  to  Professor  Justin 
Winsor,  the  liljrarian  of  Harvard  University,  for  repeated  cour- 
tesies; to  Mr.  Charles  A.  Nelson,  of  the  Astor  Lil)rary,  New 
York;  and  to  Mr.  A.  R.  Spofford,  librarian  of  the  Library  of 
Congress,  and  Mr.  L.  T.  Solberg,  of  the  same  library.  He  is 
indebted  also  to  Messrs.  Nicholson  and  Madan,  of  tlie  Bodleian 
Library,  Oxford,  for  most  courteous  assistance   in    identifying 


XX  STEPHEN    llOl'KINS. 

the  atiUiorsliip  of  some  of  tlie  publications  attributed  to  Gover- 
nor Hopkins.  The  Hon.  Jolui  11.  Bartlett,  whose  acquaintance 
with  tlie  early  history  of  Kliode  Ishmd  is  minute  and  compre- 
hensive, luis  in  repeated  instances  most  courteously  allowed  the 
author  the  privilege  of  consulting  the  John  Carter  Brown  Li- 
brary, that  pricelessly  valuable  depository  of  the  materials  of 
American  history. 

The  author  is  also  indebted  for  various  similar  favors  to 
Professor  William  Ganunell,  Messrs.  Samuel  and  John  Osborne 
Austin,  Charles  Warren  I^ippitt,  Esq.,  Mr.  C.  F.  I'hillips,  Rev. 
E.  M.  Stone,  and  William  B.  Wceden,  Esq.,  of  Providence; 
Messrs.  George  C.  Mason,  K.  H.  Tilley,  and  C.  E.  Hammett,  Jr., 
of  Newport,  K.  1.  ;  Mr.  Erastus  Richardson,  of  Woonsockct,  R. 
I. ;  the  late  Rev.  C.  C.  Beaman,  of  Bostun,  Mass. ;  Col.  Thomas 
Wentworth  Iligginson  and  Mr.  Horace  E.  Scudder,  of  Cam- 
bridge, Mass.  ;  and  Mr.  John  Andrew  Doyle,  of  the  University 
of  Oxford. 

Mr.  Henry  C.  Dorr,  wliose  "Planting  and  grow^th  of  Provi- 
dence" has  placed  so  many  readers  under  obligation  to  liim  l)y 
its  fascinatingly  vivid  reproduction  of  tlic  life  of  this  town  in  its 
early  years,  has  repeatedly  laid  the  present  writer  under  still 
farther  and  especial  indebtedness,  by  valuable  suggestions,  in- 
formation, and  council. 

In  all  other  cases  not  here  expressly  enumerated,  the  author 
begs  that  those  who  have  so  generously  forwarded  his  under- 
taking will  receive  liis  sincere  thanks. 


CHAPTER  T. 


INTRODUCTORY. 


The  changes  which  the  eighteenth  century  wit- 
nessed in  America  were  essentially  in  the  nature  of  a 
political  development.  Nowhere  was  this  develop- 
ment more  striking  than  in  Rhode  Island.  Between 
the  Rhode  Island,  indeed,  of  the  year  1700,  and  the 
same  territory  in  the  year  1709,  there  is  a  difference 
that  is  well-nio-h  fundamental.  It  is  a  dilference 
between  a  feeble  and  sparsely  populated  colony  on 
the  one  hand  ; — and,  on  the  other,  a  prosperous, 
populous,  well-administered  state,  in  a  national 
union  of  local  governments. 

In  1700  is  to  be  seen  a  community  with  but  slight 
coujmunicationi   of  any   kind  with   the  other   North 

1  Their  "  highways,"  says  Mr.  Dorr,  "  had  been  with  a  view  to  prevent  the 
escape  of  cattle,  ratlier  than  to  Oder  any  temptations  to  travellers."  (Dorr's 
"  Planting  and  growth  of  Trovidence,"  R.  I.  Historical  Tract,  Xo.  15,  p.  123.) 


1  .STKPHKX    HOPKINS. 

American  colonies  ;i  a  settlement  which,  with  its  tliin 
shell  of  territoiy  formed  around  Narragansett  Bay, 
was  persistently  encroached  upon  on  three  sides  ; 
scarcely  evtui  united  in  itself;-  with  hut  the  eml)ers 
of  government  at  homo  ;■'  and  with  hut  a  shadow  of 
influence  ahroad  ;  with  only  the  shghtest  commercial 
or  fishing  or  trading  interests,  which  would  contrih- 
ute  to  the  formsition  of  closer  relations  with  its  neiijh- 
hors  ; — in  short,  with  every  tendency  to  nationality 
suppressed,  and  every  tendency  to  separatism  em- 
phasized and  intensitied. 

In  1791)  is  to  be  seen  a  locally  administered  gov- 
ernment, yet  holding  its  equal  and  symmetrical  posi- 
tion under   a    central   authority  ;   with    its   l)oundary 

1  It  liii'l  not  bi^en  admitteii  to  tin-  New  Eiiglaiid  conCeleraey,  which  liaii 
comu  to  an  end  sixteen  years  before,  (16S4),  after  an  existence  of  more  than 
forty  years . 

2  Only  as  recently  as  16S(),  tlie  advent  of  Sir  Edniund  Andros,  to  quote  tlie 
language  of  a  witty  secretary  of  state,  "  had  acted  as  a  solvent,  to  throw  the 
Rhode  Island  composition  back  into  its  original  elements."    (See  also  Arnold's 

•  "  Rhode  Island,"  I.  •1S7-S8.) 

3  In  the  State  Paper  OfBce  at  London  is  a  letter  written  in  lOlW  by  the  Earl 
of  Bellomont,  the  royal  governor,  describing  th  s  government  of  Rhode  Island 
as  "  the  most  irregular  and  illegal  in  their  administration  that  ever  any  Eng- 
lish government  was."  Compare  Arnold's  "  IJhode  Island,"  I.  551.  That  the 
colony  "  was  not  utterly  crushed,"  Mr.  Arnold  adds,  "  is  the  greatest  marvel  in 
the  history  of  Rhode  I.sland  in  the  seventeenth  century."    (p.  -Wa.) 


INTUODUCTOKY.  6 

lines  at  last  so  fixed  and  determined  that  all  the  years 
which  have  since  elapsed  have  wrought  but  slight 
changes!  in  them ;  with  a  population-  increased 
nearly  seven-fold  during  the  century  ;  with  rapidly 
growing  wealth  ;  with  flourishing  foreign  and  domes- 
tic commerce  ;^  with  a  system  of  manufactures  still  iu 
their  infancy,  but  giving  abundant  promise  for  the 
near  future  ;'»  with  the  public  interest  iu  public  edu- 

1  The  last  step  in  the  settlement  of  the  boundary  questions  of  the  last  two 
centuries  was  taken  on  the  22d  of  March  of  the  present  year,  (1883),  when  an 
act  was  passed  by  the  Rhode  Island  General  Assembly,  which  provides  for 
straightening  the  northern  boundary  line,  by  the  transfer  of  a  trifling  quantity 
of  land  to  Massachusetts.     (Public  laws,  Jan.  sess.,  1883,  chap.  342). 

2  The  population  of  Rhode  Island  was  estimated  at  10,000  in  1702  (Report 
of  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel);  and  in  1800  the  United  States 
census  made  it  69,122.  The  population  of  Providence  is  given  as  1,446  in  1708, 
and  7,614  in  1800.     ("  Manual  of  the  state  of  Rhode  Island,"  1882-83,  p.  78-80). 

3  Some  commercial  statistics  are  cited  in  Arnold's  "  Rhode  Island,"  II.  558; 
among  others,  those  of  the  River  Machine  Company,  of  Providence,  stating 
that  "  there  is  a  greater  numbef  of  vessels  belonging  to  this  port  than  to  New 
York,"  and  "  that  it  is  a  place  of  more  navigation  than  any  of  its  size  in  the 
union."  This  was  in  1790,  and  the  number  continued  to  increase  until  just 
previous  to  the  war  of  1812.  The  figures  given  in  this  petition  should,  how- 
ever, be  compared  with  Tables  I.  and  II.,  in  Pitkin's  "  Statistical  view  of  the 
commerce  of  the  United  States,"  p.  4.35,  4.38,  411.  These  tables  show  that  in 
1793,  the  shipping  of  this  state  was  decidedly  devoted  to  the  coasting  trade. 

4  In  1812  there  were  53  cotton  factories  within  a  circuit  of  30  miles  around 
Providence,  some  of  them  being  in  JIassachusetts.  White's  "  Samuel  Slater," 
p.  18S. 


4  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

cation  iiewiy  awakened  ;  with  a  collegei  drawing  to 
itself  and  to  the  state  at  the  same  time,  the  alwaj^s 
attendant  consequences  of  literary  and  general  cul- 
ture in  the  community  ;  with  a  spirit  and  an  outlook 
no  longer  narrowed  to  the  petty  concerns  of  a  single 
colony,  but  breathing  a  grateful  pride  in  the  historic 
achievements  of  a  nation  of  Americans  ;  with  cordial 
relations  now  established  between  this  state  and  its 
sister  states,  relations  which  had  been  cemented  by 
the  bloody  resistance  to  a  common  foe  through  which 
they  had  together  passed;  finally,  with  a  common  in- 
terest in  that  national  government  under  whose  pro- 
tection all  the  states,  with  their  peculiar  traditions 
and  varied  individual  history,  were  now  together 
content  to  flourish. 

The  progress  is  a  striking  one  ;  and  the  progress 
in  this  colony  towards  nationality  is  almost  wholly 
without  a  parallel  elsewhere;  for  in  no  other  colony 
were  there  such  difficulties  to  be  overcome  as  in 
Rhode  Island. 

When  we  seek  to  ascertain  the  causes  and  tenden- 
cies underlying    this  development,    we  can    by    no 


1    Founded  1764. 


INTRODUCTORY.  5 

means  leave  out  of  account  the  operation  of  natural 
and  political  laws  ;  for  these  had  their  due  weight. 
But  at  the  same  time  we  cannot  fail  to  recognize  the 
direct,  positive,  personal  influence  of  individual  pub- 
lic men.  Not  wholly  a  creation,  yet  not  wholly  a 
natural  growth,  this  political  phenomenon  is  ade- 
quately considered  only  when  we  recognize  both 
phases  of  the  subject.  And  if  we  look  for  names  of 
individual  men,  whose  careers  were  intimately  asso- 
ciated with  this  development  at  different  stages  of  its 
progress,  we  shall  find  more  than  one  noteworthy 
instance. 

The  name  of  Samuel  \Vard,i  whose  strong,  ardent, 
effective  interest  in  bringing  different  sections  of  the 
country  to  unite  in  a  general  government  was  a  liv- 
ing force  ;  that  of  Nathanael  Greene,'^  whose  intimate 
association  with  Washington,  and  commanding  in- 
fluence at  home  must  be  recognized  as  a  most  effec- 
tive agency  in   bringing  his   native  state    into   con- 

1  His  career  has  been  lucidly  traced  by  Professor  William  Gammell,  iu  his 
"Life  of  Samuel  Ward,"  (Sparks's  "  Library  of  American  biography,"  2d 
series,  IX.  231-35SJ. 

2  His  services  have  been  recounted  iu  the  fascinating  pages  of  his  grandson, 
("  Life  of  Nathanael  Greene,"  by  George  Washington  Greene). 


6  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

certed  action  with  the  others;  that  of  his  kinsman, 
Governor  William  Greene,  the  second  of  the  name; 
that  of  Nicholas  Cooke,  the  "  war  governor  "  of  the 
revolution,  who,  in  the  words  of  a  well  known 
Avritcr,  "  seemed  to  rise  with  the  spirit  of  the  da}',"' 
and  in  the  performance  of  faithful  service  to  his  own 
colony,  reached  a  1)etter  conception  of  the  general 
welfare  of  the  United  Colonies;  and  that  of  William 
EUer}',-  the  devoted  representative  of  Rhode  Island 
in  the  Continental  Congress  throughout  the  entire 
war,  with  the  single  exception  of  the  lirst  year;  — 
these  are  the  names  which  are  at  once  suggested.  Nor 
should  the  public  spirited  efforts  of  .Mannings  he 
overlooked,  nor  those  of  the  men  who  with  him  con- 
tributed to  the  final  result  of  bringing  Rhode  Island 
into  the  union  ; — the  intelligent  counsel  of  Bradford  ; 
the  effective  influence  of  Jal)ez  Bowen  :  the  fiery 
eloquence  of  Varnum,  Avhose  argument  in  the  case  of 

1  The  late  John  Howland.     (See  Stone's  "  John  Howhind,"  p.  42.) 

2  See  his  life,  by  Professor  E.  T.  Channing,  of  Harvard  College.  (Sparks's 
"  Librarj-  of  American  biography,"  1st  series,  VI.  S5-lo0). 

3  President  Manning,  though  not  born  in  Pthode  Island,  was  the  means  of 
rendering  the  state  more  than  one  distinguished  service.  (See  GuDd's  "  Life, 
times,  and  correspondence  of  James  Manning,"  p.  .3~'-82,  390^07,  416-19). 


INTKODUCTOKY.  7 

Trevett  versus  AVeedeu  had  a  profound  effect ;  the 
patriotic  exertions  of  the  Browns,  the  "four  brothers," 
whose  name  was  a  synonym  for  public  spirit ;  the 
faithful  eftbrts  of  Benjamin  Bourne  ;  and  the  well- 
directed  and  untiring  services  of  Theodore  Foster, 
destined  to  be  Rhode  Island's  senator  in  the  first 
national  congress,  for  thirteen  3ears  of  continuous 
service.  It  was  under  the  impetus  of  their  united 
efforts  that  Rhode  Island  was  tided  over  her  last  and 
most  critical  danger,  and  brought  finally  into  the 
union.  Nor  should  the  name  of  Governor  Samuel 
Cranston  be  omitted,  that  sevcnteenth-centurv  STov- 
ernor,  Avhose  period  of  oiiice,  by  twenty-eight  suc- 
cessive re-elections,^  extended  far  into  the  eight- 
eenth ;  and  to  whose  firmness  and  sagacity  are  per- 
haps to  be  ascribed  the  first  of  that  series  of  influ- 
ences which  made  the  eighteenth  centurv  in  Rhode 
Island  a  period  of  development. 

But  any  consideration  of  this  kind  which  should 
fail  to  include  the  name  of  Stephen  Hopkins  would 
be  conspicuously  incomplete.       His  service  was  ren- 

1    First  elected,  3Ia7, 169S.    Died  iu  oflSce,  April,  1727.      ("Records  of  the 
colony  of  Rhode  Island,'^  etc.,  III.  333;  IV.  387.) 


8  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

dercd  for  a  longer  timei  and  was  more  wide-reaching 
in  its  influence,  than  that  of  any  other  man.     He  was 
the  contemporary  of  all  these  men,  as  he  had  been  of 
the  fathers  of  most  of  them.     More  than  one  of  them 
looked  to  him  as   a  political  instructor  as  well  as  an 
intimate  friend.     And,  as  will  be  more  particularly 
shown  hereafter,  although   his  own   life   closed   live 
years  before  the  adoption  of  the  United  States  con- 
stitution by  Rhode  Island,  the   conclusion  is  not  an 
unwarranted  one  that  in  a  peculiar  sense  that  act 
was  the  crown  of  his  work  and  influence.      When  we 
consider  his  unusually  prolonged  life,  (from  1707  to 
1785),  and  see  how  he  touched  the  life  of  the  colony 
at  the  beginning  of  the  century,  in  the  middle,  and 
near  the  close,  we  need  scarcely  hesitate  to  pronounce 
him  the  representative  Rhode  Islander  of  the  eight- 
eenth century. 

1    He  was  actually  in  public  life,  from  1731  to  1780,  nearly  fifty  years. 


CHAPTER  II. 


A.NCESTRY  AND  FAMILY  CONNECTIONS. 


Stephen  Hopkins  was  born  in   Providence, i  R.  I., 

1  It  is  proper  to  cite  the  grounds  for  this  statement  as  to  Governor  Hopkins's 
birthplace ;  varying  as  it  does,  from  every  other  printed  statement  which  has 
come  under  the  observation  of  the  writer.  Of  tlie  writers  mentioned  in  Appen  - 
dix  A,  as  giving  the  facts  of  his  life  and  career,  all  but  two  say  that  he  was 
born  "in  Scituate,  Rliode  Island."  One,  (Spaulding),  says  "  Scituate,  Mass.," 
an  evident  error.  The  remaining  writer,  Mr.  Albert  Holbrook,  the  painstak- 
ing author  of  the  "Genealogy  of  one  line  of  the  Hopkins  family,"  repeatedly 
referred  to  in  this  volume,  says  (p.  12,  1.3),  "in  Cranston."  He  does  not,  how- 
ever, indicate  more  definitely  what  the  locality  is.  Fortunately  we  are  not 
without  the  testimony  of  Governor  Hopkins,  himself,  in  this  matter,  in  a  record 
of  his  family.  Moses  Brown,  as  he  tells  us,  found  "among  his  papers,  in  his  own 
handwriting  a  manuscript  record  of  his  family,  (tlie  Hopkins  family),  dated 
Feb.  3,  1754,"  (Letter  of  Moses  Brown  to  Robert  Wain,  in  182.3).  The  origin- 
al of  this  paper  is  not  in  existence,  but  a  copy  of  it,  in  the  hand-writing  of 
Senator  Theodore  Foster,  is  preserved  in  the  archives  of  the  Rhode  Island 
Historical  Society.  (Foster  Papers,  VI.  12).  Governor  Hopkins  here  makes  the 
distinct  statement:  "  Stephen  Hopkins,  of  Providence,  in  the  county  of  Provi- 
dence, was  born  in  Cranston,"  by  which  of  course  he  means  to  designate  some 
portion  of  the  early  town  of  Providence  included  in  the  territory  set  off  under 
the  name  of  Cranston  only  four  months  later,  (June  H,  1754),  and  even  then 


STErUEN    HOrivlT^S. 

10 


..vpv    not  merely  a 
,,„,,,  „f  .hat  in  .701  «->>^^^^,^^^,„.,,„  its 

eorpovalc  luii.ls  ,  tl.ou^ 

neighboring  town.^  ^^^^     .,„,,    ,„d   h.s 

Thvongh  his  lathe>,  ^^  >  ^^^^^_^^^^,  f,,„  the 
„olhev,RnthVViUunso,.  ^^ 

toV.lies  of  Hopluns,  ^"^,^,^^„A^^.^^^- 

„,      11  IS  next  "■!"""'  ,  ,-r,,mlv.«ttl>« 

.,  «„.  .e„U.r,  M.  «-•  ^'l      ,,„.  ,<,..,„,  .,  ».e  '^Z<>.,  won. 
.,..e  «t.».  !<«<'•  "f ";  *,„  Appe.u.U  D). «"'»  "' "  ,     „,  „„  „,a  «t 

,,  a  veritable  -Uve  of  r>  ,  ,,,e.dy  cited,  U  :  "on 

Monday.  ^^-  •^^;;!:\7rt:r  papers,  VI.  V.).  ^^  ^,,,e. 

day  of  March,  1-0, .      (  ^^^^^,^  f,,„,  .v.U  be  g  ^^^^^^^  „f 

^    ^"^^"^^:r;::i^-orrespo.ded^aayt.    -^^^^^^^      ^,. , 
3    Theto^n     t  P'OV  ^^^^   ^^^^_^^  ^^,,„  ,,e  first  dn..o 
Providence,  until  r      •  iocorporatlon 

col.  Bccords,  IV.  44.-^^  ^^  ^  .^^ritory  i-^"<^<^^;;^^;  3, ,  .It  re-^n- 

,    The  estate  in  "i-^^-;  ^^,,f,,,,.  ,K.  I.  Col.  Records.  ^  •  3.  )• 


onUetovvnofOrau....y  ^^^_ 

„exed  as  the  0th  ward,  June  1, 


ANCESTRY    AND    FAMILY    CONNECTIONS.  11 

out  exception  ;  families,  moreover,  which  were  con- 
nected in  three'  of  these  instances  with  the  settlement 
as  oiiirinallv  made  under  Ro^^er  Williams. 

His  paternal  ancestor,-  Thomas  Hopkins, 3  was 
born  in  England  in  1016."  The  precise  locality  has 
not  been  ascertained,  yet  his  [Thomas's]  motherV 
family  were  residents  of  Cheselbourne,  in  Dorset- 
shire,*^ where   her  ancestors,  for  several  generations 

1  Arnold,  Wickenden,  iind  Hoiikins.     (R.  I.  Col.  Record.^,  I.  21,  2i). 

2  Three  generations  back.  Thomas  Hopkins,'  William*  Hopkins,^ 
William  Hopkins,^  Stephen  Hopkins.^     See  Aj)pendix  C. 

3  Thomas  stands  in  the  foregoing  list  as  of  the  first  American  generation. 
His  father,  William  Hopkins,  never  came  to  this  country.  No  connection  is 
known  to  exist  between  this  family  ami  that  of  Stephen  Hopkins  of  the  Plym- 
outh Colony,  (Assistant,  163:5-36),  or  that  of  Governor  Kdward  Hopkins  of 
the  Connecticut  Colony. 

i  He  was  "baptized,  April  7,  1610."  The  record  of  his  birth  Is  not  found.  He 
had  two  sisters,  Frances  and  Elizabeth.  (Arnold  fiimiW  recordf,  Xeiv- Eng- 
land Historical  and  Genealogical  Register,  XXXIII.  428). 

5  Joanna  Arnold. 

6  It  is  interesting  to  notice  that  in  the  case  of  Providence,  as  in  that  of 
what  may  almost  be  called  its  parent  town,  Salem,  some  of  the  best  known  of 
the  original  settlers  were  from  the  southwestern  countiesof  England,— Dorset- 
shire, Wiltshire,  Somerset,  and  Devonshire.  This  locality  was  the  home  of 
the  Endicotts,  the  Woodberrys,  the  Dodges,  and  the  Halclis,  of  Salem,  and  of 
the  Greenes,  the  Carpenters,  the  Arnolds,  and  possibly  the  Hopkins's,  of  Provi- 
dence. (See  "Historical  collections  of  the  Essex  Institute,"  XVII.  Gleanings 
from  English  records  about  New  England  families.  Also,  Savage's  "Genea 
logical  dictionary.") 


as 


]2  STHPHEN    HOrKINS. 

had  lield  estates.'  The  paternal  line  of  Thoma? 
Hopkins  has  been  traced  no  farther  hack  in  England 
than  to  the  bare  name  of  his  father,  William  Hop- 
kins.^  Of  the  family  of  his  mother,  Joanna  Arnold, ^ 
more  is  known  ;  her  line  having  been  followed  back 
through  five  generations  of  Arnolds  in  Dorset  and 
Somerset,  to  Koger  Arnold,*  in  the  fifteenth  century, 
who  appears  to  have  been  of  Welsh  origin.  The 
Arnold  family  became,  on  removing  across  the 
Atlantic,'  one  of  the  best  known  families  of  Rhode 
Island,  identified  with  its  history'  in  each  successive 
generation. -"^ 

1  K.  E.  Hist.  Gen.  Reg.,  XXXIII.  4:j4-.35. 

2  Hopkins  genealogy,  p.  7. 

3  Joanna  Arnold,  "  baptized  the  30'  of  Xovenibei'  in  the  yeare  1577  "  mar- 
ried William  Hopkins,  sonietime  before  l(il4.  X.  E.  Hist.  Gen.  Register, 
XXXIII.  427. 

4  Roger  Arnold  ;i  Thomas  Arnold, =  married  Agnes,  daughter  of  .sir 
Kichard  AVarnestead,  Knt.;  Richard  Arnold,^  of  Street,  in  Somerset,  mar- 
ried Emmote  Young;  Kichard  Arnold,-'  of  Jlilton  Abbas,  Dorsetshire; 
Thomas  Arnold, s  (Cheselboiirne),  married  Alice  Giilley,  daughter  of  Jolm 
Gulley,  of  Cheselbourne;  Joanna  ArnoUI,"  baptized  30  Nov.,  1577.  (A".  E. 
hist.  Gen.  Reg.,  XXXIII.  434-35.)  The  family  record  just  cited  indicates  also 
the  supposed  Welsh  line  of  descent;   (p.  433-34). 

5  In  the  8th  generation  from  the  Tliomas   Arnold,  just  mentioned,    (the 

father  of  Joanna),  is  the  late  Samuel  G.  .A.rnold,  the  distinguished  liistorian  of  .   ,i' 

tlie  state. 


ANCESTIIY    AND    FAMILY    CONNECTIONS.  13 

Authentic  records  are  silent  as  to  the  circumstan- 
ces of  Thomas  Hopkins's  life  in  England.  They  are 
no  less  silent  as  to  the  time  and  manner  of  his 
removal  to  America  ;'  the  first  information  that  we 
have  of  him  locating  him  at  Providence  as  early  as 
1(538.-     Whether  he  was  married  on  the   other  side 

1  Savage's  statement,  ("Genealogical  dictionary,"  II.  402)  :—"  Thomas, 
Providence,  IGll,  luul  foil. [owed]  Roger  Williams  in  103()  from  riymouth,"  is 
strangely  beside  the  facts ;  nor  does  it  appear  who  furnislicd  him  with  this 
information.  See  Appundi-vc  E  for  the  examination  of  other  statements  of 
Savage.  ' 

2  At  the  assignment  of  the  fifty.four  home  lots  in  1G38,  (from  the  territory 
now  bounded  by  Olney,  Hope,  Wickeiiden,  and  North  and  South  Main  Streets), 
the  entry  of  his  name  shows  him  to  have  been  already  on  the  ground.  (R.  I. 
Col.  Records,  I.  21).  With  him  at  Providence  at  the  same  assignment  were 
his  brother-in-law,  William  Man,  (husband  of  his  sister,  Frances),  and  his 
cousin,  William  Arnold.  Also,  Arnold's  son,  Benedict  Arnold;  his  son-in-law, 
"William  Carpenter;  and  John  Greene,  whose  grandson  married  his  grand- 
daughter. As*  already  indicated,  they  were  mostly  from  the  same  quarter  of 
England.  Whether  they  all  came  in  t!ie  same  vessel  with  William  Arnold, 
(who  "sett  sayle  ffrom  Dartmouth  in  Old  England,  the  first  of  May,  *  *  *  1635," 
arriving  in  New  England,  .lune  24  of  the  same  year),  there  is  nothing  to  indi- 
cate. The  entry  just  cited  is  from  a  manuscript  record  of  Benedict  Arnold, 
printed  in  the  .V.  E.  IJist.  Gen.  R,f/.  XX.XIII.  428.  From  this  and  other 
accounts,  it  would  appear  that  he  first .  settled  at  Hingham,  near  Boston,  but 
came  to  Providence  in  the  spring  of  1030.  (A'^.  £.  Uist.  Gen.  Reg.  XXXIII. 
436,  428). 


14  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

of  the  Atlantic  or  thls,i  the  name  and  family  of  his 
wifo,^  the  dates  of  his  marriage  and  of  the  births  of 
his  children, 2  can  ho  only  matters  of  conjecture. 
Ilis  children  appear  to  have  been  three  in  number; 
two  sons,  William-  and  Thomas;-  and  a  third,  prob- 
ably a  son, 2  whose  name  is  not  preserved.  Ilis 
"  home  lot,"  as  indicated  bv  the  assis-nment  in  10383 
occupied  the  territory  now  partiall}'  traversed  by 
Williams  St.  But  he  soon  afterwards  acquired  an 
estate  at  Louisquisset,  in  what  is  now  Lincoln,''  and 
here  he  lived,  in  all  prol)al)ilit3%-^  until  the  outI)reak 
of  King  Philip's  war,''  in  1675.  Here,  doubtless, 
his  children  were  born,  but  of  this  there  is  no  record. 
Were  it  not  for  the  occasional  entries  of  his  name  on 

1  Mr.  Holbrook's  conjecture  is  that  "  he  married,  probably  about  tlie  year 
104y,"  at  I'rovidi'iicp.     (Uoplcius  genealogy,  p.  9).    Tlie  records  are  silent. 

2  See  Appendix  E.  .3    R.  I.  Col.  Hecords,  I.  •>■!. 

4  The  e.xact  neighborliood  was  known  as  Louisquisset  very  early.  See  deed 
from  Major  William  Hopkins  to  his  brother,  Thomas,  Dec.  27, 161)2,  (Providence 
deeds,  IV.  11);  also  the  "lay-out"  of  additional  land  to  Thomas  April  10, 
1704.  (Providence  land  records  (old  books),  III.  21-3) ;  see  also  Foster  I'apers, 

XIII.  18. 

5  It  by  no  means  follows  that  the  "  home  lot "  received  in  the  assignment  of 
10.38,  was  in  every  instance  the  "  home  "  of  the  owner. 

C    See  Newport  Historical  Jfagaziiie,  III.  259. 


J 


^r 


ANCESTRY  AND  FAMILY  CONNECTIONS.      15 

the  colony  records,  the  knowledge  wo  have  of  this 
emigrant  ancestor  would  be  even  more  shadowy  than 
it  is.  lie  was  one  of  the  39  inhabitants,  who  sisfned 
the  compact^  of  July  27,  1()40,  memorable  as  being 
the  action  with  which  the  town  organization  virtually 
began. 2  His  name  occurs  in  the  list  of  six  "com- 
missioners" from  the  town  of  Providence  to  the 
General  Assembly,  which  met  at  Providence,  October 
28,  1052,3  during  the  period  when  Portsmouth  and 
Newport  were  carrying  on  a  government  apart  from 
that  of  Providence  and  Warwick.^  lie  served  also 
as  commissioner  under  the  re-established  govern- 
ment, in  1()5U^  and  IGOO  ;^  and  was  a  member  of  the 
General  Assembly  under  the  charter,  in  1605^  and 
1GG7.^  In  1G68  his  name  is  signed  to  that  unique 
"  letter  missive,"  entitled   "  The    fire-brand    discov- 


1  R.  I.  Col.  Record?,  I.  31 ;  Sfaples's  "  Annals  of  Providence,"  p.  43. 

2  Staples's  "  Annals  "  p.  •H-45. 

3  R.  I.  Col.  Records,  I.  245. 

4  See  Arnold's  "  Rliode  Island,"  I.  ch.  8.  In  the  Colony  Records,  (I.  243- 
40),  tliere  is  printed  a  letter  addressed  by  the  members  of  this  General  Assem- 
bly, to  Roger  Williams,  then  in  England. 

5  R.  I.  Col.  Records,  I.  408-  6    Ibid.,  I.  431. 
7    Ibid.,  II.  130.  8    Ibid.,  II.  200. 


16  STErilEN    HOPKINS. 

ercd,"^  sent  by  n  coinniiltcc  of  the  town  of  Provi- 
dciico,  to  the  other  towns,  in  rehition  to  ^Villi:lm 
Harris.  In  1(!()7  and  1(172  he  was  a  mcniher  of  the 
town  conncil.-  His  nain(!,  of  eonrse,  disa[)[)ears"^ 
fi'oni  any  Khode  Island  records  after  1()75,  and 
nothing  more  is  heard  of  him  until  jiis  death.  Ho 
died  at  Oyster  Bay,  N.  Y.,  1084,  (perhaps  in 
August).'' 

Major  William  Hopkins,  his  eldest  son,  was  now 
prol)al)Iy  about  thirty-lour''  years  of  age,  and  by  far 
the  best  known  and  most  positive  charaeter  among 
the  three  children.     He   had  married  shortly  before 


1     Staplcs's  "  Aiiii:ils,"p.  H:;-!.}.  2    Ibid.,  p.  051. 

3  A  "  Tlioiiias  Hopkins "  was  u  hhiiiIm  r  of"  tlie  (iiiicral  Assembly  from 
Providoiicf  ill  10?,!.  (K.  I.  Col.  Uccorils,  II. -11',)).  Tliis  may  have  bt-eii  he, 
but  it  may  also  have  been  his  .son,  Tliomas,  wlio  was  now  of  age  to  serve  in 
this  ollice.  Two  additional  entiiesof  his  name  will  be  found  in  Staples'3 
"Annals,"  j).  7(i,  lOo. 

4  At  any  rate,  !it  some  time  not  lon^;  previous  fo  September  G,  IGSl,  when 
he  is  s])ok(n  of  as  "  lately  deceased."  (Oyster  l!ay  town  records,  book  I?.,  p. 
M).  Savage's  slaleinent,  {"  Cienealiigical  dictionary,"  II.  -tCi-J),  is  tliat  he 
"d[  ii-d)  ICi'.il)  "  lint  tills  conlounds  him  \\  itii  the  "  'rhomas  Hopkins  of  Jlashan- 
taliil,"    (p(rhai)s  within  Cranslon  or  Vtarwick  limits),  whose  will,  (dated Oct. 

20,  lODtS),  was  probated  Feb.  '-'0.  101)8-'.).     (I'rovideiiee  Wills,  I.  2?.)).  ' 

5  See   llolbrook's  remark  as  to  the  probable  date  of  birth.    (Hopkins  gene- 

ftlogy,  p.  0).  ,     J 

I'' 


ANCESTRY  AI^^D  FAMILY  CONNECTIONS.      17 

this/  the  daughter^  of  Captain  John  Whipple, 3  one 

1  "  About  ICSO,"  snys  the  Hopkins  genciilof^y,  p.  10. 

2  Tilt'  imiiie  of  tlii.s  (ImiglitiT,  Abigail,  is  not  includetl  in  tlie  list  of  baptisms 
of  John  Whipple's  cliiklren  at  DorchesttT,  (Foster  Papers,  VI.  D).  The  infer- 
ence is,  therefore,  that  she  was  born  after  his  removal  to  Providence  in  1059. 
(Savage's  "  Ocncalogical  dictionary,"  IV.  500).  The  entry  of  her  birth,  how- 
ever, is  not  found  on  the  Providence  records.  The  account  of  the  "Descendants 
of  John  Wliipple,"  (y.  A'.  HM.  Gen.  Uvg.,  XXXII.  401),  says  that  she  was  born 
"  1GC5."  Yet  she  had  married  Stephen  De.\fer,  and  was  the  mother  of  two 
children  by  him  (named  in  her  will  of  Aug.  10,  1~l'5,  (Providence  Wills,  II. 
237),  as  John  Dexter  and  Abigail  Field),  at  the  time  of  his  death  in  10"8, 
(Dorr's  "Providence,"  p.  30).  She  was  thfrefore  a  widow  at  the  age  of 
13  ( !)  And  she  is  said  to  have  married  .Major  Hopkins  about  lOSO.  That  one 
of  the  statements  cited  above  is  incorrect  seems  very  evident.  Possibly  the 
date  of  her  birth  should  be  carried  farther  back. 

3  John  Whipple,  like  John  Smith,  "the  miller,"  was  from  Dorchester, 
Mass.,  and  the  "registry  of  baptismes  "  of  eight  of  his  children,  copied  from  the 
church  records  of  the  First  Church  in  Dorchester,  in  1708,  and  "attested"  in 
the  handwriting  of  the  then  minister  of  Dorchester,  Uev.  John  Danforth,  is 
preserved  in  the  Foster  Papers,  VI.  0.  He  was  for  a  time  in  the  employ  of 
Israel  Stoughton,  the  father  of  the  future  Governor  Stoughton,  of  Massachu- 
setts; and  Savage,  ("Genealogical  dictionary,"  IV.  505\  intimates  that  he  may 
have  come  from  England  in  the  same  year  with  him,  1632.  Dorcliester,  at  this 
early  day  extended  nearly  to  the  Rhode  Island  line,  (Clnpp's  "History  of  the 
town  of  Dorchester,"  p.  20),  and  it  is  by  no  means  certain  in  what  portion  ot 
this  territory  he  lived.  His  name  occurs  once  on  the  Dorchester  town 
records,  in  connection  with  a  grant  of  land,  of  trifling  e.xtent,  "about  the 
mill,"  Jan- ->  l''-^''-  (Fourth  report  of  Boston  Record  Commissioners,  ISSO, 
p.  27).  The  home  of  John  Smith,  however,  (whose  son  John  married  his 
daughter  Sarah),  was  at  Ponkapog,  near  the  southern  base  of  the  Blue 
Hills.  (Manuscript  notes  of  Job  Smith).  John  Whipple  received  an  allotment 
of  land  at  Louisquisset,  June  27,  1659.     (Foster  Papers,  XIII.   18).      Ilis  inn 


18  .         STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

of  the  prominent  figures  in  all  phases  of  Providence 
life,  from  IGliO^  to  lG85,as  inn-holder,  surveyor,  car- 
pentcr,2  member  of  the  town  council,"'  and  member 
of  the  General  Assembly. 4  He  was  also  the  princi- 
pal trader,  and  a  principal  legal  practitioner  in  the 
town,  while  he  lived. ^  Traits  of  this  enei'getic 
seventeenth-century  public  character  will  be  found  to 


stood  on  the  Town  Street,  nt  the  foot  of  the  present  Constitution  Hill,  (the 
site  of  3C9  North  Main  Street).  "From  the  staid  and  sober  character  of 
the  old  Wiiipple  inn,"  says  Mr.  Dorr,  "as  well  as  from  its  central  position,  it 
became  the  favorite  place  of  meeting  of  the  town  council  and  court  of  probate." 
(There  was  no  Colony  house  in  Providence  until  1731).  Dorr's  "  I'rovideuce," 
p.  184,  155. 

1  He  removed  to  Providence  about  1059.      His  will  is  dated  May  IC,  1CS5. 
(Foster  Papers,  VI.  3). 

2  He  had  been  a  carpenter  in  Dorchester.  (iV.  E.  Hist.  Gen.  Reg.  XXXII. 
403).    See  also  Dorr's  "  Providence,"  p.  fiS. 

3  In  1GG9.    Staples's  "Annals,"  p.  054. 

4  In  lOGG,  1GG9,  and  1G75-6.    R.  I.  Col.  Records,  II.  150,  241,  532. 

6  In  the  si.\teen  bound  volumes  of  manuscripts  known  as  the  Foster  Papers, 
(in  the  possession  of  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society),  are  preserved  a 
large  number  of  John  Whipple's  papers,  public  and  private,  together  with 
some  of  John  Whipple  Jr's.  Tiiey  were  inherited  by  Governor  Hopkins,  and 
were  by  him  placed  in  the  hands  of  Senator  Foster  between  1/70  and  irS5. 
Tliey  comprise  deeds,  deposition-:,  writs,  warrants,  returns  of  surveys,  several 
instances  of  '-power  of  attorney,"  and  letters. 

There  is  also  one  curious  seventeenth  century  bill  of  lading,  dated  July  3, 
16i^,  (Foster  Papers,  XIII.  22). 


(i 


ANCESTRY  AND  FAMILY  CONNECTIONS.      19 

characterize  his  son-in-hiw,  Major  Hopkins,  to  some 
extent;  but  they  certainly  reappear  with  marked 
force,  in  tlie  Major's  grandson,  Governor  Hopkins. i 
Major  William  Hopkins  was  admitted  a  freeman  of 
the  colony.  April  30,  1672.^  The  business  to  which 
he  was  brought  up  was  undoubtedly  farming,  but  he 
is  early  known  also  as  a  surveyor ;  and,  says  Hol- 
brook,  "numerous  accounts  of  his  labors  in  this  pro- 
fession abound  in  the  records."^  The  advent  of  King 
Philip's  war,  in  1675,  would  seem  to  have  scattered 
the  Hopkins  family  very  completely.  William's 
father,  with  his  sister-in-law''  and  her  children,  ap- 
pear to  have  gone,  at  this  time,^  to  Long  Island. 
His  brother  Thomas  remained  on  the  Louisquisset 
estate.^     He  himself,  being  a  military  man,^  not  only 


I    See  page  33.  2    R.  I.  Col.  Records,  II.  450. 

3  Hopkins  genealogy,  p.  10. 

4  Her  name  was  Elizabeth.     See  Appendix  E.     The  name  of  this  third 
brother  whom  she  married,  remains  unknown.    See  p.  14. 

5  See  Xeicport  Historical  Magazine,  III.  259. 

6  See  Hopkins  genealogy,  p.  15-16.     See  also  deed  of  Dec.  27,  1692,  (Provi. 
dence  Deeds,  IV.  11),  which  mentions  it  as  the  "lot  on  which  he  now  dwelleth." 

7  He  was  a  "captain  "  as  early  as  16S8,  (R.  I.  Col.  Records,  III.  243) ;  and 
"  major  "  in  1698. 


20  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

renriiiied  in  the  town,  (being  one  of  the  twenty- 
seven  "th:it  stayed  and  went  not  away"  in  King 
Philip's  war,  as  recorded  in  the  town  meeting  rec- 
ords )i  but  performed  military  service.  A  less 
creditable  record  is  associated  with  his  name  in 
August,  1G70,  when  he  was  one  of  those  appointed 
by  the  town,  to  sell  the  Indians  taken  captive  iu 
the  war.-  In  the  neighborhood  of  1G80,  as  has  al- 
ready been  stated, ^  occurred  his  marriage  with  the 
young  widow,  Mrs.  Dexter;  and  from  this  time  he 
is  frequently  found  in  association  with  his  father  in- 
law.'*    Mrs.   Dexter  had   by  her  first  husband^  two 

1  Printed  in  Staples's  "  Annals,"  p.  lO-l-fio.  There  is  a  copy  in  tlie  Foster 
Papers,  I.  3.  Among  other  names  in  tliis  list  are  Ivoger  Williams;  Dmiiel 
Abbott ;  Valentine  Whitman ;  James  Angell ;  Hopkins's  cousin,  Abraham  JIan ; 
and  Captain  .John  Whipple. 

2  staples's  "  Annals,"  p.  1/0.  See  Fost-^r  Papers,  T.  0.  See  also  Arnold's 
reference  to  this  transaction  as  "  in  fact  a  true  apprenticeship  system."  (Ar. 
noUl's  "  Uliode  Island."  I.  419). 

3  See  pages  10-17. 

4  Captain  John  Whipple.  He  probably  lived  in  "The  Neck"  for  some 
years  after  the  war.  ("  I'lie  Xeck  "  was  frequently  used  as  a  designation  before 
the  diviMon  of  the  town  in  ir'.O-l  to  distinguisli  the  settled  part). 

5  Her  hnsbaml,  Stephen  De.xter,  was  tlie  son  of  Rev.  Gregory  Dexter,  at 
first  a  printer  in  L  )ndoii.  Hi*  imprint  is  on  the  title  page  of  Roger  Williams's 
volume,  "  .V  key  into  the  language  of  America,"  (1043).  Gregory  De.vter  came 
to  Providence  about  1044.    Here  he  was  "  for  several  years  town  clerk,"  (Nar- 


AKCESTKY    AND    FAMILY    CONNECTIONS.  21 

children,  John  and  Abigail  Dexter.^  The  date  of 
birth  of  William  H()[)kins,  Jr.,  the  only  son  of  the 
ISIajor  and  his  wife,  is  not  on  record. 2  Their  grand- 
son Stephen's  birth,  however,  occurring  only  twenty- 
seven  years  later, ^  renders  it  probable  that  their  son 
was  born  soon  after  ]68().  In  1(J84  the  death  of 
Major  Hopkins's  father  occurred,  on  Long  Island.'' 
As  surveyor^  of  lands,  Major  Hopkins  was  conver- 
sant with  the  good  qualities  of  much  of  the  land  in 
the  "Plantations  ;  "  and  he  appears  to  have  found  so 
early  as  1689*^  a  piece  of  property"^  which  pleased  him 

ragansett  Club  Pub.,  I.  71) ;  was  president,  (of  Providence  and  Warwick),  in 
1053-54;  was  named  in  the  charter  of  1063;  and  about  1050  acted  as  pastor  of 
the  cliurch  (now  the  First  Baptist  churcli),  in  Providence.  His  great  grand- 
daughter became  the  wife  of  Governor  Hopkins's  eldest  son,  Rufus,  in  1747. 
Wlietlier  Stephen  Hopkins  owed  his  Christian  name  to  this  Stephen  De.\ter, 
whose  widow  became  his  grandmotlior,  docs  not  appear.  He  had  a  somewhat 
remote  kinsman,  Stephen  Arnold,  from  wliom  it  may  have  come. 

1  Tliese  children  are  named  in  her  will.     (Printed  in  Hopkins  genealogy,  p. 

69-71. 

2  Tlie  provoking  incompleteness  of  the  early  records  will  have  already  been 
noticed.  It  is  due  partly  to  original  neglect,  but  partly  to  the  loss  and 
injury  of  certain  volumes. 

3  March  7,  170C-7.  4    See  page  10.  5    Hopkins  genealogy,  p.  10. 

6  Feb.  20,  lGSS-0,  is  the  date  of  the  deed  by  which  he  acquired  ownership  of 
a  portion  of  this  property.  (Providence  Deeds.  I,  ISO).  But  it  is  apparent  that 
this  was  not  his  original  purchase  in  this  locality. 

7  It  is  not  improbable  that  this  property,  which  only  a  few  years  before  had 


22  STErilEN    HOPKINS. 

SO  well  that  ho  made  it  his  home  for  the  rest  of  his 
life, 1  (1_\  iiiir  there  in  17:^3.  Here,  in  i7()7,  his  sou 
and  his  wile  ap[)ear  to  have   been   living  also;  for  it 


been  in  tlie  possession  of  Robert  Coles,  (sec  Appendix  D)  one  of  tlie  fnur 
rawtuxet  owners,  luul  ci>nie  into  M.ijor  Hopkins's  luinds  tlirongh  the  interested 
snggestions  or  cflbrts  of  his  kinsman,  William  Arnold,  liiinself  also  one 
of  tlie  fonr  Pawtuxet  owners.  His  lather,  Thomas  Hopkins,  had  apparently 
been  on  the  most  intimate  terms  «itli  liis  cousins,  the  Arnolds;  and  mention 
Is  made  on  tlie  Providence  town  records,  (April  10,  1704),  of  their  joint 
ownership  in  certain  hind  near  Lonisquisset.  ("  A  half  ri;<lit  of  Tliomua 
Hopkins,  stnr.,  now  deceased,  and  a  half  right  of  William  Arnolil,  deceased"). 
Thomas  Hopkins,  it  may  be  added,  was  a  member  of  the  town  committee 
ajipointed  April,  1001,  "  to  meet  time  of  I'awtnxet  men  and  run  the  line"  "up 
into  the  country,  beguining  at  the  tree  at  .^lasliapaiig."  (Staples's  '■  Annals," 
p.  5~'.J-i>0).  This  committee  ran  the  line  only  as  far  as  the  "  Pawchasit  river," 
and  reported  to  tlie  town  in  .lamuiry,  lOliS.  (Staples's  "  Annals,"  p.  5S0).  The 
same  coniniittee  reported  ill  108:!.  (Staiiles's  "Annals,"  p.  58'.)).  IJeiiig  thus 
connected,  by  interest  at  least,  with  the  fertile  Tawtuxct  lands,  it  is  not  strange 
that  M;ijor  Hopkins  should  have  made  his  permanent  home  in  this  desirable 
location,  not  far  removiil  from  them,  fertain  land  had  been  earlier  "laved 
out  "to  Kobert  Coles,  "  by  the  thirteen  proprietors  of  I'awtuxet  for  his  Paw- 
tuxet share  of  meuddow  in  those  fresh  meaddows  where  it  lieth ;"  and  had 
b<-en  by  him  sold  to  Valentine  Wliilman,  (wliose  name  stands  next  to  that  of 
Pioger  Williams  in  the  Indian  deeds  of  Dec.  J?,  KilU,  Feb.  1,  Km,',  ami  .hiiie  'J4, 
li;:)i;  Stiiples's  "  Annals,"  p.  b7i-7o) ;  and  this  land  was  by  him  transferred  to 
M;ijor  Hopkins  in  the  deed  of  Keb.  L'O,  lOSS-;),  already  alluded  to,  (Providence 
Deeds,  I.  hsCi),  tlius  adding  to  the  estate  already  in  his  jiossession. 

1  In  his  will,  July  1,  17;;:i,  he  calls  it  his  "homestead;"  ("all  that  my 
homestead,  meadows,  and  tenenieuts  where  I  now  dwell").  (Printed  iu  Hop- 
klus  geuealogy,  p.  65). 


ANCESTRY    AND    FAMILY    CONNECTIONS.  23 

was  on  it  that  tlicir  son,  the  fnttirc  Governor  Hop- 
kins,  was  horn,-  in  that  year.  This  hind,  referred 
to  hy  ALajor  II()[)kiiis  in  his  will-  as  "  near  to  a  place 
called  Massapange,"^  and  hy  Governor  Hopkins 
thirty-one  years  later,''  as  "in  Cranston,''^  i.-,  as  has 
already  heen  shown, *>  in  that  i)ai"t  of  the  [)resent  city 
of  Providence  known  as  Sontli  Providence,  near 
Broad,  ki'ackett,  and  Hamilton  Streets.  His  father 
had  died  intestate'  in  lGi54,  and  hy  the  law  of  prinio- 
genitnre^  the  whole  i)r()perty  had  now  conic  into 
his  own  hands.  Bnt,  in  order  to  rcmeily  this 
inecpiality  of  legal  provision,  he  cxecnted  in  1()!J2  a 
"gill  deed ''^  to  his  brother,  transferring  t(j  him  the 
homestead  of  their  father  at  Lonisqnisset,"' on  which, 

1  Slarjh  7,  1703-7.     For  the  evidence  as  to  the  identity  of  this  place,  see 
Appendix  D. 

2  July  1,  17.23.  3    Hopkins  pjenealogy,  p.  05.  4    Feb.  3,  1751. 
5    See  Ajipendix  C.                                         0    See  p.  9. 

7  Oyster  Bay  (N.  Y.)  town  records,  Book  B,  p.  11. 

8  Not  npialed  until  June,  1718.      (I'ublic  laws  of  Ilhode  Island,  1719,  p. 
95-98;. 

9  December  27,  UV.YZ.    (IMovidenc  Deeds,  IV.  11). 

10  There  is  {jreat  lack  of  uiiitbnnity  in  the  spelliiix  of  this  Indian  name. 
Tile  above  is  the  form  in  whicli  it  is  usually  found  on  modern  maps.  Its 
present  form,  says  Dr.  J.  Hammond  Trumbull,  '•  is  corrupt  beyond  conjecture 
of  its  original  Indian  sounds."    Au  examination  of  land  records  shows  this 


2-1  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

in  fact,  Thomas  now  lived. ^  His  first  service  under 
govei'nment  was  during  Andres's  occupation  of  New 
Enixland,  wlicn  he  attended  as  a  memher  of  the 
"grand  jury,"  at  the  "quarter  sessions"  ofSeptemher, 
1088.^  During  Governor  Cranston's  long  adminis- 
tration,  however,  his  attendance  in  the  General  As- 
sembly was  frequent ;  and  ten  tcrms^  of  service  as 
assistant  are  recorded,  in  the  eight  years,  1700-1707. 
His  duties  as  surveyor  made  him  a  pre-eminently 
useful  citizen  in  those  early  days.  Besides  repeatedly 
exercising  this  accomplishment,  in  the  laying  out 
of  the  up-country4  lands,  he  was  appointed  on  a  com- 
mittee^ in  1705  and  1709,  to  rectify  the  northern  and 
eastern  boundaries  of  the  colony  ;  and  in  1708  to  cor- 

locality  to  be  fartlur  north  in  Uie  present  town  of  Lincoln  tliau  tlie  school  dis- 
trict wliich  goes  by  tins  name. 

1  The  deed  mentions  it  as  the  "  lot  on  which  he  now  dwelleth." 

2  During  the  suspension  of  the  chartei",  no  meetings  of  tlie  (ieneral  Assem- 
bly were  lield.  Tlie  record  of  these  quarter  sessions  will  be  found  in  R.  I.  Col. 
Kecords,  HI.  243. 

3  irOO,  iroi,  1702,  1703,  1701,  1705  (May,  June,  and  October,)  1703,  1707.  R. 
I.   Col.  Records,  III.  408,  429,  443,  472,  511,  523,  531,  54<J,  553;  IV.  3. 

4  From  the  time  that  the  seven-mile  line  was  established,  in  IGOO,  (Staples's 
"Annals,"  p.  592j,  the  land  west  of  it  came  more  and  more  into  the  bauds  of 
settlers. 

6    E.  I.  Col.  Bacords,  III.520;  IV.  83. 


ANCESTRY    AND    FAMILY    CONNECTIONS.  25 

rect  the  northern  line^  of  the  King's  Province. "-^  Only 
one  child  is  mentioned  in  his  will, 3  (dated  July  1, 
1723),  namely,  William  Hopkins.  The  "Massapauge" 
homestead  he  bequeathed  to  his  grandson,  Colonel 
William  Hopkins, ^  his  son  having  for  ten  years  or 
more  been  settled  on  a  home  of  his  own,  west  of  the 
seven-mile  line,^  which  his  father's  will  now  con- 
firmed to  him. 6  Major  Hopkins  died  July  8, 
1723." 

Amons:  the  families  which  had  settled  along  the 
Moshassuck  river,  but  outside  the  original  home-lot 
tract,  were  those  of  Christopher  Smith  and  Lawrences 
Wilkinson.     The  latter  had  removed  to  Providence, 

1  R.  I.  Col.  Records,  IV.  42.  It  is  now  the  northern  line  of  Nortli  Kings- 
town and  Exeter. 

•Z  In  1717-18,  also,  a  survey  was  ordered  of  the  land  on  the  west  side  of  the 
Town  street  from  tlie  Mill,  over  the  summit  of  Stampers  Hill,  to  the  farther 
end  of  the  hill.  In  this  "  last  division  of  house  lots,"  as  he  terms  it  in  his  will, 
he  received  land  in  his  father's  name  opposite  the  present  Church  of  the  Re- 
deemer.     (I'lat  of  Providence  proprietor.s,  1718). 

3    Providence  Wills,  II.   139.  i    Hopkins  genealogy,  p.  65. 

5  The  present  eastern  line  of  Barrillville,  Glocester  and  Scituate. 
(Stuples's  "  Annals,"  p.  503). 

6  Hopkins  genealogy,  p.  67.  7    Ibid.,  p.  10. 
8    Frequently  spelt  "  Lawrance." 


2fi  STEPHEN    TIOPKINS. 

from  Ijanchcster,'  in  Durham,  England,  perhaps  as 
early  as  1657  ;•-  the  former  as  early  as  1655.^  Chris- 
tojjhor  Smith  was  perhaps  a  companion  of  Wilkinson, 
the  latter  havins;  married  his  dans^hter  Susannah^  be- 
fore  1(352,'^  and  therefore  before  they  are  known  to 
have  reached  Providence.''  His  land,  like  that  of  the 
family  of  John  Smith,  "the  miller,*'  was  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  present  Smith's  Hill  ;'^  and  this  circumstance 
has  caused  the  naming  of  that  locality  to  be  claimed^ 
for  him,  as  well  as  for  the  miller's  family.^    Possibly 

1  Wilkinson  Memoirs,  p.  33-35. 

2  Providence  Deeds,  etc.,  transcribed,  p.  110.  He  may  liave  been  here 
earlier.  He  received  a  lot,  in  the  quarter-right  distribution,  to  which  the  date 
"the  loth  of  11  mo.  1645,  is  affixed."  (See  Wilkinson  Memoirs,  p.  35-30; 
Staples's  "Annals,"  p.  CiO). 

3  Admitted  freeman,  KvV).  (11.  I.  Col.  Records,  T.  290).  His  previous  hi.story 
is  unknown. 

4  Wilkinson,  (Wilkinson  Memoirs,  p.  45),  maintains  that  the  correct  spell- 
ing of  her  mother's  name  is  "Alee,"  and  not  ".Mice,"  as  Savage  has  it. 

5  Wilkinson  Memoirs,  p.  47-4!<. 

<>    See,  however,  the  Wilkinson  Memoirs,  p.  4s. 

7    Providence  Deeds,  I.  113,  39. 

IS  Wilkinson  Memoirs,  p.  45;  wliich  refers  to  Providence  land  records,  etc., 
(old  books),  I.  30. 

0  Wilkinson  is,  however,  wrong  in  making  the  expression  "brow  of  the 
hill  "  refer  to  Smith's  Hill  itself.  It  refers  rather  to  a  small  but  then  precipi- 
tous  eminence,  soiitheast  of  the  present  bridge  over  the  Moshassuck  at  Nash 
Lane. 


ANCESTKY  AND  FAMILY  CONNECTIONS.      27 

there  are  even  others  of  this  certainly  not  uncommon 
name  who  have  an  equal  claim.' 

Lawrence  Wilkinson's  first  residence  appears  to 
have  been  southeast  of  the  present  North  Burying 
Ground."  In  lt)fi(j,  however,  possibly  about  the 
time  at  which  Thomas  Hopkins^  settled  in  the 
same  locality,  he  received  a  grant  of  land^  in  the 
vicinit}'  of  Louisquisset,  and  this  remained  his 
home  for  the  rest  of  his  life.  He  acquired  much 
additional  land,  however,  amounting  before  his 
death,  to  "about  1,000  acres. "^  He  was  a  member 
of  the  General  Assembly  in  1673.^  He  died  August 
9,  1692, '^  leaving  three  sons  and  three  daughters.^ 

The  eldest  son  of  Lawrence  Wilkinson  was  Sam- 
uel, born  not  far  from  1650.-'  In  1G72'"  he  married 
Plain  Wickendeu,  one  of  the  Rev.  \Mlliam  Wicken- 
den's  three  daughters.     Mr.  Wickenden's  "  home  lot," 


1  No  relationship   has   been  establislied   between   the  two  Smith   fKmilies 
above  named. 

2  Williiusou  Memoirs,  p.  37,  43.  3  See  page  H. 
4  AVilkinson  Memoirs,  p.  38.  o  Ibid.,  p.  42. 

6  R.  I.  Col.  Records,  II.  482,  7  Wilkinson  Memoirs,  p.  43. 

6  Ibid.,  p.  47.  9  Ibid.,  p.  47. 

10  Ibid.,  p.   326. 


28  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

named  thirteenth  in  order  in  the  "revised  list"  of 
the  early  settlers,  was  in  the  southern  part  of  the 
town,  (the  present  corner  of  South  Main  and  Power 
Streets  marking  its  southwestern  limits).'  Mr. 
Wickenden's  connection  with  the  colo-nial  govern- 
ment was  Ions:  and  intimate.  He  is  said  to  have 
come  from  Salem  in  1639.^  He  signed  the  agree- 
ment of  1636^  and  the  compact  of  1G37  ;^  he  served 
on  the  committee  which  organized  the  government 
under  the  patent  in  1648  \'^  and  served  as  commis- 
sioner for  Providence  in  1651,  1652,  1653,  1654, 
and  1655,*^  and  as  deputy  in  1664.^  He  was  one  of 
the  ministers  of  the  church  in  Providence,  during 
some  part  of  this  time.^  He  died  February  3, 
1669-70.'J 


1  Staples's  "  Annals,"  p.  :!5. 

2  Tliis  is  the  statement  of  the  Wilkinson  Memoirs,  p.  325.  Savage  says, 
more  cautiously,  "  perhaps  of  Salem,  1639."  ("  Genealogical  dictionary,"  IV. 
5.37). 

3  R.  I.  Col.  Records,  I.  14.  4    Ibid.,  I.  31. 

5  Ibid.,  I.  209. 

6  Ibid.,  I.  2.35,  230,  241,  250,  258,  267,  271,  277,  281,  304. 

7  Ibid,  II.  3S. 

8  "  History  of  the  First  Baptist  church  in  Providence,  16.39-1877,"  p.  7. 

9  Savage's  "  Genealogical  dictionary,"  IV.  537-38. 


ANCKSTKY    AM)    FAMILY    CONNKCTIOXS.  29 

♦ 

One  of  the  finst' of  Stephen  Hopkins's  ancestors  to 
embraee  the  doctrines  of  Friends  appears  to  have  been 
the  public  spirited  fanner  of  Louis(piisset,  Samuel 
AVilkinson.  lie  was  growing  u[)  to  manhood  when 
the  \ouiX  continued  discussion-  of  their  views  took 
place,  and  the  home  of  Richard  Scott-'  and  his  family, 
amone:  the  most  active  of  the  promoters  of  these 
doctrines,  was  not  far  from  his  own  neighborhood.'^ 
Through  his  daughter,  the  governor's  mother,  the 
principles  of  this  body  of  believers  were  handed 
down  to  Stephen  Hopkins  himself.''  Though  not 
residing  in  "The  Neck,"  he  engaged  very  largely  in 
l)ublic  life.  He  was  a  justice  of  the  peace,  and  many 
of  the  marriages  of  that  day  were  performed  hy  him.*^ 


1  Saimiel  Wilkinson's  grandfatlii-r,  Cliristoplier  Smith,  is  said  to  have  been 
a  Friend. 

2  See  Arnold's  "  Rhode  Island,"  I.  i.'C>i)-70,  369-62. 

H    See  Fox's  "  New-Enpland-firc-brand  quenched,"  Appendix. 

4     At  what  is  now  Lonsdale.     (Wilkinson  Jlenioirs,  p.  3Jo). 

6  A  great-granddaughter  of  this  same  Richard  Scott,  whom  Stephen  Hop- 
kins must  doubtless  have  seen  occasionally  at  the  Friends'  Meeting  in  this 
neighborhood,  (Staples's  "  Annals,"  p.  431),  became  his  wife,  (by  his  first  mar- 
riage), in  1726. 

6  "In  his  younger  day-i "  he  "was  constable."  Wilkinson  Memoirs,  p. 
49. 


30  STEPHEN    HOPKINS . 

"On  one  page'  of  the  public  records,"  says  the  family 
annalist,  "are  recorded  thirty-one  c()ui)le  who  were 
married  by  '  Captain- Samuel  Wilkinson  justice.'":' 
He  was  a  member  of  the  General  Assembly  in  1707 
and  171(>.^  Like  Major  W^illiain  Hopkins,  with 
whom  he  was  certainly  bi'onght  into  close  associa- 
tion,'' he  was  a  surveyor.*^  This  fact  was  doubtless 
the  occasion  of  his  appointment  in  171U  on  one  of 
the  boundary  commissions,  to  determine  the  north 
line  of  the  colony/  He  lived  to  see  a  numerous 
family  of  children  and  grandchildren,  growing  up 
around  him.  Among  the  latter  was  Stei)hen  Hop- 
kins, who  enjoyed  to  a  marked  extent  the  opportu- 
nity of  his  companionship   and    influence,^  and   who 

1  Providence  IJecoid  of  births,  marriages,  etc.,  I.  77. 

2  The  title  of  "Captain"  appears  to  have  dated  from  King  Pliilip's  war. 
(Wilkinson  Memoirs,  p.  .'i.Sl).  ."H    Wilkinson  alemoirs,  p.  50. 

4  K.  I.  Col.  Records,  IV.  .3,  28,  211. 

5  They  were  neighbors.  He  vi'as  appraiser  of  Major  Hopkins's  brother's 
estate,  (his  near  neighbor),  at  his  deatli  in  171S.     Wilkinson  Memoirs,  p.  50. 

f)  "  His  name,"  says  W^ilkiuson,  "  appears  more  frequently  tluvn  any  otiier 
man's  as  surveyor,  administrator,  appraiser  of  estates,  overseer  of  the  last  will 
and  testament."     (Wilkinson  Memoirs,  p.  49). 

7  R.  I.  Col.  Records,  IV.  252. 

8  "Surveying,"  says  Wilkinson,  "he  undoubtedly  acquired  of  his  grand- 
father."    (Wilkinson  Memoirs,  p.  .361). 


ANCESTRY  AND  FAMILY  CONNECTIONS.      31 

was  twenty  years  of  age  at  his  death.  He  died  August 
27,  1727,'  leaving  six  ehildren,"-  having  survived 
liis  friend  Major  Hopkins  four  years.-' 

The  marriage  of  his  daughter  Ruth  with  William 
Ho})kins,  Jr.,  occurred  soon  after  1700.^  The  first 
years  of  their  married  life  were  passed,  as  has  al- 
ready been  indicated,''  at  the  Massapauge"  homestead. 
But  these  were  the  times  when  great  interest 
attached  to  certain  lands  west  of  the  seven-mile  line. 
The  father  of  both  were  surveyors,  and  naturally 
familiar  with  the  ground.  Moreover,  Kuth's  young- 
est brother,  Joseph  Wilkinson,  had  received  in  1700 
a  grant  of  1371  acres  of  land,^  near  Chapumiscook.*' 

1  There  is  u  discrcpuncy  in  Wilkinson's  stiitements  as  to  this  date,  (17-'i), 
at  page  337;  and  1727,  at  page  51).    The  latter  appears  to  be  the  correct  date. 

2  Kuth,  the  mother  of  Governor  Hopkins,  was  the  yonngest   hut  one,  and 
was  born  .Jan.  31,  10S5-<>.     (Wilkinson  Jlenioirs,  p.  CA). 

3  Major  Hopkins  died  .Inly  S,  1723. 

4  The  records  in  connection  witli  William  Hopkins's  family  arc  surprisingly 
meagre. 

.5    See  pages  22-23.  0    The  modern  spelling  is  Mashapang. 

7  Wilkinson  Memoirs,  p.  7(5-77. 

8  This  is  the  common  spelling  in  the  records  of  the  last  century.  It  is 
abbreviated  on  modern  maps, to  '"Chopmist."  Parsons's  "Indian  names  of 
places  in  Rhode  Island,"  p.  12.  It  lies  near  the  present  northwest  corner  of 
Scituate. 


32  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

It  Wiis  not  longi  before  he  went  with  his  wife  to  this 
farm  in  the  forest,  and  settled  there.  Within  a  few 
years-  William  Hopkins  followed,  with  his  wife  and 
two  children,^  and  became  a  resident  of  Chapum- 
iscook.  His  farm  was  not  far  from  his  brother- 
in-law's  estate,  and  was  "on  high  land,  overlooking 
a  wide  extent  of  country."'^ 

Here,  remote  from  the  settlement  at  "The  Neck," 
in  the  heart  of  an  almost  unbroken  forest, ^  in  a 
house  doubtless  of  uncomfortably  small  dimensions,^ 
he  brought  his  farm  to  a  high  state  of  cultivation.'^ 
He  at  the  same  time  brought  up  a  family  of  children^ 
of  whom  any  parents  might  well    bo  proud  ;^  one  of 

1  "  About  the  year  1703.''    Beaman's  "Historical  address  at  Scituate,"  p.  14. 

2  Soon  after  170r,  probably.  See  the  Hopkins  genealogy,  p.  12,  (list  ot 
births). 

3  William  and  Stephen.  4     Beaman's  "Scituate,"  p.  18. 

6  Wilkinson  Memoirs,  p.  :i59.  0    Beaman's  "  Scituate,"  p.  16. 

7  "  It,"  says  Wilkinson,  "  when  in  possession  of  the  Hopkins's,  was  exceed- 
ingly fertile,  producing  excellent  crops  of  corn,  rye,  oats,  and  potatoes." 
(Wilkinson  Jlemoirs,  p.  350). 

8  Their  names  will  be  found  in  Appendix  C.  There  were  six  sons  and 
three  daughters;  two  of  the  latter  of  whom  married  into  the  Harris  and 
Angell  families.     (Hopkins  genealogy,  p.  12,  20,  27). 

9  William,  the  eldest  son,  the  namesake  and  legatee  of  his  grandfather,  the 
Major,  was  among  the  earliest  of  Rhode  Island  sailors  to  extend  the  commerce 
of  Providence.     A   curious  mass  of  traditionary  anecdote   appears  to  have 


ANCESTRY    AND    FAMILY    CONNECTIONS.  33 

whom  was  destined  to  reflect  honor   on  his  stute  and 
nation. 

In  Stephen  Hopkins  may  be  discovered,  no  tlonbt, 
something  of  the  energetic,  spirited  nature  of  his 
paternal  grandfather.  Major  William  Hopkins, ^  and 
of  the  shrewd  sagacity  of  Captain  John  Whipple.^ 
But    it    is    to    his  mother's  side  of  the   house,  after 

accumulated  about  his  name;  (see,  for  instance,  the  Wilkinson  Memoirs,  p. 
350-51,  353) ;  but  there  is  enough  that  is  authentically  recorded  to  show  his 
activity  and  enterprise.  (For  his  connection  with  the  war  with  Spain  of  17-44- 
48,  see  the  "Public  letters,"  1731-il,p.  67;  and  1742-45,  p.  21,  etc.  on  file,  in  manu- 
script, in  the  office  of  the  secretary  of  state,  at  rrovidence).  A  granddaughter 
and  a  great-granddaughter  married  sons  of  (Jovernor  Nicholas  Cooke.  Another 
son,  Stephen,  became  the  most  eminent  Rhode  Islander  of  his  time,  in  civil  life. 
Another  son,  Esek,  became,  in  1775,  commander  of  the  first  fleet  of  the  United 
Colonies,  and  later  commodore.  A  granddaugliter  became  the  wife  of  Abra- 
ham Whipple,  another  early  commodore  of  the  United  States  navy.  Another 
granddaugliter  became  the  wife  of  President  Maxcy,  of  Brown  University. 
A  great-grandson,  the  late  Hon.  John  Hopkins  Clarke,  represented  Rhode 
Island  in  the  United  States  Senate,  1847-53,  being  the  last  Whig  member 
returned  to  the  Senate  from  this  state.  Whether  the  tlnee  brothers  vvlio  died 
young  would  have  eclipsed  the  careers  of  William,  Esek,  and  Stephen,  can 
never  be  known.  But,  says  Beanum,  the  record  of  these  descendants  should 
cause  their  parents  to  "  be  gratefully  and  honorably  rememberd."  "  What  a 
family  were  William  and  Ruth  Hopkins  rearing,"  he  adds,  "in  tlieir  small 
and  rough-boarded  farmer's  house,  among  the  wooded  hills,  in  the  first  ([uarter 
of  the  eighteenth  cen(ui-y  !"  ("  Historical  collections  of  tlio  Ksscx  Institute," 
II.  123). 
1    See  pages  16-25.  2    See  pages  17-19. 


34  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

all,  th;it  he  may  be  said  to  owe  most.  In  him  there 
"Were  to  be  seen,  throughout  life,  something  of  the 
gravity!  which  may  have  come  to  him  from  his  an- 
cestor, Kev.  William  Wickendcn  ;  but  especially  the 
intelligent,  earnest  interest  in,  and  capacity  for  effi- 
cient public  service,  which  characterized  his  Quaker 
grandfather.  Captain  Samuel  Wilkinson.-  He  is 
one  of  the  first  instances  of  a  type  which  has  since 
furnished  numerous  examples  of  good  citizenship, — 
a  public  spirited  Quaker.^ 

1  See  Wilkinson  Memoirs,  p.  S'JG,  p.  82.  Mr.  Wliittier  Iiimself  states,  how- 
ever, in  a  letter  to  the  author,  that  the  Hopkins  of  the  poem  quoted  by  AVilkin- 
son,  is  not  Governor  Stephen  Hopkins  of  Providence,  but  Rev.  Samuel  Hop- 
kins of  Kewport. 

2  See  pages  ::i9-31. 

3  No  record  exists,  hovvfever,  showing  any  connection  of  Stephen  Hopkins 
with  the  Society  of  Friends,  as  a  member,  until  the  year  1755. 


CHAPTER  III. 


EARLY    INFLUENCES. 


The  rirst  twenty^  years  of  Stephen  Hopkins's  life, 
in  which,  if  at  all,  he  was  acted  on  by  the  formative 
influences  in  his  sniTounclings,  lay  entirely  within 
the  long  term  of  service  of  Governor  Samuel  Crans- 
ton.2  As  has  been  briefly  indicated  already ,3  the 
life  of  that  period  was  in  its  most  rudimentary 
stages.  Nor  was  there,  to  quote  the  language  of 
General  Greene's  biograi)her,  even  so  late  as  1742, 
any  "  very  material  difference  between  town  and 
country  ;"**  much  less  in  1707.  The  Providence  set- 
tlement^ was  a  collection  of  straggling  dwellings  on 
the  east  side  of  the  river  ;  access  to  the  outside  world 

1     1707-27.  2     1608-1727.  3    See  p.  1-2. 

•1    "  Life  of  Natlianael  Greene,"  by  G.  W.  Greene,  L  6. 

5    A  census  taken  in  1708  showed  tlie  population  of  tlie  undivided  town  [j.  e. 
county]  of  Providence  to  be  only  l,44f>.     (R.  I.  Col.  Records,  IV.  59). 


36  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

being  by  a  ferry  at  Weybossoti  and  another  at  "Nar- 
row Passage,"-  and  the  ''  Old  North  road,"^  leading 
from  the  npper  end  of  the  Town  Street.  If  these 
"roads,"  moreover,  which  were  understood  to  lead 
somewhere,  were  little  more  than  the  "  widening  of 
the  old  bridle-path  through  the  woods, "^  fenced  across 
at  intervals  with  gates, ^  it  could  hardly  be  expected 
that  the  forest  pathwa3's,  stretching  out  to  the  va- 
rious settlements  west  of  the  "  seven-mile  line," 
which  were  no  thoroughfare  to  any  point  beyond,'' 
would  be  any  better.  Efforts  were  made  in  1706 
and  1710  to  authorize  the  laying  out  of  some  road, 
communicating  with  Plaintield  and  Woodstock  in  the 
Connecticut  Colony.'  Yet  these  needed  highways 
waited  sixty  years  for    completion. » 

In   reaching    Ste[>hen    Hopkins's  early    home,    at 

1  The^bridgc  was  not  completed  until  171-;.     (Dorr's  "  Providence,"  p.  107). 

2  The  present  site  of  "  Red  Bridge."    See  Dorr's  "  Providence,"  p.  78. 

3  Dorr's  "  Providence,"  p.  74-75.  4    Ibid.,  p.  79. 

5  Little  regard,  as  Mr.  Dorr  shows,  "  was  paid  to  the  convenience  of  travel- 
lers toward  Massachusetts."  In  17:i0,  the  town  meeting  voted  that  the  high- 
way "  to  Pawtucket,  be  fenced  for  five  years."    (Town  meeting  records,  1720). 

t)  Up  to  1700  no  attempt  was  made  to  render  them  a  "thoroughfare,"  even 
to  these  Rhode  Island  settlements. 

7    Dorr's  "  Providence,"  p.  125.  8    Ibid.,  p.  127-28. 


EARLY    INFLUENCKS.  o7 

Clia[)Uiniscouk,i  (now  Scituate),  tnivelliiig  was  doiio 
chiefly  on  horseback.  There  was  no  regiihu*  convey- 
ance for  passengers.  If*  an}^  man  wonld  travel,  he 
used  his  own  horse.  jMerchandise  was  taken  home 
at  the  charge  of  the  purchaser  in  ox-teams.  Nor 
was  any  "  country  store  "  opened  at  the  Scituate 
scttk'ment  until  a  later  period. 2  There  was  no  regular 
postal  route  into  this  region  ;  for  there  were  no  daily 
or  weekly  newspapers  published  in  Rhode  Island,  to 
be  se;it  there  ;•*  and  there  were  few  letters  written 
and  was  little  occasion  for  any.  Not  until  several 
years  later  does  any  building  for  religious  purposes 
appear  to  have  been  erected  in  this  Scitiuite  neigh- 
borhood.■!  Not  until  well  into  the  present  century 
did  it  give  any  support  to  public  schools.''  The 
town  itself  received  its  separate  incorporation 
and  name   in    ITol,    when   Providence  County   was 

1  Though  born  at  th<!  Mashapuug  Iioinestead,  as  has  been  shown,  (see 
p.  9-10),  liis  early  life  was  spent  at  the  Chapuiniscook  fann,  to  which  his 
parents  doubtless  renK)ved  before  he  was  two  years  of  age. 

2  In  early  times  the  tavern  served  an  almost  universal  purpose.  (See  Uea- 
man's  "  Scituate,"  p.  33). 

3  The  first  newspaper  was  the  Rhode  Island  Gazette,  Newport,  17.32. 

4  Beaman's  "Scituate,"  p.  47.  6    18.34.    Ibid.,  p.  49. 
4 


38 


STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 


divided  into  four  townships'  by  two  lines  intersect- 
ino-  almost  at  ria^ht  ans^les  near  Moswansicut 
Pond.  Some  emigrants  from  the  Plymouth  Colonya 
had  settled  here  in  1710,  and  it  was  from  their  home  in 
that  colony  that  the  new  town  received  the  name  of 
Scituate.  It  doubtless  remained,  down  to  the  time 
Avhen  Stephen  Hopkins  left  it  in  1742,  as  much  a 
"  frontier  settlement "  as  are  the  border  t(jwns  of 
Dakota  and  Montana  to-day. 

What  is  known  of  the  people  of  this  period?  They 
were  the  third  generation  from  their  English  ances- 
tors, and  in  no  one  of  the  New  England  colonies  had 
the  modifications  introduced  in  the  successive 
decades  since  1040  I)een  less  favorable  to  steady,  sym- 
metrical advancement  than  in  Rhode  Island. 3  To 
appreciate  their  situation,  we  need  only  attempt  to 
realize  what  a  community  of  to-day,  planted  in  the 
wilds  of  New  Mexico  or  Arizona,  would  become, 
without  the  active  agency  of  civilizing  institutions. 


1     1!.  I.  Col.  Ki'conls,  IV.  44-,'-45.  2    Beamiin's  "  Scituate,"  p.  10. 

3  "  The  persecutions,"  says  Colonel  Higginson,  "and  the  delusions,  belong 
generally  to  this  later  epoch."  (Article  on  "  The  second  generation  of  English- 
men in  America,"  Harper's  Magazine,  July,  1883,  LXVII.  215). 


EAKLY    INFLUENCES.  ;^9 

The  settlers  of  New  EngUind  had  left  their  homes  in 
old  England,  siirronnded  with  the  civilization  which 
had  been  maturing  for  centuries,  and  had  taken  the 
responsibility  of  rearing  their  children  in  a  wilder- 
ness ;  and  as  Cotton  Mather  in  an  eighteenth-century 
ode  expressed  it,  it  was  due  only  to  the  intluence 
of  the  schools,  that  any  civilizing  elements  were 
present : — 

"  That  thou,  Nevv-Eughiud,  art  uot  Scythia  grown."' 

They  entered  thus  in  some  cases  upon  measures 
designed  to  counteract  the  deteriorating  tendency, 
and  yet  it  was  hardly  to  be  expected  that  the  second 
and  third  generations  would  compare  favorably  with 
the  first.  The  Adam  VVinthrop  and  Wait  Still  Win- 
throp,  of  the  eighteenth  century,"^  would  sufl'er  by 
comparison  with  their  distinguished  ancestor,  John 
Winthrop  ;  Cotton  Mather  furnishes  a  type  by  many 
degrees  inferior  to  his  grandfather,  John  Cotton  ; 
Rev.    Mr.    Parris,    of   Salem  Village,    in    1692,    is 

1  Cotton  Mather's  "  Corderius  Americanus,"  p.  2S.  Printed  also  in  X.  E. 
Hist.  Gen.  Reg.  XXXIII.  188. 

2  Collections  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  oth  series,  VIII. 
219.  Yet  see  Mr.  Robert  C.  Winthrop's  timely  remarks  in  the  preface  to  the 
same  volume,  (p.  XVII.),  as  to  a  needful  discrimination  to  be  made. 


40 


STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 


almost  repulsive  by  the  side  of  Higginson  or  Hooker. 
In  Rhode  Island,  the  aged  Providence  Williams, 
with  whom  Dr.  Stiles  talked^  in  the  last  century, 
was  I)ut  a  sorry  representative  of"  his  grandfather, 
the  richly  endowed  founder  of  the  colony  ;  nor  were 
those  who,  in  1700,  were  bearing  the  names  of  Ar- 
nold, of  Greene,  of  Clark,  of  Olney,  or  of  Angell, 
in  any  danger  of  eclipsing  the  record  of  their  emi- 
grant ancestors. 

It  should  never  be  forgotten,  moreover,  that  the 
conditions  of  life  in  Rhode  Island  W'cre  strikingly 
peculiar,  and  indeed  unic|ue.  Working  out  what  to  us 
is  an  invaluable  experiment  of  i-igid  separation  of  the 
civil  and  religious  functions  in  administration,  to  their 
logical  extremes,  the  colony  suffered  from  the 
inherent  difficulties  of  the  problem.-       In  the  other 


1  President  Stiles's  "  Itinerary,"  [manuscript],  year  irt'3. 

2  "  It  is  impossible,"  says  Professor  Diman,  "  to  read  tlie  history  of  Rliode 
Island,  and  not  to  recognize  the  fact  tliat  tliose  who  drank  of  tliis  great  cup  of 
liberty  were  compelled  to  pay  a  heavy  price."  "  The  complete  separation 
(illected  between  cliurch  and  state,  by  remittinK  the  support  of  religious  insti- 
tutions to  a  community  divided,  beyond  all  previous  example,  in  religious 
sentiment,  deprived  them  of  the  inestimable  benetit  of  an  educated  clergy." 
Oration  at  "  200th  anniversary  of  Bristol,"  p.  47. 


EAHLY    INFLUENCES.  4] 

colonies  the  people  in  the  various  towns  could  appro- 
priate money  for  churches  and  schools  ;  and,  in  fact, 
I)}'  the  year  1(549,  ever^'  other  New  Enghuid  colony 
had  made  public  education  compulsory. i  In  Rhode 
Island  the  exaggerated  form  in  which  the  doctrine  of 
separation  had  come  to  be  held  gave  the  public  a 
succession  of  religious  ministers  "  without  special 
training,"-  and  successive  generations  of  children 
Avith  no  opportunities  for  education.  Indeed,  the 
case  of  a  child  brought  up  in  this  colony  at  that  time 
would  seem  to  have  been  well  nigh  hopeless  so  far  as 
education  was  concerned.  His  parents  had  not  the 
ability  togive  him  an  education  ;  few  indeed  had  means 
sufficient  for  that.  And  the  colony  and  the  town 
had  no  willingness  to   do   it.=*     His  own  persistent, 

1  Tylor's  "  History  of  American  literatiiri',"  I.  ',»'.». 

2  The  iiiiuistors,  says  John  Howlund,  "  were  generally  larniers,  and  harl  no 
salary  or  any  other  means  of  support  but  (heir  own  labor."  (Stone's  "  John 
Howland,"p.  30). 

3  The  exceedingly  infrequent  instances  which  do  exist  in  which  some 
attempt  seems  to  have  been  made  at  public  provision  for  education  become  all 
the  more  striking  by  contrast.  See,  for  instance,  the  vote  of  the  town  of  New- 
port, Aug.  0,  1040,  the  vote  of  the  proprietors  of  Trovideuce,  May  1),  1603;  the 
petition  of  John  Whipple,  Jr.,  to  the  town  of  Providence,  Jan.  1!S,  1084;  the 
petition  of  John  Dexter,  Major  William  Hopkins,  and  others,  to  the  town  of 


42 


STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 


personal  eflbrts  might,  if  urged  on  by  an  uncon- 
querable desire,  secure  for  him  this  advantage.  But 
naturally,  this  "unconquerable  desire"  became, 
under  these  circumstances,  a  very  rare  phenomenon. 
Yet  while  the  general  condition  of  society  in 
which,  as  already  indicated,  Stephen  Hopkins  was 
now  growing  up,  was  far  from  favorable,  we  need 
to  look  more  closely  at  those  particular  conditions 
by  which  he  was  affected.  His  father  was  plainly  a 
man  of  by  no  means  the  commanding  qualities,  or 
familiarity  with  public  affairs,^  which  ha<l  character- 
ized his  grandfather  and  earlier  ancestors.  But  from 
his  mother  he  not  only  inherited  strongly  marked 
traits  but  also  received  opportunities  for  mental 
training  and  development  which  were  really  note- 
worthy in  the  colonial  society  of  that  time.  Though 
thei'e   were   no  pu1)lic  schools  to  which  he  could  be 


Providence,  Jan.,  109(5.  (Staples'3  "  Annals  of  Providence,"  p.  402,  49'i,  4',H; 
Barnard's  "  Eeport  on  public  schools,"  1848,  p.  33-.34,  145-46).  'I'lioy  resulted 
in  very  little  in  either  instance. 

1  Only  one  instance  appears  in  which  there  is  a  probability  of  his  having 
held  public  office.  The  "  Mr.  William  Hopkins  "  vcho  served  as  a  deputy  from 
Providence  in  the  General  Assembly,  May,  1710,  (11.  I.  Col.  Records,  IV.  87), 
may  perhaps  have  been  he,  but  even  this  is  not  certain. 


EARLY    INrLUENCEP. 


43 


sent,  his  inolher's  cureful  instruction  appears  from 
the  slender  accounts  which  have  come  clown  to  us  to 
have  boon  thorough  and  com]:)rehensive.'  Her 
grandfather,  Rev.  William  Wickendon,  is  said  to 
have  been  not  only  a  man  of  strong  character,  hut  a 
possessor  of  books-  which  may  have  descended  to 
his  trnviitldauirhler  and  her  household.  Within  a 
few  miles' distance-^  was  his  uncle,  Joseph  Wilkinson, 
one  of  the  earliest  settlers  west  of  the  seven-mile 
line,  "a  surveyor,  and  much  employed  in  this  work 
in  the  town."''  That  the  young  man  received 
repeated  lessons  from  him  as  well  as  from  his  grand- 
father in  that  practically  useful  accomplishment  has 
been  suggested,^  and  is  not  improbable.  About  ten 
miles  to  the  north-east,  near  the  Wilkinson  homestead^ 
by  the  banks  of  the  Blackstone,^  lived  until  17G8, 
William  Wilkinson,  who  is  called  "the  most  talent- 
ed of  the  sons  of  Samuel  Wilkinson,  Senior,  a  min- 
ister among   the   Friends;"^    "a  man  of  more  than 


1  Wilkiuson  Memoirs,  p.  300. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  359. 

5  Ibid.,  p.  17. 

1  Wilkinson  Mftnoirs,  p.  7.3. 


2  Ibid.,  p.  78. 

4  Bearaan's  "  Scituate,"  p.  14. 

6  See  page  27. 

8  Ibid.,  p.  73-76. 


44  STEPHEN    HOPKINSc 

ordinary  ability, "i  and  with  "a  mind  well  stored 
with  knowledge."-  Bnt  there  is  little  donht  that 
Steplieirs  grandfather,  Ca[)tain  Satnncl  ^\'ilkinson, 
already  allnded  to,  who  did  not  die  niitil  1727,  and 
who  apparently  had  the  vigorons  and  nninipaired 
intellect  of  a  man  in  the  prime  of  life  even  theu,-^  was 
an  important  factor  in  the  shaping  of  the  yonng  man's 
career.  Mention  has  ali'ead}'  heen  made'  of  Captain 
Wilkinson's  prominence  as  a  [)nl)lic  man  and  of  his 
experience  gained  in  pnblic  atfairs.  lint  light  is 
thrown  on  some  other  attainments  of  his  in  a  letter 
Avritten  in  1722,  by  Gabriel  Bernon,  one  of  the 
fonnder  of  King's  Chnrch,  Providence,  (now  81-. 
John's),  declaring  that  h(!  "deserves  respect  for  his 
erudition  in  divine  and  civil  law,  historical  narrative, 
natural  and  politic."^ 

Captain  Wilkinson  was  a  Friend,  and  it  is  evident 
that  the  general  sentiment  among  the  (Quakers  of 
that  day  was  not  one  of  very  hearty  liking  for  wide 

1    Wilkinson  Memoirs,  p.  73.  2    Ibid.,  p.  IBO. 

3  Tliougli  he   must   have  been  between   sixty  and  seventy.    (Wilkins'ju 
Memoirs,  p.  4S). 

4  See  pages  29-31. 

.5    Printed  in  l^pdike's  "Church  at  Narragansett,"  p.  53. 


^  EARLY    INFLUENCES.  45 

culture  or  liteniry  training.  Even  in  religious  mat- 
ters they  held  strongly  to  the  all-sufficiency  of  the 
"inward  light."  AVashington's  favorite  general, 
Nathanael  Greene,  has  left  on  record  a  hit  of  his 
own  experience  in  the  Rhode  Island  Quaker  training 
of  thirty-  live  years  later.  He  says  :  "  I  was  educated 
a  Quaker,  and  amongst  the  most  superstitions  sort. 
My  father  was  a  man  of  great  piety."  "  But  his  mind 
was  over-shadowed  with  prejudice  against  literary 
accomplishments. "^  Ills  biographer  adds  that  "the 
little  book-shelf  in  the  sitting-room  corner,"  in  the 
early  home  of  the  future  General  Greene,  did  not 
"contain  anything  to  awaken  a  desire  of  knowing 
more  ;"2  and  he  states  in  general  that — "Literary  cul- 
ture was  not  in  favor  with  the  Quakers."^  In  contrast 
Avith  this,  —  which  may  be  taken  to  represent  the 
general  condition  at  that  time  —  it  is  interesting  to 
find  that  in  the  early  home  of  the  future  Governor  Hop- 
kins, and  in  that  of  his  grandfather,—  an  undoubted 
Quaker, — whose  influence  upon  him  was  continuous 

1  Quoted  in  tlir    "  F/ifc  of  Nathanael  Groone,"  by  George    Wnsliington 

Grei'iie,  I.  10. 

2  Greene's  "Nathanael  Greene,"  I.  10-11.  ."     Ibid.,  I.  10. 


46  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

and  marked,  an  important  feature  was  a  "circulating 
library."  That  this  library  was  at  first'  merely  for 
the  use  of  these  associated  families,  is  undoubt- 
edly true  ;  but  there  are  circumstances  which  have 
led  to  the  supposition  that  another  "  circulating 
library,"  known  to  exist  in  this  same  general  locality 
in  177(),-  and  a<j;ain  in  1796,^  was  its  lineal  successor. 
"The  origin"  of  this,  says  one  writer,  "may  have 
been  from  the  family  library  of  Ruth's  parents  ;"'* 
(Governor  Hopkins's  grandparents).  And  another 
writer  remarks  ;•''  "It  may,  however,  be  considered 
certain    that    this''    public    library    was    among    the 


1  How  early,  tliere  is  nothing  to  indicate  with  certainty.  Certainly  if  used 
by  Stephen  Hopkins,  as  Wilkinson  seems  to  jjoint  out,  as  early  as  1710-20. 
("Memoirs  of  the  Wilkinson  family,"  p.  ~S;.  A  great-grandson  of  Captain 
Wilkinson,  William  Wilkinson,  of  Providence,  was  one  of  the  early  librarians 
(1785-88),  of  Brown  University,  of  which  he  was  a  graduate  in  the  class  of  1783. 

2  July  0,  1770.  See  "  The  diary  of  Thomas  Vernon,"  (Rhode  Island  Histor- 
ical Tracts,  No.  13),  p.  19. 

3  "  James  Wilkinson,"  it  is  said,  remembers  "  said  library,"  about  17'J(). 
(Wilkinson  Jlemoirs,  p.  78). 

4  Wilkinson  Memoirs,  p.  78. 

5  Note  by  Sidney  S.  Rider,  in  R.  I.  Historical  Tract,  No.  13,  p.  20. 

6  That  is,  the  one  mentioned  in  1776,  by  Thomas  Vernon,  and  possibly 
identical  with  the  earlier  one. 


EARLY    INFLUENCES.  47 

earliest,  if  not  the  earliest  in  Khode  Island. "'     What 

1  "Among  the  earliest,"  in  fact,  in  the  country,  as  well  as  "in  Rhode 
Island."  The  instances  are  not  frequent  in  which  such  "  public,"  or  semi- 
public  libraries  are  found  to  have  existed  early  in  the  last  century.  There  is 
an  indistinct  allusion,  as  early  as  IGS'J,  to  a  "  town  library  "  in  Boston.  (Shurt- 
lefTs  "Topographical  and  historical  description  of  Boston,"  p.  400).  In  1072 
the  town  of  Concord,  mass.,  instructed  its  selectmen,  "that  care  be  taken  of 
the  *  *  *  bookes,  that  belong  to  the  towne,  that  they  be  kept  from  abusive 
usage,  and  not  be  lent  to  persons  more  than  one  month  at  a  time."  ("  Cata- 
logue of  the  Free  Public  Library  of  Concord,  Mass.,"  1875,  p.  v.).  InPhiladel- 
phia,  a  "parish  library,"  under  the  control  of  Christ  Church  parish,  was 
probably  established  iu  1005."  (I'erry's  "Historical  collectionsof  the  American 
colonial  Church,"  II.  0),  [Pennsylvania].  At  Annapolis,  in  Maryland,  there 
is  mention  of  "  one  and  probably  two  public  libraries  as  early  as  1696-7;''  and 
concerning  one  of  these  the  request  was  made  that  "all  persons  desirious  to 
study  or  read  the  books"  might  "have  access  thereto  under  proper  restric- 
tions." (Ridgely's  "  Annals  of  Annapolis,"  p.  0'.>).  At  New  York  a  "public 
library,"  "for  the  use  of  the  clergy  and  gentlemen  of  New  York  and  the 
neighboring  provinces,"  existed  in  1729;— perhaps  in  1700.  (Mr.  Horace  E. 
Scudder's  chapter  iu  the  Ignited  States  government  report  on  "Public  libra- 
ries," 1N7C,  I.  H).  Franklin's  "subscription  library"  at  Philadelphia  was 
"  founded  in  17.}1,  and  incorporated  in  1742."  (Bigelow's  "  Benjamin  Frank- 
lin," I.  222.)  The  Newport  "  subscription  library,"  though  started  by  an  asso- 
ciation formed  for  literary  purposes  under  Bishop  Berkeley's  auspices  in 
1730,  (King's  "  Historical  sketch  of  the  Redwood  Library  and  Athena?um,"  p. 
3),  was  as  Mr.  Hunter  thinks  a  suggestion  of  Redwood  himself,  {Newport  His- 
torical Magazine,  II.  S0-.S8^,  and  was  incorporated  as  the  Redwood  Library  in 
1747.  (See  Records  of  the  colony  of  Rhode  Island,  V.  227).  Governor  Hop- 
kins's "  subscription  library  "  at  Providence,  was  begun  probably  in  1750, 
("Wilkinson  Memoirs,  p.  366),  was  known  as  the  Providence  Library  soon 
after  1754,  (Records  of  the  colony  of  Rhode  Island,  V.  378-79),  and  was  incor- 
porated  1798.      Assuming  that    the  last    named  institution,  (still  in  exist- 


48 


STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 


these  hooks  were,  it  woiihl  he  of  uncomnioii  interest 
to  know,  hut  we  are  deharred  from  that  pleasure.' 
As  would  naturally  he  cxpeeted  from  this  early  hent 
given  to  his  development,  the  taste  for  reading,  and 
the  faculty  of  usini^:  hooks  to  the  hest  advantao:e, 
Avere  eharacteristie  of  him  throuo-hout  life.--^  He 
himself  hegan  early  to  collect  a  lihrai"\'  of  his  own, 
Avhich,  says  one  who  was  a!)le   to    examine  it,    ''  was 


ciice  as  the  '•  I'roviilcucc  Athenaniiu"),  i.s  llie  t-nriit'st  I'loviileiicc  library 
whose  origin  eiiii  be  located  with  entire  certainty,  only  six  towns  appear  to 
have  preceded  this  in  tlie  establishment  of  a  similar  library;  —  Boston,  Con- 
cord, Philadelphia,  Anmipolis,  New  York,  and  Newport.  It  is  hoped,  how- 
ever, that  more  lifi'if  ''"ii  be  thrown  on  this  earlier  library,  above  alluded 
to. 

I  "  The  writings,"  says  the  author  of  a  short  sketch  of  him,  ''of  Spenser 
and  Shakespeare,  Milton,  Jei-emy  Taylor,  John  Banyan,  Dean  Swift,  Addison," 
and  others  were  extant.  (Wilkinson  Jlemoirs,  p.  :i(JO-iU).  His  own  writings 
sliow  a  familiarity  with  more  than  one  of  these  authors. 

■Z  "  He  was  a  close  and  se\  ere  student,  filling  up  all  the  sjiare  hours  of  his 
life  with  reading."  (Bi'aman's  "  Sciluate,"  p.  ^1).  "  He  attached  himself  in 
early  youth  to  the  study  of  books  and  men,  and  continued  to  be  a  constant  and 
mi)roving  reader,  a  close  and  careful  observer,  until  the  period  of  his  death." 
(Sanderson's  "Biography  of  the  signers,"  VI.  ■US).  The  same  writer  dwells 
upon  "  his  habitual  deep  research,  and  the  indefatigability  with  which  he  pene- 
trated the  recesses,  instead  of  skimming  the  surface  of  things,"  (p.  L'-iS).  Presi- 
dent John  Adams,  who  knew  him  late  in  life,  says  of  him  :  "  He,"  [Governor 
Hopkins],  "  had  read  Greek,  Roman,  and  British  history,  and  was  familiar 
with  Engliuh  poetry,  particularly  Pope,  Thomson,  and  Miltou,  and  the  flow  of 


EAKLY    INFLUENCES.  49 

large  and  valuable  for  the  time."i  And  he  had  not 
been  a  citizen  of  Providence  many  years^  before  he 
found  kindred  spirits^  willing  to  unite  with  him  in 
sending  to  England  for  such  books  as  they  found 
desirable."'  This  was  the  origin  of  the  Providence 
Library,''  the  second  public  library  in  the  colony, 
(for  the  Kcdwood  Library  at  Newport  antedated  it 
by  several  j^ears  ;)^  and  the  fifth  in  New  England."^ 

liis  soul  made  all  of  his  reading  our  own,  and  seemed  to  bring  to  recollection 
in  all  of  us  of  all  we  had  ever  read."  (Works  of  John  Adams,  III.  12).  He 
"  was,"  says  William  Hunter,  of  Newport,  "  a  man  of  deep  and  original  thought 
and  persevering  reading."  (Xewport  Historical  Jfagazine,  11.  141).  Mr.  S. 
S.  Rider,  in  the  note  already  cited,  (U.  I.  Historical  Tract  No.  13,  p.  20),  says 
in  connection  witli  this  library  of  Governor  Hopkins's  boyhood  :  "  In  these 
early  years  there  came  from  this  region  very  well  educated  and  very  able  men; 
may  we  not  reasonably  infer  that  it  was  from  this  source  that  their  learning 
came?  They  had  not  schools,  they  must  have  read  these  books,  and  thinking 
did  the  rest."  His  "  close  application  to  books  "  is  cited  among  other  circum- 
-stances,  by  Mr.  Dwight,  in  connection  with  his  "  application  to  study,"  as 
accounting  for  his  success.  (Nathaniel  Dwight's  '•  Sketches  of  the  lives  of  the 
signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,"  p.  69). 

1  Seaman's  "  Scitiiate,"p.  18.      See  also  Mr.  Beaman's  article  in  the  Pi-ovi- 
dence  Journal,  May  26,  1855,  where  he  mentions  some  of  them. 

2  As  early  as  1754. 

3  Some  of  them  are  named  in  the  It.  I.  Col.  Records,  V.  378. 

4  Itecords  of  the  colony  of  Rhode  Island,  V.  378-71). 

5  See  also  Chapter  IV. 

6  The  Redwood  Library  dates  from  1747.  • 

7  These  five  are:    (1)  the  Boston  library,  variously  known  as  the  "town 
library," the  " public  library,"  etc.,  as  early  as   1653,   ("Memorial  history  of 

5 


50  STKPHEN    HOPKINS. 

And  yot  nil  this  is  beside  and  apart  from  the  ques- 
tion of  his  hick  of  educational  advantages.  The 
result  in  his  case  was  that,  to  quote  the  language  of 
President  Manning,  "possessing  an  uncommonly 
elevated  genius,  his  constant  and  assiduous  applica- 
tion in  the  pursuit  of  knowledge"'  rendered  him 
distinguished.  But  with  less  highly  endowed  minds 
this  would  not  have  been  the  case.^  Even  in  his 
case,  one  can  but  retlect  that  if  he  attained  such  dis- 
tinction without  the  discipline  and  aid  of  that  train- 
ing which  John  Adams^  not  long  after  was  enjoying 
as  a  Braintree  boy  in  the  schools  of  that  town,  and 
later  at  Harvard  College  ;  or  JcHerson^  as  a  student 

Boston,"  lA'.  t;?S);  (,')  tlu*  Concord  town  libiary  as  oarly  as  Ki?;;;  (:j)  Kind's 
Cliapcl  Library  (Bo.ston)  as  early  as  1008,  (Grconwoort'.s  "  History  of  King's 
Chapel,"  p.  55) ;  (4)  t!ie  Itedvvood  Library,  at  Newport,  1747:  (5)  the  Trovi. 
deiiee  Library,  at  Providence,  as  early  as  1754. 

Tlie  I'rince  liibrary  and  the  New  England  Library,  in  Boston,  were  not 
established  until  175N.     (II.  S.  Government  report,  I.  3L'-:!3). 

1  Printed  in  the  Providence  Gazette,  July  10,  1785. 

2  It  was  only,  to  quote  from  Mr.  Dwight,  cited  al)ove,  "  the  power  of  a 
strong  mind,  and  application  to  8tudy,  by  which  a  want  of  enlarged  means  for 
ac(juirlng  an  early  and  .lystematic  education,"  was,  in  his  case,  in  a  wholly 
exceptional  manner,  "  overcome."     (Dwight's  "  Signers,"  p.  OU). 

3  John  Adams's  Life  by  C.  F.  Adams.    ( Works,  L  13-14).. 

4  Morsse'.s  "  Thomas  Jefferson,"  p.  5-7. 


EAKLY    INFLUENCES.  51 

at   Williamsburgh    in    1760; — the    brilliancy   of  his 
career    would    have    been    even   greater.       No    one 
realized  this  more  than  Stephen  Hopkins  himself.    A 
self-educated  man,  he  was  conscious  of  the  inevitable 
limitations    and    defects  of    the    "  self  made    man." 
"Having  himself  felt  the  want,"  saj's  Wilkinson,  "of 
instruction  in  early  life,  and  afterwards  realized  the 
advantages  of  extensive  attainments  in  knowledge  by 
his  own  efforts,  he  was  desirous  that  others  should 
possess  and  enjoy  the  means  for  cultivating  and  im- 
proving their  minds,  on  a  liberal  and  broad  founda- 
tion."     To  use  his  own  language,  "nothing  tends  so 
much  to  the  good  of  the  commonwealth  as  a  proper 
culture   of  the  minds  "^   of  its  youth.     This  was  a 
doctrine  for  the   application   of  which  there  was   a 
wide   Held    open    in   Rhode  Island;   and  it  is  very 
much  to  be  regretted  that  the   pre-occupation  of  his 
energies  by  calls  in   other  directions   prevented  his 
pressing  it  to  an  effective  issue.     Had  not  the  revolu- 
tionar}'  struggle  been  precipitated  when  it  was,  and 
had  it  not  thus  engrossed   the    universal  attention,  it 

1    Printed  in  Sanderson's  "  Biography  of  the  Signers,"  VI.  ijl. 


52  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

is  by  no  means  improbable  that  a  public  school  sys- 
tem might  have  been  secured  in  Rhode  Island  nearly 
half  a  century  earlier  than  the  time  at  which  it 
actually  was  instituted.  Nor  is  it  less  probable  that 
Stephen  Hopkins  would  have  been  the  efficient  actor 
in  the  movement.^ 

These  early  years,  however,  were  by  no  means 
unoccupied  and  unimproved.  At  the  time  when 
children  in  our  day  would  be  at  school  Stephen 
Hopkins  was  doubtless  helping  his  father  on  his 
farm.  At  a  later  period  he  was  putting  in  practice 
the  principles  of  surveying  which  he  had  learned  of 
his  grandfather  and  his  uncle.  It  is  impossible  not 
to  see  that,  as  in  the  case  of  the  young  Virginian 
surveyor,   George  Washington,-    a   little   later,  this 

1  For  a  brief  nienfion  of  Uie  few  and  scattered  efforts  to  establish  schools 
in  various  parts  of  Rhode  Island,  from  1640  to  1828,  see  Barnard's  "  Keport  of 
public  scliools  in  Rhode  Island,"  1848,  and  Stone's  "Manual  of  education," 
(Providence,  1874),  p.  0-10.  The  "  act  to  establish  public  schools"  was  passed 
at  the  January  session,  1828. 

2  In  laud  surveying,  says  Irving, Washington  "  schooled  himself  tlioroughly, 
using  the  highest  processes  of  the  art;  making  surveys  about  the  neighbor- 
hood, and  keeping  regular  field  books."  lie  adds  that  this  occupation  made 
him  acquainted  also  witli  the  country,  the  nature  of  the  soil  in  various  parts, 
and  the  value  of  localities."    (Irving's  "  Life  of  Washington,"  eh,  S). 


EARLY    INFLUENCFTS.  53 

was  an  occupation  sure  to  result  in  extending  bis 
acquaintance  with  dilFerent  portions  of  the  ccdony, 
and  with  nien^  as  well  as  aflairs.  Not  only  did  it 
bring  him  in  contact  with  the  various  outlying 
localities,  in  such  a  way  as  to  give  him  that  intimate 
familiarity  with  the  affairs  of  the  coh^ny  at  large, 
which  is  at  all  periods  of  his  career  very  apparent; 
but  it  had  the  certainly  no  less  important  effect  of 
bringing  him  into  consultation  and  communication 
with  the  representatives  of  other  colonies,  when  as 
Avas  natural,  his  skill  as  a  surveyor  caused  him  to  be 
appointed  on  the  commissions  to  determine  boundary 
(juestions.^ 

While  but  scanty  light  is  thrown  upon  these  years 
of  his  life  by  any  records  now  accessible,  it  is  appar- 
ent that  another  factor  is  to  be  recognized  as  enter- 
ing into  the  careers  of  his  brothers,  and  into  his  own 
as  well,  from  a  somewhat  eai  ly  period  in  this  cen- 
tury,— namely,   interest  in  commercial  enterprises. 

1  It  is  significant  ihat  liis  early  attention  to  quote  Irom  Sanderson's  account, 
(VI.  248)  was  directed  to  the  study  not  only  "of  books,"  but  "ofnieu."  This 
never  ceased  to  be  true  of  liini.  » 

2  R.  I.  Col.  Records,  IV.  559,  590;  V.  15,  27,  35,  252,  265,  .333,  348. 


54  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

No  such  tendency  had  manifested  itself  in  the  genera- 
tions preceding  his,  in  his  own  ancestiy.  But  not 
only  was  he  himself  very  early  interested  in  mercan- 
tile operations,  (as  early  as  1740,  probably,  employ- 
ino"  several  vessels  in  constant  service),^  but  h"is 
eldest  brother,  William,  had  even  before  this  "en- 
gaged in  a  maritime  life."-  A  younger  brother, 
Samuel,  became  commander  of  a  vessel  early  in  life, 
and  in  the  course  of  one  of  his  voyages  in  1744, 
died  at  Ilispaniola,  in  the  West  Indies.^  But  his 
brother  Esek,  still  younger  than  Samuel,  had  "in 
the  summer  of  1738,"  "in  the  twentieth  year  of  his 
ase,"  l)ade  "adieu  to  the  old  homestead."  He 
"journeyed  to  Providence  and  became  a  sailor,  soon 
rising  to  the  position  of  captain."^  "He  had  found 
his  place,"  says  Mr.  Beaman,-^  the  annalist  of  the 
Hopkins  family,  "and  soon  rose  through  all  the 
ofrades  of  office  to  be  the  master  and  owner  of  vessels. 
He   made    Newport,   then   a   place    of  considerable 

1  In  that  year  he  was  in  partnership  with  Godfrey  Malbone,  of  Newport,  in 
the  ownership  of  several  vessels. 

2  Hopkins  genealogy,  p.  12.  3    Ibid.,  p.  20. 
4    Bearaan's  "Scituate,"  p.  16-17. 

6    "  Historical  collections  of  the  Essex  Institute,"  II.  121. 


EARLY    INFLUENCES.  55 

commerce,  his  residence  ;"^  marrying-  into  a  family 
already  intimately  identified  with  the  strikin*"- 
development  of  that  seaport.  '  Stephen  Hopkins  him- 
self was  engaged  in  active  co-operation  not  only  with 
his  brother,  hnt  with  other  Newport  merchants.^ 
The  tendency  towards  commercial  enterprises  which 
had  thus  manifested  itself  so  strongly  in  this  genera- 
tion, was  no  less  apparent  in  the  next.  Of  the  four 
sons^  of  Stephen  Hopkins  who  reached  maturit}^ 
every  one  followed  the  sea,  and  all  except  Silvanus^ 
became  commanders  of  vessels.  The  same  is  true 
of  his  nephews,  Captain  Christopher  Hopkins,'''  Cap- 
tain John  B.  Hopkins,^  and  Captain  Esek  Hopkins, 
Jr.» 

This  is  a  noteworthy  record.'-*      That  the  govern- 

1  He  removed  to  Providence,  however,  in  ir55.  (Hopkins  genealogy,  p.  2i) 

2  He  "married,  Nov,  28,   ir-il,  Desire,  daughter  of  Ezekiel  Burroughs,  of 
Newport."    (Hopkins  genealogy,  p.  24). 

3  Malbone,  Whipple,  Redwood,  and  the  Wantons.    See  Chapter  IV. 

4  Rufus,  John,  Silvanus,  and  George.    (Hopkins  genealogy,  p.    18,28-33). 

5  And  he  died   "  at  the  age  of  eighteen,"  when   he   "  had  advanced  to  the 
position  of  second-in-command."    (Hopkins  genealogy,  p.  31). 

6  Hopkins  genealogy,  p.  2«.  7    Ibid.,  p.  3o-.3(). 

8  Ibid.,  p.  41-42. 

9  See  also  Moses  Brown's  statistics,  cited  in  Chapter  V. 


56  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

or's  fiimily  .should  have  thus  identified  itself  so 
thoroughly  with  commercial  pursuits  is,  of  course, 
partly  to  be  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  the  early 
manhood  of  Stephen  Hopkins  was  contemporaneous 
with  that  long-delayed  awakening  on  the  part  of  the 
Providence  community  to  the  exceptional  natural 
advantages  of  its  position  at  the  head  of  its  admira- 
ble bay^  It  seems  certain,  also,  tliat  the  mathemati- 
cal training  received  from  his  grandfather  and  uncle, 
on  which  Moses  Brown-  dwells  in  more  than  one 
place,  had  a  tendency  to  stimulate  the  study  and 
practice  of  navigation,^  as  well  as  surveying. 

One  other  clement  in  his  early  training  remains  to 
be    noted  ;    namely,    its    moi'al    and    religious    side. 

1  "  Very  slowly,"  says  Mr.  Dorr,  "  tlie  old  fanning  town  awakened  to  a 
perception  oftlie  commercial  value  of  tlie  Bay."  "  Until  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury was  waning  to  its  close,  no  sloops  or  scliooners,  save  those  of  Jlassachu- 
setts  and  New  York,  enlivened  the  wafers  of  the  bay."  (Dorr's  "  I'rovidence," 
p.  yo). 

2  See  his  letter  to  Robert  Wain,  in  ls^3,  (in  several  places). 

3  "  Tliere  seems,"  says  Wilkinson,  "  to  have  been  a  passion  for  this  branch 
of  mathematics,  [surveying],  which  has  been  handed  down  from  father  to 
son."  "No  branch  of  study,"  it  was  maintained,  "would  be  more  useful. 
After  surveying,  navigation  was  recommended,  as  these  two  brandies  gave  a 
person  ascendancy  on  land  and  water."    (Wilkinson  Memoirs,  p.  361). 


EARLY    INFLUENCES.  57 

There  is  nothing  to  indicate  positively  the  religions 
predilections  of  his  father.  We  have  only  the  nega- 
tive prol)ahility  that  he  was  not  a  Friend.  A  Friend, 
however,  his  mother  was,  as  has  been  noted  ;'  and 
Governor  Hopkins  himself,  later  in  life,-  identified 
himself  very  completely  with  that  body  of  Christians, 
even  to  the  extent,  to  quote  from  Moses  Brown,  his 
constant  co-laborer,  (and  himself  a  Friend),  of  his 
havins:  the  Friends'  meetinjjs  "  sometimes  held  in 
the  winter  at  his  dwelling-house."^  It  is  hardly 
probable  that  his  early  life  was  passed  as  a  member 
of  the  Friends' society.  In  fact,  various  occurrences 
in  the  early  lives  of  William,   Stephen,   and   Esek, 

1  See  page  2',>. 

2  How  late  in  life  is  not  (luite  certiiin.  His  first  and  seeonil  wives  were 
both  Friends,  but  his  second  marriage  only  was  solemnized  in  Friends'  Meet- 
ing. ("  Historical  collections  of  the  Kssex  Institute,"  II.  120).  It  was  at  tliis 
time,  says  the  same  account,  (p.  120),  that  "he  connected  himself  with  the 
'Friends.'"  Yet  his  first  wife  was  of  unbroken  Quaker  ancestry,  whether 
herself  a  Friend  or  not.  His  first  marriage  was  by  a  justice  of  tlie  peace, 
and  appears  to  have  taken  place  "  at  the  house  of  the  bride's  father."  (Wil- 
kinson Memoirs,  p.  363).  Governor  Hopkins  severed  his  connection  with  the 
Society  of  Friends  in  1773.  (Records  of  Smithfield  Monthly  Meeting  of  Friends, 
1773).  For  the  cu'cumstances  of  this  occurrence  see  Chapter  VIII.,  of  this 
work. 

3  Letter  of  Moses  Brown  to  Robert  Wnln,  in  1823. 


58  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

render  it  very  improbable  that  they  were  in  mem- 
l)ership  with  this  most  uuworhlly  body  ol"  believers. 
With  Stephen  it  seems  clear  that  the  rigorous  and 
unremitting  demands  of  the  public  service,  —  in 
itself  a  discipline,  —  had  a  natural  tendency  to  sober 
him  and  regulate  his  life.  From  the  time  that  its 
grasp  was  tightened  on  him,  not  to  be  relaxed  until 
extreme  old  age,  there  is  good  reason  to  believe  that 
his  private  life  presented  a  high  standard  of  blame- 
lessness  ;  and  his  public  life,  if  judged  in  the  light  of 
the  times,  suffers  not  very  much  by  comparison.  It 
would  be  strange  indeed  if  the  seething  political 
distractions  of  the  years  1755-68,  should  not  have 
furnished  detractions  of  the  bitterest  nature. i  But 
there  are  other  sources  of  testimony  than  these,-  and 
in  the  simplicity  of  his  demeanor,  the  hearty  frank- 
ness and  the  calm  dignity  of  manner  which  were 
generally  characteristic  of  him,  he  reHected  no 
undeserved  credit  on  the  training  of  his  intelligent 
Quaker  mother. 

1  For  a  consideration  of  tliis  point  in  detail,  see  Cliapter  VII. 

2  Among  otlirrs,  Moses  Brown,  and  President  Manning,  already  cited. 


EARLY    INFLUKNCES.  50 

He  nifirriecP  early,-  however,  before  entering  to 
any  extent  on  [)uhlic  life.  His  wife,  Sarah  Scott, 
was,  like  him,  of  Quaker  stock,  her  great-grand- 
father, Kicharcl  Scott, ^  having  been  the  carliest4 
Rhode  Island  man  to  embrace  the  doctrines  of 
Friends.  On  her  mother's  side  she  was  the  griind- 
daughter  of  that  Major  Joseph  Jcnckes,^  who,  in 
1655,  came  from  Essex  Connty,   Massachusetts,  and 

1  October  9,  1726.  (Providence  Ilecord  of  births,  marriages,  etc.,  I.  48). 
They  were  not  married  in  Friends'  meeting,  but  by  Sarah's  uncle,  William 
Jenckes,  justice  of  the  peace. 

2  At  the  age  of  19.  n is  wife  was  of  tlie  same  age.  (Willcinson  Slemoirs, 
p.  362). 

3  Richard  Scott,  arriving  among  tlie  "  second-comers  "  in  1636,  signed  the 
well-known  "compact"  of  Aug.  20,  of  tliat  year.  (R.  I.  Col.  Records,  I.  14). 
See  the  Historical  Magiisine,  2d  series,  VI.  225-20;  also  the  "  I'roceedings  of 
the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society,"  1880-81,  p.  15. 

4  "The  first  Quaker  tliere,"  is  the  language  of  Governor  Hopkins's  family 
record.  (Foster  Papers,  VI.  12).  His  wife,  Catherine,  was  the  daughter  of 
Rev.  Edward  llarbury.  (Wintlirop's  "  History  of  New  England,"  I.  293).  Her 
sister  Anne,  was  the  celebrated  Mrs.  Hutchinson,  of  Boston  and  Newport. 
(See  Palfrey's  "New  Enghind,"  I.  ch.  12). 

5  The  father  of  Major  Joseph  Jenckes  settled  at  Lynn,  Mass.,  and  is  named 
as  "the  lirst  founder  'who  worked  in  brass  and  iron'  on  the  western  continent." 
(Lewis's  "History  of  Lynn,"  p.  2US).  Among  liis  descendants  are  Governor 
Joseph  Jenckes,  named  on  tlie  next  page;  Judge  Rufus  Hopkins,  tlie  son  of 
Governor  Hopkins;  Nicholas  Brown,  the  founder  of  Brown  University,  and 
John  Carter  Brown,  his  son ;  and  the  late  Hon,  Thomas  A.  Jenckes. 


60  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

set  up  ;i  forge  near  Pavvtucket  Falls. i  I ler  mother's 
l^rother,  Joseph  Jenckes,  a  man  of  iincoinmon  abili- 
ties, had  been  serving  as  Deputy-governor  with  the 
aged  Governor  Cranston,  (who  was  now  nearly 
seventy  years  of  age),  since  17ir>,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  a  single  year.'^  At  the  very  next  election^  he 
was  chosen  Governor  of  Rhode  Island.  He  was  thus 
the  tirst  man,  not  a  resident  of  Newport,  who  had 
ever  held  that  position  under  the  charter  ;  and  the 
only  one,  with  one'  exception,  until  this  young  man 
who  had  just  married  his  niece,  was  elected  to  the 
same  position  in  1755.''  Iler  father.  Major''  Syl- 
vanus  Scott,  occupied  the  homestead  estate  on  the 
Blackstone  river,  at  what  is  now  Lonsdale,^  not 
very  far  from  the  Wilkinson  and  Hopkins  homesteads. 

1  Sc-e  Goo(iiicir.->  "  Ui.^Ioiical  sketcli  oftlif  town  oC  I'awtucket,"  p.  18-30. 

2  1721-22.  ■■',     172r. 

4  Goveiiiur  Williiim   Gifeiie,  of  \A'arwick,  ir4:)-4.'>,  1746-17,174^-50.      Also, 
afterwards,  1757-58. 

5  Stephen  Uopkins  was  elected  to  succeed  (iovernor  Greene,  in  Jlay,  1755 
«    "Major  Sylvanus  Scott"  is  the  language  of  Governor  llopkins's  family 

record  in  1754.     (Foster  Tapers,   VI.   12).      He  is  previously  referred  to  as 
"Cai>t.  Sylvanus  Scott"  in  the  list  of  nieniljer-i  of  the  General  Assembly,  ilay, 
170y.     (R.  I.  Col.  Records,  IV.  f.7). 
7    Wilkinson  Memoirs,  p.  01. 


EARLY    INFLUENCES.  ()  1 

Siinih,  the  Governor's  first  wife,  was  the  mother  of 
all  of  his  seven  children  ;  none  having  been  horn  to 
him  by  his  second  wife.^  These  children,  (whose 
names  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix),-  were  all 
born  at  his  Scituate  home,  with  the  exception  of  the 
eldest.^  Riifns,  the  eldest,  and  John,  the  second 
son,  were  apparently  named  for  the  two  younger 
brothers  of  their  father.  Silvanus  (or  Sylvanus) ,  re- 
ceived his  name  from  his  maternal  onuidfather,  Kuth 
received  her  grandmother's  name.  Seventy  acres  of 
land,  at  Chapumiscook,  were  immediately  made  over 
to  Stephen  and  his  wife  by  his  father;''  which  amount 


1  '•  He  was  twice  married,  living  willi  each  oC  his  wives  just  twenty-seven 
years."  ("  Uistorical  collections  of  the  Kssex  Institute,"  11.  120).  His  allec- 
tion  for  the  three  children  of  his  second  wife,  (his  own  step-childrcn),  appears 
to  huve  been  very  marked.  One  of  them  writes  :  ">'ever  was  father  kinder 
than  he  was  to  us  children."  ("  Historical  collections  of  the  Ksse.x  Institute," 
II.  120). 

2  See  Appendi.x  C 

3  Governor  Hopkins's  entry  in  his  family  record,  (Foster  Papers,  VI.  12), 
with  regard  to  Rufiis  is  that  he  "was  born  in  Cranston,"  —  doubtless  at  his 
own  birthplace  at  the  Mashapaug  homestead.  This  had  been,  since  172:1,  the 
home  of  Stephen's  elder  brother.  Colonel  William  Hopkins.  (Hopkins  gene- 
alogy, p.  11). 

4  Wilkinson  Memoirs,  p.  :{fJ3. 


(52  STP^rilEN    HOrKINS. 

was gr;u1ually  increased  from  other  sources;*  and  he 
was  apparently  destined  to  settle  down  in  life  as  an 
np-country  farmer. 


1  P^roiii  his  gi-aiulfather,  Samuol  Wilkinson,  lie  received  ninety  acres  more, 
about  the  same  time.  (Willcinson  Memoirs,  p.  3().3).  This  land  was  situated 
at  einipumiscook,  in  tlie  vicinity  of  Iiis  father's  residence.  In  17L'3  his  grand- 
father, Major  William  Hopkins,  liad  died  at  his Mashapaug homestead;  conlirm- 
ing  this  valuable  estate,  in  all,  about  200  acres,  to  his  grandson.  Col.  AVilliam 
Hopkins,  the  elder  brother  of  Stephen,  but  contirming  the  Cliapuniiscook  prop- 
erty to  Stephen's  father.  (See  his  will,  printed  in  the  Hopkins  genealogy,  p. 
fi5-6G).  Two  years  later,  1725,  his  widow  died,  making  this  same  grandson,  Wil- 
liam, the  e.Kecntor  of  the  i-emainder  of  the  pioperty.  (See  her  will,  printed  in 
the  Hopkins  genealogy,  p.  71).  In  1727,  Capt.  Samuel  Wilkinson  died,  leaving 
no  will.  (Wilkinson  Memoirs,  p.  51).  IJy  the  settlement  of  the  estate,  under 
his  son  Joseph  as  administrator,  doubtless  someporlicm  came  to  his  grandson, 
Stephen  Hopkins.  Stephen  received  by  deed  his  father's  Cliapuniiscook 
farm.  (Essex  Inst.  Hist.  Coll.  II.  121).  In  1738,  William  Hopkins,  Stephen's 
father,  died  at  Cliapuniiscook,  dividing  the  remainder  cif  his  estate,  by  his  will, 
equally  between  his  two  sons,  Stephen  and  Esek.  (See  his  will,  printed  in  the 
Hopkins  genealogy,  p.  73).  IMrs.  I'.uth  Hopkins,  their  mother,  had  died  some- 
time between  1721  and  1731.  (^Vilkinson  Memoirs,  p.  sti).  Ksek  reliiKiuished 
his  portion  to  Stephen  not  long  after  173S,  and  left  for  sea.  ("P^ssex  Inst.  Hist. 
Coll."  II.  121). 


CIIAITER  IV. 

ENTRANCE   ON   TUBLIC   LIFE  AS  A  COUNTRY    MEMBER 

The  expectation  that  Stephen  Hopkins  wouki,  like 
his  father,  quietly  continue  to  till  his  fields  in  the  se- 
clusion of  Chapumiscook  was  destined  to  disappoint- 
ment. For  five  years  nothing  is  heard  of  hini,^  but 
soon  after  attaining  his  majority  he  manifested  a  de- 
cided bent  for  public  life.  There  can  be  little  doubt 
that  the  disposition  was  an  inherited  one  ;  and  that 
he  was  following  out  the  lines  indicated  by  the 
careers  of  his  two  grandfathers,  Major  Hopkins-  and 
Captain  Wilkinson,"^  in  their  earlier,  though  less 
activ'c  generations.  When  in  1731,'^  the  town  of 
Providence,  hitherto  intact,  was  summarily  divided'' 

1  He  was,  liowever,  no  doubt,  practising  his  duties  as  surveyor  in  various 
parts  ol  tlie  colony,  as  occasion  niiglit  arise. 

2  See  pages  10-25.    .  3    See  pages  l".»-.31,  .'M,  11. 

4     Feb.  20,  1730-1.  5     U.  I.  Col.  Records,  IV.  J  12-1.5. 


64  STP^PIIEN    IIOrivINS. 

into  four,  William  Hopkins's  neighborhood  at  Chap- 
uraiscook  was  included  within  the  town  of  Scituate, 
the  south-western  one  of  the  four  towns  as  then 
organized. 

The  first  official  action  of  the  newly  fledged  town- 
ship, in  its  first  town  meeting,  was  to  choose  a  mod- 
erator ;  and  the  young  man,  "  Stephen  Hopkins,  then 
only  twenty-four  years  of  age,"  Avas  immediately 
chosen. 1  "This  fact,"  says  Mr.  Beaman,  "  is  signifi- 
cant of  the  very  high  opinion  entertained  of  him  in 
his  native  town,-  as  a  man  of  business  and  compe- 
tent to  preside  over  public  meetings. "^  When  the 
next  annual  town  mee'ting  came  around,^  he  was 
chosen  town  clerk  of  Scituate.^  The  duties  of  this 
oi3ice,  so  important  in  a  newly  constituted  town, 
from  their  comprising  the  registration  of  deeds,  and 
other  land  records,  were  labors  for  which  his  train- 
ing as  a  surveyor  had  eminently  fitted  him,'^  and  he 

1  Biamaii's  "  Scituate,"  p.  19. 

2  "  lUs  native  town."    It  was  not  his  native  town,  tliougli  as  is  stated  olso- 
wliere,  it  lias  been  widely  so  considered.     See  pages  9-10. 

3  Beaman's  "Scituate,"  p.  1'.).  4  Maicli20,  17.31-2. 
5     Letter  of  Moses  Brown  to  Robert  Wain  in  1823. 

(i    "  The  town  records  of  Scituate,"  says  Beaman,  (p.  21),  "  attest  that  he 
•was  familiar  with  drudgery." 


ENTRANCE    ON    PUBLIC    LIFE.  (i5 

held  this  i)]ace  for  ten  years  ;  in  fact  until  his  removal 
from  the  town  in  1742.1  Meanwhile,  however,  his 
fellow-townsmen  were  exacting  from  him  other  ser- 
vice. At  the  annual  town  meeting  in  1785,-  he  was 
chosen  president  of  the  town  council.^  This  posi- 
tion also  he  held  by  successive  re-elections,  until  his 
resignation  on  account  of  removing  to  Providence.  • 
In  17oG,  he  became  one  of  the  justices  of  the  Court 
of  Common  Pleas, ^  and  also  justice  of  the  i)eace.'' 

The  records  of  the  town  of  Scituatc  for  these  ten 
years,  in  his  handwriting,  are  still  in  good  preserva- 
tion, and  are  of  interest  from  their  legibility  and  neat- 
ness.     Written  before  the   nervous  difficulty'  of  his 

1    Beaniaii's  "  Scituate,"  p.  K>.  '^    jMarcli  1.".,  I7:!4-5. 

3    Letter  of  Moses  Brown,  182:5.  4    Sanderson,  VI.  2L'7. 

5    Records  of  Providfuce  County  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  I.  IK',. 

a    See  Appendix  F. 

7  "  For  a  number  of  jcars  previous "  to  177(),  writes  Mr.  Wahi,  (on  the  basis 
of  Moses  Brown's  information),  "  lie  had  been  afflicted  witli  a  nervous  affec- 
tion," and  when  he  wrote  at  all,  which  was  seldom,  he  was  compelled  to  guide 
the  ri^ht  hand  with  the  left.  The  venerable  Moses  Brown,  of  Providence,  has, 
on  vjirious  occasion.s,  acted  as  his  amanuensis."  (Sanderson's  "  Signers,"  VI. 
245).  "  From  my  boyhood,"  says  another  writer,  "  in  looking  at  the  Declara- 
tion of  Indep.ndence,  I  imagined  the  autograph  of  Stephen  [Hopkins]  iudi- 
cated  a  poor  penman."  "  What  was  my  surprise,"  he  adds,  "  in  e.Kamining 
the  records  of  the  town  of  Scituate."    (Wilkinson  Memoirs,  p.  :i05). 


66  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

later  years  had  begun  to  aifect  him,  "  every  page  of 
the  first  and  succeeding  books,"  says  Mr.  Wilkinson, 
"bears  ample  evidence  of  penmanship  excelled  by 
few,  even  masters  of  the  art.  At  first  for  a  few 
pages  his  recording  lacked  boldness,  ]>eing  a  hair 
mark,  but  improvement  manifests  itself  until  the 
beautifully  shaded  letters  are  a  close  imitation  of 
neatl}^  engraved  copper  plate. "'  In  1734  and  1735, 
Stephen  Hopkins,  with  two  other  citizens,  secured 
from  the  General  Assembly  the  action  long  needed, 
establishinjy  the  Plainfield  road  throuo;h  Scituate  on 
a  new  and  improved  location.-  In  1737,  the  pro- 
prietors of  Providence  had  occasion  to  prepare  new 
maps  and  plats  of  the  estates.  Stephen  Hopkins 
was  therefore  engaged  "to  revise  the  streets,  and 
project  a  map  of  Scituate  and  Providence,  which 
work  required  no  little  knowledge  of  mathematics, 
and  was  executed  to  the  entire  satisfaction"  of  the 
proprietors.^       In    1740,    Stephen     Hopkins    "  was 

1     Wilkinson  Memoirs,  p.  305.  2    R.  I.  Col.  Records,  IV.  402,  512. 

3  Wilkinson  Memoirs,  p.  305-06.  The  records  of  the  proprietors  also  show 
that  in  1738  a  committee  on  revisinj^  the  highways  was  appointed,  (Stephen's 
brother  being  chairman),  perhaps  in  continuation  of  the  suivey  of  1737.  (Dorr's 
"Providence,"  p.  13!t). 


ENTRANCE    ON    PUBLIC    LIFE.  67 

appointed  surveyor  of  the  proprietor's  lands,  and 
also  acted  as  clerk  to  the  proprietors. "^  He  was  thus 
closely  idcntilied  with  improvements  in  connection 
with  the  now  rapidly  advancing  seaport,  which 
"were  most  valuable,  and  mark  a  stage  in  the  devel- 
opment of  the  town."- 

But  during  these  ten  years  Stephen  Hopkins's  ser- 
vices had  been  found  useful  not  merely  by  his  towns- 
men and  the  Providence  proprietors,  but  by  the  col- 
ony. In  1731,  when  Scituate  for  the  first  time 
chose  representatives  to  the  General  Assembly,  Ste- 
phen Hopkins's  uncle,  Joseph  Wilkinson,  appears  to 
have  been  the  sole  Representative  for  the  first  year.^ 
But  in  the  next  year"*  the  people  of  Scituate  turned 
to  their  energetic  young  town  clerk,  Stephen  Hop- 
kins, and  elected  him  one  of  the  two  representatives.^ 
From  this  time  until  1738,  inclusive,  there  was  but 
one  vear,*^  when  he  was  not  one  of  the  Scituate  rep- 
resentatives  in  the   General  Assembly,  though  with 

1    Wilkinson  Memoirs,  p.  3(i6.  -'    Dorr's  "Providence,"  p.  240. 

3  R.  I.  Col.  Records,  IV.  449.     The  entry  under  1731  in   P.ounuin's  Scituate, 
(Appendix,  p.  1),  is  apparently  an  error. 

4  1732.  5    R.  I.  Col.  Records,  IV.  46S.  6    1734. 


G8  STErnEN  hotkins. 

a  new  colleague  in  each  new  year.^  In  1730  and 
1740  he  is  named  lirst  on  the  list  of  justices  of  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas  for  Providence  County, -^ 
havinui;  heen  first  chosen  one  of  the  justices  of  that 
court  three  years  hefore  ;^  but  in  17-11  he  was  again 
chosen  representative  from  Scituate,^  and  at  this  ses- 
sion he  was  chosen  Speaker"'  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly. In  1711  he  was  appointed  clerk  of  the  Court 
of  Conanon  Pleas.'' 

The  time  of  Stephen  Hopkins's  entrance  into  public 
life,  and  participation  in  the  government  of  the  col- 
ony, it  will  b.;  noticed,  was  in  the  administration  of 
Governor  William  Wjuiton  ;'  the  Hrst  of  the  fourS 
members  of  the  Wanton  family'"  win*  served  the  col- 
ony as  governor.  At  more  than  one  [)oint  it  will 
appear   that  there  was   a  cordial  understanding  be- 

1    R.  I.  Col.  Records,  IV.  480,  507,  5-^7,  534,  54;i.  i    See  Appendix  F. 

."5    See  Record.-;  of  Hie  Trovideuce  Court  of  ('oiiiinon  I'leas,  I.  !(>:],  201,  2-J4, 
250,  277,  nors,  31'.l,  :;41,  .",70,  381. 
4     R.  I.  Col.  Kecord.s,  v. 'Jl.  5     Uiid.,  V.  Jl.  ()    Sec  Appeiidi.x  F. 

7  1732-33. 

8  AVilliam  Wiinton,  17:!-.'-:'.3;  ,)olui  Wanton,  1734-40;  Gideon  Wanton,  1745- 
40,  1747-48;  .Iosei)li  Wanton,  170!»-75. 

9  See  narlleltV   "  Uisfory  of  tlio  Wanton  family,"  (U.  I.  nistoricul   Tract 
Ko.  3),  for  an  extended  account  of  tliis  intlueiitial  family. 


"T+' 


ENTRANCE    ON    PUBLIC    LIFE.  69 

tween  this  Newport  family  aiul  Mr.  Hopkins's  sup- 
porters.^  By  no  metuis  tlie  least  distinguished  of 
the  four  was  the  above-mentioned  Governor  Willium 
Wanton,  who  died  in  office  in  December,  173;3. 
Dean  Berkeley,  one  of  the  most  distinguished  of  the 
lono-  hue  of  eminent  men  who  have  honored  Newport 
by  their  residence  there,  says  Mr.  Bartlett,  "dined 
every  Sunday  with  Governor  Wanton.'"-^  He  was  a 
most  useful  man  and  one  to  whom  the  commerce  of 
Newport  and  of  the  colony  in  general  may  be  con- 
sidered to  be  largely  indebted.^  Of  his  brother, 
Governor  John  Wanton,  unfortunately,  not  so  much 
can  be  said.     The  action  by  which  he  is  best  remem- 

1  A  son  of  tlie  last  nieutioned  Governor  Wanton  was  deputy-governor  in 
1761-05,  irO'-OS,  during  Stephen  Hopkins's  governorship.  (See  Bartlett's 
"  Wanton  family,"  p.  SO;.  Their  commercial  transactions  were  iifcessarily 
frequent.  (See  chapter  V.)  One  circumstance  which  may  have  had  some  in- 
tluence  in  this  matter  is,  that  the  first  three  of  them  were,  like  Governor 
Hopkins,  Friends.  In  the  prolonged  Greene  and  Wanton  contest,  174.3-55, 
it  seems  probable  that  Wanton  had  the  support  of  Providence.  This  attitude 
of  the  Wantons  is  attributed,  on  the  authority  of  the  late  Stephen  Gould,  of 
Newport,  to  a  quarrel  between  the  AVanton  and  Ward  families,  very  early  in 
the  century. 

2  Bartlett's  "  Wanton  fanuly,"  p.  34. 

3  See  Governor  Cozzens's  addrc-s  at  the  "  Dedication  of  the  school-house 
erected  by  the  trustees  of  the  Long  Wliarf,"  Newport,  1803,  p.  25. 


70  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

bered  is  his  opposition,  as  Dcpuly-govcnior,  in  17H] , 
t(^  the  eniiiiently  jiitlicioiis  (li8ai)[)roval'  by  Governor 
Jeneks,-  of  the  '"act  for  emitting  £()(), 000  in  pnblic 
bills  of  ei'C(lit"3  in  conseqnence  of  whieh  the  "liard 
money  }):irty  "  went  out  of  power. 'i  A  course  of  paper 
money  emission,  already  found  to  be  ruinous  in  its 
tendency,  was  thereupon  pursued  with  an  added 
impetus  and  recklessness  which  made  the  subsequent 
attempts  of  l\hode  Island  to  establish  a  secure  sys- 
tem of  finance  a  most  diHicult  undertaking. ^  The 
name  of  Ste[)hen  Hopkins  is  found  signed  to  a  report 
presented  to  the  General  Assembly-,  Fel)ruary  27, 
174',), 'i  wliich,  with  abundant  opportunity  for  ol)serv- 

1  See  1{.  1.  (  ol.  llci'oi (Is,  l\ .  i,)l>.  '!'];(■  tliiiiicr  iiavc  the  govt  riior  no  iiotual 
"  velo  "  power. 

2  Sfcplicii  Hopkins  luid  married  liis  niece  in  172G.     See  pnges  5i'-C0. 

3  Sec  li.  I.  Col.  Itecoids  n.  ^•'ii.  (Also  IV.  450-Gi).  The  act  is  printed  in 
tlie  "  Tublic  laws,"  17;!1,  p.  L';il-34. 

4  See  Cotter's  work,  "  Some  acconnt  of  the  bills  of  creditor  paper  money 
of  Khode  Island,"  (K.  1.  Historical  Tract,  No.  8),  p.  .id. 

5  "  An  altemjit  "  was  made  in  October,  17(iO,  says  Arnold,  "  to  settle  np  the 
paper  money  oHiee  eicated  at  the  time  of  tlie  early  bank  issues."  (Arnold's 
"Khod(>  Island,"  11.  l.'i.'4).  lUit  this  was  not  done,  and  the  e.xigencies  of  the 
war  of  inde])endcnce  found  IMiode  Lsjand  unprepared.  Cotter's  "  Hills  of 
credit,"  alujve  cited,  e.xannnes  llie  operatiinis  ol  tlie  ten  issues  of  this  ruinous 
currency  from  17 10  to  KXC). 

0  At  this  same  session  lie  served  on  another  committee  in  relation  to  the 
settlenitnt  of  the  outstanding  issues.     (H.  I.  Col.  Kecords,  V.  "02-03). 


■'^mt 


ENTK\NCa    ON    PUBLIC    LIFK.  71 

iiii;  the  ()i)ci'ati()n  of  this  fbllv,  reiimrks  that  the 
tendency  is,  to  "daily  sink  tlie  value  of  paper  hills. "' 
These  were  years  of  peace.-  The  home  govern- 
ment had  not  been  at  wai;  with  any  European  power 
since  1718.  Hostilities  with  Spain,  however,  were 
threatening,-'  and  this  colony  thought  it  necessary  in 

1732  to  pass  an  act'  for  strengthening  Fort  George, 
on    Goat    Island.''        This  was  made  the    excuse  in 

1733  for  the  issue  of  £  104,000. ^  The  pailicular 
spot  at  which  the  ever  vigorous  boundary  disputes 
were  now  agitated  was  the  eastern  line  of  the  colony, 
comprising  the  "Attleborougli  gore,"  now  Cumber- 
land."   At  the  May  session,  173G,  Stephen  Hopkins 

1     TottHi-'s  "  Bills  of  credit,"  p.  ISs. 

i  Tlie  "  war  of  tlie  Spanish  succession,"  ("  Queen  Anne's  war  "),  closed  in 
that  year. 

3  The  "  war  of  the  Austrian  succession,"  ( King  George's  war),  in  which 
England  and  Spain  were  again  pitted  against  each  other,  actually  broke  out  in 
1744,  twelve  years  later. 

4  K.  1.  Col.  Kecords,  IV.  4r5-r0. 

5  This  fort  which  seems  to  have  changed  its  name  with  the  accession  of  a 
new  sovereign  was  originally  created  in  (iueeii  Anne's  reign,  in  17(l'J,  (Arnold's 
"  Rhode  Island,"  II.  . '5),  and  was  known  as  Fort  Ann  in  iru.'i.  (K.  I.  Col. 
Records,  III.  524). 

()    Potter's  "  Bills  of  credit,"  p.  40. 

7  At  first  a  part  of  Rehoboth,  in  the  Plymouth  Colony,  but  from  l('i'j4  to 
1746-7,  included  in  Attleborougli,  Blass. 


72  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

was  appointed  one  of  the  committee  of  three,'  (his 
brother,  Colonel  William  Hopkins, ^  being  another 
member,)  to  procure  certain  much  needed  evidences. 
The  sessions  of  the  General  Assembly  at  this  time 
were  held  successively  at  Newport,  Providence,  War- 
wick, East  Greenwich,  and  South  Kingstown,  but 
Newport  was  universally  regarded  as  the  metropolis 
of  the  colony,  and  by  far  the  greater  number  of  the 
sessions  were  held  there.  The  Superior  Court  also, 
of  which  Stephen  Hopkins  was  to  be  chosen  only  a 
few  years  later  (1747)^  Assistant-justice,  had  been 
held  exclusively'  at  Newport.'^    To  a  young  man^  of 

1  U.  I.  t;ol.  Kecorils.  IV.  o'J2. 

2  Only  occasional  glimpses  of  Colonel  Uopkins  in  his  native  town  are  to  be 
lound  (luring  tins  period.  During  n)ucli  the  larger  part  of  the  twenty  years, 
ir.'!0-50,  he  was  at  sea.     (Wilkinson  Memoirs,  p.  350,  o52). 

.•i    11.  I.  Manual,  1882-83,  p.  134.    Records  of  the  K.  1,  Superior  t:ourt,  I.  1. 

4  The  plan  ol'  holding  the  sessions  of  this  court  in  succession  at  the  several 
court-houses  in  the  colony  dates  from  1717.     "Acts  and  laws,"  1752,  p.  28. 

5  "The  salutary  influence  of  Newport,"  says  Chief-justice  Durfee,  in  the 
work  already  cited,  "on  the  early  history  of  tlie  state,  has  never  been  fully 
appreciated."  "  Tlie  citizens  of  no  other  town,"  he  elsewhere  says,  "Minder- 
stood  so  well  or  cultivated  so  assiduously  tlie  amenities  of  every  day  life.  Its 
flourishing  commerce  put  it  more  tuUy  en  rapjiort  than  was  any  other  town, 
with  all  that  was  best  in  the  intellectual  life  of  the  old  world."  (Durfee's 
"  Gleanings  from  the  judicial  histoiy  of  Rhode  Island,"  p.  18;  p.  17-18). 

6  An  interesting  picture  of  the  impression  made  by  Newport  in  a  few  years 


ENTRANCE    ON    PUBLIC    LIFK.  73 

his  iiuirked  ciipabilities,  his  quicli  instincts,  and  his 
lively  appreciation  of  all  phases  of  hnmnn  life,  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  the  two  or  three  occasions  i  in 
every  year  when  his  duties  called  him  to  Newport, 
were  opportunities  which  he  would  by  no  means 
allow  to  pass  unimproved.  This,  it  must  be  re- 
membered, was  the  Newport  of  Dean  Berkeley ,2  and 
of  the  genial  divines,  Rev.  Mr.  llonyman^  and  Rev. 
Dr.  MacSparran  ;^  of  Smibert,  the  painter,'^  and  a 
little  later  of  the  youthfid  Gilbert  Stuart;*^  of  such 

after,  on  the  iiiiiul  of  a  much  younger  man  than  Stephen  Hopkins  at  this  time, 
may  be  found  in  the  life  of  General  Greene  .—"As  the  little  sloop  rounded 
Long  Wharf,  he  caught  his  first  glimpse  of  ships  that  but  a  few  weeks  before 
had  been  lying  at  a  wharf  in  London  or  Bristol ;  *  *  *  as  he  walked  up  Church 
Lane,  he  saw  the  steeple  of  Trinity  rising  higli  over  Berkeley's  organ,  and 
farther  on,  the  Corinthian  portico  of  the  Hedwood  Library,  opening  upon  more 
books  than  it  seemed  possible  to  read  in  a  lifetime."  (Greene's  "  Natlmuael 
Greene,"  I.  19). 

1  As  member  of  the  General  Assembly  and  judge  of  the  Superior  Court. 

2  Berkeley  was  a  resident  liere  from  17-".)  to  1731.  IHs  "Alciphron  "  belongs 
to  this  period. 

3  See  Bull's  "  Jlemoirs  of  Rhode  Island,"  17J0;  Updike's  Narragansett 
Church,  p.  30i-0().     The  spelling  "  Honeyman  "  is  also  rarely  found. 

4  See  Updike's  "  Xarragansett  Cliurch."  For  some  communication  which 
passed  between  Dr.  MacSparran  and  Stephen  Hopkins,  see  Moses  Brown's  letter 
to  Robert  Wain,  1823. 

5  See  Tuckerman's  "  American  artist  life,"  p.  -11-43. 

6  Stuart  was  sketching  in  Newport  from  1769  to  1774.  (Updike's  "  Narra- 
gansett  church,"  p.  253-57). 


74  STEPIIKN    HOPKINS. 

merchant  princes  as  the  Wantons,  the  Malljones, 
Abraham  Rethvood'  and  \Vhip[)le  ;2  of  such  accom- 
plished historical  scholars  as  Dr.  i^tiles-^  and  John  Cal- 
lender,-!  and  of  scientific  men  like  Joseph  and  Peter 
Harrison,''  and  Dr.  William  Hunter. 6  It  was  the 
period  when  such  families  as  those  of  Wanton,  Bren- 
ton  and  Vernon,  Bull,  Coddington,  Brinley  and  Rob- 
inson furnished  the  cultivated  society"  for  which 
the   town    became    eminent ;    and    when    tiie    distin- 

1  Si'e  Hunter's  "Address  liefbre  the  Reihvood  Litirary,"  lS4r.  In  Newport 
Historical  Magazine.  II.  8S-8il. 

2  Whipple  was  Hopkins's  second  cousin.    He  married  Redwood's  daughter. 

3  Dr.  Stiles's  voluminous  collections  remain  unpublished.  There  is  a  selec- 
tion from  different  portions  of  them  (in  manuscript)  in  the  possession  of  the 
Rhode  Island  Hi'<torical  Society.  (Foster  Pajiers,  IX.  45).  It  comiu'iscs  more 
than  40  pages.  There  is  a  reference  to  Ciovernor  Hopkins  in  a  letter  to  Dr. 
Stiles,  in  1772.     (Kingsley's  "  Ezra  Stiles,"  p    10). 

4  His  "  Historical  discourse,"  reviewing  the  century,  1(1.38-17.38,  comprises 
the  4th  volume  of  the   "  <  ollections  of  the  Rhode  Island   Historical  Society." 

0  The  latter  was  flie  architect  of  the  Redwood  Library,  and  had  been,  in 
England,  an  associate  architect  in  the  erection  of  Blenheim  House.  (King's 
"  Historical  Sketch,"  p.  4).  Both  of  them  served  on  various  committees  in 
behalf  of  the  colony  where  accuracy  of  measurement  was  requisite,  (in  some 
instances  in  association  with  Stephen  Hopkins).  (H.  I.  Col.  Records,  V.  131, 
189,  .325,333,  512;  VI.  13). 

6  See  Dr.  C.  W.  Parsons's  sketch  of  "  Early  votaries  of  physical  science  in 
Rhode  Island."      (To  be  printed  in  R.  I.  Hist.  Soc.  Collections,  volume  VII). 

7  Newport  Hisforical  Mngmitie,  II.  145-46. 


entrancp:  on  PuiiLic  life.  75 

guishcd  literary  clul)i  whu-h  was  fouiuled  by  Berkeley, 
and  "which  lunnbered  aunnig  its  members  such  men 
as  Cal lender,  Ellery,^  Ward. 3  Flonyman,  Checkley, 
Updike, 4  and  Johnston,"  was  a  most  potent  influence 
in  fixing  upon  the  society  of  Newport  that  character 
for  refined  and  dignified  culture  which  it  has  since 
borne.  "A  similar  auspicious  influence,"  says  Dr. 
Kino',^  "on  the  character,  intelligence  and  public 
spirit  of  the  town,  on  her  rising  statesmen,  her   lib- 

1  Neivport  nistoriail  Magazine,  II.  87.  Stephen  Ilopkius  was  himself  a 
member  of  this  '■  literary  club,"  and  was  therefore  brought  into  exceptional 
intimacy  with  these  men.  He  was  the  only  Providence  man  in  the  club. 
See  the  list  of  its  members  printed  in  the  "Catalogue  of  the  Redwood 
Library,"  1800,  p.  3.    It  is  named  as  the  "  Philosophical  Society." 

2  Afterwards  Hopkins's  colleague  at  Pliiladelphia. 

3  Father  of  Samuel  Ward,  Hopkins's  coll«ague  at  PhiLadelphia. 

i  Col.  Updike  was  a  colleague  of  Governor  Hopkins  at  the  Albany  congress 
of  1755,  which,  unlike  that  of  the  previous  year,  confined  Itself  strictly  to 
Indian  affairs.  (R.  I.  Col.  Records,  V.  404;.  A  piece  of  silver  ware  presented 
to  him  by  Berkeley,  with  whom  he  was  very  intimate,  on  the  Dean's  departure 
from  Newport,  still  remains  in  the  Updike  family.  (Updike's  "  Memoirs  of 
the  Rhode  Island  bar,"  p.  03. 

5  King's  "  Historical  sketch,"  p.  5.  Among  other  noteworthy  facts,  he 
mentions  that  the  existence  of  this  library  at  Newport,  "attracted  many  of 
our  literary  men  in  the  English  colonies  who  availed  themselves  of  its  treasures, 
while  enjoying  the  delights  of  our  climate.  From  the  Carolinas,  from  the 
West  Indies,  from  New  York  and  Boston,  they  came  here  as  to  a  paradise  on 
earth  to  replenish  their  stock  of  health  and  their  stores  of  knowledge."  (King's 
"Historical  sketch,"  p.  5). 


76  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

eral  merchants,  her  cultured  schohirs,  and  her  able 
law3'ers,  nuist  be  attributed  to  the  Redwood  Li- 
brary. "^ 

While  thus  drawn  more  and  more  into  public  life, 
his  home  life  was  going- on  in  its  own  way.  His  farm 
was  becomii>g  more  valuable  by  increased  cultivation 
as  well  as  by  increase  in  acres  ;2  he  was  introducing 
improved  means  of  communication-''  between  it  and 
"  The  Neck  ;"  he  had  by  1740  become  the  father  of 
seven  children  ;''  liis  uncle  (and  comparatively  near^ 
neighbor,)  Joseph  Wilkinson,  who  had  built,  per- 
haps in  the  year  before  his  own  marriage,*'  "one  of 
the  tineyt  houses  in  Scituate,"'  had  added  four  more 
to  his  already  lar'^fo  family  of  children,'' and  acquired 

1  Sti'lilifii  lloiikiiis  liiiii^-clf  no  ddiilit  iiiailc  frtMiUfiit  ;iiiil  extc'iulcd  use  ol'  tlif 
Redwood  Libriii-y.     (See  .Miison's  "Newport  illustnited,"  p.  5'^). 

2  See  pages  (il-Ov!. 

3  See  his  ;ictioii  with  i-es;ird  to  the  rhiinfielil  road,  page  Ofi.  Also  compare 
R.  I.  Col.  Records,  IV.  4'.)->.  .')IL>. 

4  Hopkins  genealogy,  ]).  1)^.  In  his  own  family  record,  (Foster  Papers,  VI. 
12),  one,  (Rufiis),  is  to  have  been  horn  "  in  Cranston,"  and  four  "  at  .Scituate," 
and  in  the  remaining  two  in.stances  tlie  place  is  not  mentioned. 

.*)     Within  a  lew  miles. 

6  "  Erected  in  ir~'.5  or  thereabouts."     (Wilkinson  Memoirs,  p.  318). 

7  "  The  first  one  finished  off  in  panel  work,"  Wilkinson  adds;  and  he  states 
that  It  stood  120  years.     (Wilkinson  Memoirs,  p.  •''.48). 

5  He  had  fifteen  in  all.     (ATilkiiuon  Memoirs,  p.  114). 


ENTRANCE    ON    PUBLIC    LIFE.  77 

about  a  thousand  acres  of  laud  ;•  and  his  remoter 
cousins,  the  Hopkins's,  (the  descendants  of  iiis  grand- 
father's brother  Thomas,)  had  settled  in  large  num- 
bers near  his  own  home  in  Scituate.2  But  by  1740 
he  appears  to  have  become  the  only  member  (jf  his 
own  immediate  family  remaining  there.  His  brother, 
Colonel  William  Hopkins,  had  removed  to  the  Mash- 
apaug  homestead  soon  alter  1723.^  His  brothers, 
Rufus,  John,  and  Samuel,  ai)[)ear  to  have  been  at 
sea,"*  during  mo«t  of  the  time,  and  one  of  them  ^ 
was  probably  dead  in  1741.  His  sister  Hope  had 
married  in  173(5  Henr>' Harris,'' and  removed  nearer" 
the  Neck  settlement.  His  sister  Abigail  had  mar- 
ried^  Nathan  Angell,!*  who  was  one  of  the  earliest 
tradesmen'"  in  the  Town  Street,  near  Angell  Street. 

1     Wilkinson  Memoirs,  p.  348.  2     Hopkins  genealogy,  p.  15-lfi. 

3    See  pages  01-62.  i    See  page  54. 

5  Rufus.    See  Hopkin.s  genealogy,  p.  10. 

6  Hopkins  genealogy,  p.  20. 

7  Wliat   is   now   Johnston,   says   Mr.    Holbrook,  '•  had   probably  been   her 
home  throughout  her  married  life."     (Hojykins  genealogy,  p.  23). 

8  The  exact  (lute  is  not  preserved.    It  was  before   1744.    (See  •' (ienealogy  of 
the  descendants  of  Thomas  Angell,"  p.  44). 

i)    In  the  4th  generation  from  Thomas  Angell,  the  companion  of  Koger  Wil- 
liams.    (See  Angell  genealogy,  p.  44). 
10    Angell  genealogy,  p.  21,  44. 


78  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

His  brother  Esek  had,  soon  after  1738,^  left  Scituate 
and  ''havinn  found"  at  Providence,  savs  Wilkinson, 2 
"a  vessel  ready  to  sail  to  Surinam,  he  enlisted  as 
a  'raw  hand,'  having  disposed  of  his  gun  for  a  Span- 
ish four-pence."  "His  practical  knowledge  of  nav- 
igation," the  same  writer  adds, 3  was  what  gave 
him  "pre-eminence  on  the  sea,"  and  marrying  at 
Newport  in  1741,^  the  connection  of  this  brother  with 
Scituate  was  severed  forever.  Death  also  had  re- 
moved from  Stephen's  companionship  his  grand- 
father, Samuel  Wilkinson,  who  had  apparently  died 
in  less  than  a  year  after  his  own  marriage  in  1726, 
(August  27,  1727)  ;•'  his  uncle,  Joseph  Wilkinson, 
who  died  in  1740;  his  mother  at  some  time  previous 
to  March,  1731  f  and  his  father  in  1738.^  He  was 
indeed  left  alone,  in  the  neighborhood.®    This,  how- 

1  On  the  death  of  his  father. 

2  Wilkinson  Memoirs,  p.  381.  .3    Ibid.,  p.  .S82.  i    Ibid.,  p.  ,383, 

5  Ibid.,  p.  51. 

6  A  quit-claim  deed  from  Colonel  William  Hopkins  to  his  uncle,  Joseph 
Wilkinson,  dated  Feb.  23,  1730-1,  speaks  of  his  "deceased  mother,  Kuth  Hop- 
kins."    (Printed  in  the  Wilkinson  Memoirs,  p.  354). 

7  Hopkins  genealogy,  p.  11. 

8  His  kinsmen  were  now  chiefly  in  Newport  and  Providence.  At  Newport, 
Joseph  Whipple.  Jr.,  deputy-governor  in  the  next  year,  and  his   brother.  Cap- 


ENTRANCE    ON    PUBLIC    LIFE.  79 

ever,  may  not  be  the  only  reason  for  his  removal  to 
Providence  in  1742.  He  had,  it  is  true,  been  apply- 
ing himself  to  farming^  with  that  energy  which  inva- 
riably characterized  him  ;  but  the  conviction  appears 
to  have  been  gradually  forcing  itself  upon  him,  that 
commercial  enterprises  offered  a  Held  for  his  best 
eff'orts.  His  relations  with  Crawford  and  Angel!  in 
Providence,"^  and  with  Malbone,^'  Redwood, ••  and 
Whipple^  in  Newport,  engaged  as  they  were  in  the 

tain  Esek  Hopkins,  with  his  fumily.  At  l'io\  ideiuv,  his  latht^r's  cousin,  Col. 
Joseph  Whipple,  one  of  the  founders  of  King's  Church,  in  1722,  and  his 
brother-in-law,  Niithan  Angell,  both  of  them  extensively  engaged  in  trade. 
Several  of  Col.  Whipple's  fiiuiily  also  had  married  into  the  Fenner  and  Craw- 
ford families ;  one  marrying  Captain  John  Crawford,  and  another  William 
Crawf<n-d,  >' whose  inventory  "  in  1720,  says  JUr.  Dorr,  "  was  tlie  largest  that 
had  yet  been  exhibited  to  the  court  of  probate."  (Dorr's  "  Providence,"  p. 
16~) .  His  wife's  kinsmen  also  were  liere ;  the  ex-governor,  Joseph  Jencks,  (of 
what  is  now  Pawtucket),  her  uncle,  and  the  families  of  the  four  brotliers. 
Brown,  connected  by  several  intermarriages  with  the  families  of  Scott  and 
Jenckes.  With  all  tliese  Stephen  Hopkins's  relations  were  close  and  intimate 
from  this  time  forward. 

1  A  bit  of  light  is  thrown  on  his  success  by  the  record  of  payment  of  boun- 
ties offered  by  tlie  General  Assembly  for  the  heaviest  crops  of  tlax.  From 
these  it  appears  that  in  17:!3,  Stephen  Hopkins  raised  9-151/4  lbs.  of  flax,  and 
manufactured  104  lbs.  of  hemp.    (Potter's  "  Bills  of  credit,"  p.  78). 

2  See  Chapter  V.  ^    See  page  54. 

4  Abrnliam  Hedwood  was  the  father-in-law  of  Joseph  Whipple,  Jr. 

5  His  second   cousin,  Joseph   Wliipple.  Jr.,  of  Newport.      Whipple  was 


80  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

flourishing  commerce  of  that  time,  may  have  drawn 

him  to  the  idea,  and  the  strikingly  successful  nauti- 
caP  experiences  of  his  brothers  undoubtedly  empha- 
sized the  tendency.  Perhaps,  however,  the  direct 
occasion  for  his  decision  was  his  appointment  as 
clerk  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  of  Providence 
County  in  1741, ^  preceded  by  his  election  as  speaker 
of  the  General  Assembly  in  the  same  year."^  To 
do  full  justice  to  the  now  duties  thus  imposed  upon 
him,  it  seemed  essential  that  he  should  be  settled 
in  some  more  accessible  locality  than  Scituate.  The 
Chapumiscook  farm  was  accoi-dingly  offered  for  sale  ;'» 


apparently  in  the  direct  line  for  the  governorship,  and  doubtless  would  have 
reached  this  honor  earlier  than  Hoplvins,  in  1755,  except  for  his  unfortunate 
but  honorable  business  failure.     (Arnold's  "  Rhode  Island,"  II.  186). 

1  Their  father,  William  Hoplcins,  in  penetrating  the  forest  about  1708,  and 
establishing  his  home  a  dozen  miles  from  the  sea  coast,  perhaps  flattered  him- 
self that  he  was  thus  making  it  certain  that  his  "  brood  "  would  turn  out  farm- 
ers. Instead  of  that,  they  "took  to  the  water  like  ducks."  He  had  not  been 
in  his  grave  three  years,  when  the  last  one  of  theni  appears  to  have  left  the 
Scituate  hills;  and  within  the  next  forty  years  liis  descendants  were  sailing  the 
ocean  in  all  directions;  twelve  of  them  in  command  of  vessels. 

2  Kecords  of  Providence  County  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  I.  i'S.i. 
'.',    R.  I.  Col.  Records,  V.  10. 

4  "  He  sold  his  farm  in  Scituate  in  1742."  (Wilkinson  Memoirs,  p.  306).  It 
was  perhaps  not  entirely  disposed  of  until   1744,  in  which  year  part  of  his 


ENTRANCK    OX    PUliLlC    LIFE.  81 

ail  estate  was  purchased'  in  Providence,  on  the  Town 
Street  ;2  and  thereupon  beg-aii  that  complete  identi- 
fication of  himself  with  the  interests  of  this  town, 
which  caused  him  to  be  leofarded,  almost  from  the 
very  first,  as  her  leading  citizen. 

homestead  was  bought  by  John  Hulet.  (lieanian's  "  Scituate,"  p.  23).  Ou 
this  estate  the  next  owner,  Lieutenant  Governor  AVilliam  West,  built,  "  in 
1775,"  "  the  largest  and  most  showy  house  that  had  ever  been  erected  in  Scitu- 
ate."     (Beaman's  "Scituate,"  p.  25). 

1  April  15,  1742.     (Moses  Brown's  letter  to  Robert  Wain,  1823). 

2  The  present  corner  of  South  Main  and  Hopkins  Streets. 


CHAPTER  V. 


A  CITIZEN  OF  PROVIDENCE. 


In  the  preceding  chapter^  allusion  is  made  to  the 
immediate  recognition  of  Stephen  Hopkins  as  a  lead- 
ing citizen  of  Providence,  by  his  contemporaries. 
We  may  go  farther  than  that,  at  this  remove  in  order 
of  time,  and  pronounce  him  the  most  distinguished 
citizen  to  whom  she  has  o;iven  birth.  Ko"^er  Williams 
first  saw  the  light  on  the  other  side  (jf  the  Atlantic, 
Nathauael  Greene,  whose  name  is  held  in  deepest 
honor  throuiihout  the  state,  was  l)orn  in  Warwick, 
and  was  never  a  resident  of  l^rovidence.  The  great 
names  of  lierkeley  and  Channing  have  insei)arable 
associations  with  Newport,  but  have  none  with  Prov- 
idence. But  Stephen  Il(j[)kins  was  born  on  her 
soil,    was    thoroughly  identified  with   her   interests, 

1    See  page  81. 


A    CITIZRN    OF    PROVIDENCE.  83 

and  Nv;is  one  of  her  most  assiduous  public  servants, 
to  whose  exertions  she  is  most  deepl\-  indebted.  The 
state  of  Rhode  Ishmd  has  creeled  a  substantial  monu- 
ment^ over  his  remains  in  the  now  almost  historic 
cemetery'-^  which  contains  them.  It  would  be  a  fitting 
act  for  the  city  of  Providence  to  perpetuate  his  niem- 
orv  by  a  suitable  memorial  at  the  spot  which  marks 
his  biithplace. 

One  characteristic  of  Governor  Hopkins  stands  out 
with  great  distinctness,  in  connection  with  his  ten- 
dencies to  expansion,  already  noted, 3  which  led  him 
constantly  to  widen  the  sphere  of  his  duties,  and 
broaden  the  scale  of  his  operations.  It  is,  that  in 
passing  to  new  surroundings,  he  did  not  abandon  the 
old.  lie  was  able  in  almost  every  instance  to  retain 
his  hold  on  what  he  had  once  secured,  and  this  goes 
far  to  explain  the  success  of  his  career.  It  throws 
especial  light  on  his  very  noteworthy  success  as  a 
leader  of  pul)lic  o[)iiiion.^  Thus  in  removing  from 
the  country  to  Providence,  he   did    not   lose  his  hold 

1  For  tlie  iiisciiiition  ciiived  upon  its  tablots,  see  Appendix. 

2  The  Nortli  Burying  Ground.  3    See  pages  52-53. 
4    See  Chapters  VI.  and  VIII . 


84  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

on  "the  country  elemcul."  On  the  contrary,  that 
element  ap[)ears  as  a  not(!\vorthy  feature  in  his  fol- 
lowing-, throuo^h  the  whole  of  his  career,  up  to  its 
very  close.  Nor  in  exchanging  the  duties  of  a  cit- 
izen of  Providence  for  those  of  governor  of  the  col- 
ony, did  he  abandon  his  direct  and  intimate  interest 
in  tlie  development  of  Providence.  And  once  more, 
in  i)assing  from  the  sphere  of  his  colonial  duties  in 
the  smallest  of  the  original  thirteen,  to  a  position  of 
inHueuce  in  the  councils  of  the  United  Colonies,  he 
still  carrie(]  with  him  an  unremitting  and  devoted 
attachment  to  Uhode  Island  interests. 

Yet  the  student  of  his  career  cannot  fail  to  remark 
the  peculiar  sense  in  which  he  may  almost  be  said  to 
have  identitied  himself  with  Providence.  Although 
from  the  period  of  his  first  governorship  his  interest 
in  all  parts  of  Rhode  Island  was  intelligent  and  con- 
stant, and  while  his  candidacy  always  had  strong 
and  earnest  supportei-s  in  other  parts  of  the  colony, 
yet  there  is  no  doubt  that  he  took  a  ])eculiar  and  al- 
most alfectionate  interest  in  the  development  of  Prov- 
idence. It  is  somewhat  significant  that  one  of  the 
most  appreciative  statements  of  this  fact  is  found  in 


A   CITIZEN   OF   PROVIDENCE.  85 

an  address  before  the  Redwood  Library  in  1847,  by  a 
distinguished  native  of  Newport,  the  late  William 
Hunter.  "Stephen  Hopkins,"  says  Mr.  Hunter, 
"tauo-ht  Providence  her  capabilities,  and  calculated, 
rather  than  prophesied  her  future  growth  and  pros- 
perity."! This  is  striking  language,  but  no  one  who 
has  studied  the  period  in  question  will  fail  to  recog- 
nize its  truth  and  fitness.  It  is'  true  that  natural 
conditions  were  powerful  aids  in  the  same  direction. 
It  is  true  that  the  existence  of  the  magnificent  inland 
sea,  at  the  head  of  which  the  town  had  grown  up, 
made  it  impossible  that,  sooner  or  later,  the 
commercial  instinct  and  the  habit  of  sailing  with 
cargoes,  should  not  become  almost  second  nature  to 
its  enterprising  and  adventurous  citizens. ^  The  won- 
der is  that  she  was  so  late  in  moving.     Newport  had 

1  Neioport  Historical  Magazine,  II.  H2. 

2  Tristam  Burges,  in  ISIiG,  wrote  as  follows  to  Moses  Brown  :  "  The  people 
of  this  state  must  have  been  much  engaged  on  the  sea,  before  ir7:i;  or  ycur 
brotlier  John  [John  Brown]  could  not  at  that  time  have  collected  fifty  young 
men  at  Providence  in  one  evening,  to  embark  with  him  in  the  destruction  of 
the  Gaspee."  (Manuscript  letter  in  possession  of  the  Rhode  Island  Historical 
Society,  Jan.  Vi,  18.36). 


8 


86  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

many  years  the  start  of  Providence,  as  a  port  in 
whose  waters  the  trade  of  distant  nations  found  a 
harbor.  1  But  Providence,  to  quote  once  more  from 
Mr.  Hunter,  was  "now  beginning  to  appreciate  *  *  * 
the  safety  and  superiority  of  its  position  at  the  head 
of  navigation. "2  And  by  17(37,  to  quote  from  the 
report  of  a  committee  made  to  the  town  in  a  subse- 
quent year  : 

"  The  town  of  Provkleuce  was  in  its  most  flonrishing  circum- 
stances. Its  trade  was  open  to  almost  all  parts  of  the  world,  its 
navigation  extensive  and  prosperous,  its  stores  and  warehouses 
crowded  with  all  sorts  of  merchandize,  its  streets  thronged  willi 
foreigners  who  came  liither  to  advance  their  fortunes  by  trade 
and  commerce."  ^ 

When  Stephen  Hoplvins  became  a  citizen  of  Prov- 

1  So  early  as  Dec.  5,  170s,  Gov.  Samuel  Cranston  wrote  to  tlie  Board  ol 
Trade,  in  answer  to  a  series  of  in(|uirii-s  :  "About  twenty  years  \r.i-t,  we  had  not 
above  four  or  five  vessels  that  di<l  belong  to  this  colony,  which  hatli  since  trrud- 
ually  increased  to  the  number  of  twenty-nine,"  all  but  '-two  or  tlnee"  dfuliich 
belonged  to  Xewjiort.  He  goes  on  to  attribute  the  rea-on  oftliis  increase  "to 
the  inclination  the  youth"  on  that  island,  "  have  to  the  sea."  (U.  I.  Col. 
Records,  IV.  58).  Moses  Brown  mentions  a  bill  of  lading,  dated  in  lOiio,  of  a 
cargo  of  "the  good  ship,  called  \.\\eEliznheth4'Mary"  consigned  to  Caleb 
Cranston,  Ijro'.lier  of  the  governor,     (f.etter  of  Jan.  I-,',  1830). 

2  NciL-port  Historical  Magazine,  II.  141. 

,3  Stajiles's  "Annals,"  j).  'Z^'Z.  .Jolni  Brown  was  chairman,  and  David 
Howell  was  probably  writer  of  llii/  rejjort. 


A    CITIZEN    OF    rROVIDENCE.  87 

iclencc,  in  1742,  he  found  it  an  inconsidcniblc  settle- 
ment^ of  less  tiian  4,000  inlmbitants.-i  It  had  no  cus- 
tom-house ;=^  no  post-office  ;-^  no  town-house  <>  no 
school-houses  ;*'  no  college  ;"  no  libraiy  ;«  no  public 
market-house,'-^  no  "state-house,"  (Newport  being 
the  "Metropolis"  of  the  colony;)  no  bank  nor  insur- 
ance   office  ;i^  no  printing-press  and  no  newspaper  ;i' 

1  For  scviTul  ytars  after  this,  the  colony  tax  assessed  upon  Providence  was 
less  not  only  than  tliat  oCNewport,  but  than  that  of  the  liirniing  town  of  South 
Kingstown.     (Staples's  "Annals,"  p.  200). 

2  Six  years  later  it  was  3,45u'.  (Douglass's  "  Summary,"  II.  89).  Compare 
also  R.   I.  I'ublio  Documents,  187'.i,  No.  (>,  p.  ~'9. 

3  "  We  never  had  in  this  town,"  says  Closes  Brown,  "  a  custom-house  office 
until  after  the  revolution ;"  or  rather  after  the  ratification  of  the  L'nited  States 
constitution  by  Khodc  Island,  in  17'M.     (Letter  to  T.  Durges,  .Ian.  1~',  im'<). 

4  This  was  not  established  until  about  1758.  (Dorr's  "  Frovidence,"  p.  l'.t'.»; 
Staples'.s  "Annals,"  p.  (ill). 

a  The  town  was,  however,  allowed  to  hold  town-meetings  in  the  county- 
house,  erected  172<)-:il.     (Slaples's  "Annals,"  p.  lOl-'.)-'). 

(i  No  mention  of  a  "town  school-house"  appears  on  the  town  records  until 
ir.'jL'.     (Staples's  "  Annals,"  p.  105.) 

7  L'niversity  Hall  was  built,  1770. 

8  Tlie  Providence  Library  was  founded  at  least  as  early  as  1751.  (U.  I.  Col. 
Records,  V.  378-70). 

0    None  was  erected  until  1773.     (Stai)U's's  "  Annals,"  p.  '..'Ol-^). 

10  The  lirst  bank  was  in  1701 ;  the  first  insurance  office  in  1700. 

11  William  ( ioddard  set  up  his  printing-press  in  170:;,  when  he  began  tlu'  issue 
oiUw  Providence  Gu::eUc.  Thomas's  "History  of  printing  in  America,"  II. 
S3.     (Am.  Antinu.  Soc.  ed.). 


88  STErHEN    HOPKINS. 

but  four  liuildings  for  religious  worship  ;'  no  paved 
street  ;'~one  mill  ;  three  taverns  ;  a  draw  in  the  bridge 
at  Weybosset ;  a  ship-yard  just  above  it,^  on  the 
west  side  ;  a  row  of  wharves  just  above  it  on  the 
east  side  ;  a  little  back  from  these,  the  Town  Sti'eet 
with  its  pretty  continuous  line  of  dwellings  and 
shops,  from  Weybosset  T3ridge  to  the  northern  slope 
of  Stampers  Hill  ;  south  of  the  bridge,  dwellings  and 
shops,  but  much  fewer:  and  beyond  the  crest  of  the 
hill  back  of  the  Town  Street,  wide  expanses  of  fields 
unbroken  by  any  dwellings  except  at  very  rare  in- 
tervals ;■*  on  the  West  Side  and  on  Smith's  Hill  a 
still  wilder  and  less  tenanted  territory.^ 

1  The  old  I'upli^t  iiiet'ting-Iionsc,  near  tlic  corner  of  Siiiitli  Street,  King's 
Cliurch  at  the  coi-ner  of  Church  Street,  the  Friends'  nieetingdiouse,  at  JMecfing 
Street,  and  tlie  Congregational  nieeting-liousc,  on  the  site  of  the  present  Court- 
liciise. 

2  There  was  no  i)a\  ing  until  17()1.     (U.  T.  Col.  Records,  VI.  :.'(>i.),  L'S(i-S7). 

3  That  of  Nathaniel  I'.rown,  estahlishe<l  about  1711.  (Dorr's  "  Providence," 
p.  117-lS). 

4  lienelit  Street  was  not  fully  laid  out  until  17.jS.  (Dorr's  "  I'rovidence,"  p. 
15u'). 

0  No  painting  or  drawing  has  preserved  for  us  the  aspect  of  this  early  town. 
There  is,  however,  a  brief,  concise  and  graphic  pen-photograiih  of  it  in  two 
lines  of  a  printed  broadside  of  this  date,  preserved  in  tlie  cabinet  of  the  Rhode 
Island  Historical  Society :     (Foster  Papers,  ATI.  2). 


A    CITIZEN    OF    rUOVIDENCE.  89 

ytcphcn  Hopkins,  in  milking  his  home  in  Provi- 
dence, had  no  thonghtof  returning  to  the  Mashapaug 
homestead,!  ^yhich  had  furnished  him  a  birthphice. 
He  had  left  the  idea  of  an  agricultural  life  for  behind 
him,  and  was  now  ready  to  bend  all  his  energies  to 
developing  a  successful  commercial  business,  and  he 
made  his  choice  of  a  home  with  reference  to  this 
point.  The  Town  Street  below  Weybosset  Bridge, 
as  we  have  just  indicated, 2  was  at  this  time  much 
more  sparsely  settled  than  above  the  bridge.  Nev- 
ertheless, it  was  here,  on  what  became  the  corner 
of  a  street  or  lane^  which  now  perpetuates  his  name, 

"  This  pleasant  town  does  border  on  the  flood, 
Here's  ucighboring  orchards,  &  more  back  tlie  wood." 
The  broadside  is  entitled  "A  journal  of  a  survey  of  Narragausett  Bay,  made 
in  Jlay  and  June,  mi,  by  order  of  royal  commissioners,  by  one  of  the  survey- 
ors.   [W.  C.]."     (William  Cluaidler,  of  Connecticut). 

1  The  Hoplvins  farm  was  situated  two  mUes  southwest  of  Weybosset 
Bridge,  on  the  West  Side.    (See  Appendix  D) . 

2  See  page  88. 

3  Nearly  fifty  years  later,  in  17'.)1,  probably,  the  way  which  leaves  the  Town 
Street  at  the  site  of  his  house,  received  the  name  of  Bank  Lane,  (Dorr's  "Prov- 
idence,"p.  22S),ontIie  establishment  at  the  opposite  corner  of  the  earliest 
bank  incorporated  in  Khode  Island,  the  second  in  New  England.  It  ^^  not 
unlikely  that  there  was  no  lane  when  Stephen  Hopkins  built  his  house;  for  "  a 
new  way  "  was  ordered  here  June  11,  1752.  See  Blue  Book,  Streets  revised, 
1771,  (Town  Kecords).     Yet  there  may  have  been  a  foot-patli.     The  building, 


90  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

that  he  proceeded  to  l)uild  his  house. ^  He  was  too 
far-sighted  not  to  see  that  it  was  only  a  question  of 
time  when  the  draw  in  the  bridge  must  be  aban- 
doned,2  when  ships  could  no  longer  pass  through  to 
the  wharves  of  the  upper  Town  Street,^  and  when 

by  the  wny,  is  still  stmuling,  liaving  been,  iu  1808,  (sec  Dorr's  "  Providence," 
p.  l(i:!),  moved  up  the  liill  in  tlie  rear,  (tlie  present  No.  !),  Hopkins  Street) ;  and 
it  is  a  fact  of  significant  interest  that  tlie  spot  which  was  for  more  than  forty 
years,  the  home  of  the  fatlier  of  the  commercial  prosperity  of  Providence,  has, 
since  l80s,  been  the  site  of  the  office  of  tlie  most  eminent  lirm  in  the  commer- 
cial history  of  Rhode  Island,— Brown  &  Ives. 

In  1805,  by  order  of  the  town  council,  the  former  Bank  Lane  was  made  Hop- 
kins Street,  and  this  name  it  still  most  appropriately  bears. 

1  He  "  Ijuilt,"  says  Moses  Brown,  "  the  house  he  lived  and  died  in.  in  Provi- 
dence."    (Letter  to  Robert  Wain,  182:{). 

"  The  entrance,"  says  Mr.  Beaman,  "was  by  a  flight  of  steps  on  Hopkins 
Street  that  opened  into  a  good  sized  entry  in  which  was  a  lire  place,  and  a  large 
arm  cliair,  leather  bottom  and  leather  back."  "Tlie  garden  back  of  the  house 
*  *  *  ran  up  to  the  bounds  of  the  present  location  of  the  house."  ( Providence 
Journal,  ^lay  1'.),  isrio). 

'Z  The  draw  was  for  the  last  time  rebuilt  in  17'.''^,  but  its  removal  had  been 
a  (piestion  very  warmly  discussed  for  many  years  previous.  (Dorr's  "  Provi- 
dence," p.  22i;  also  p.  '..'■-•:!). 

3  About  the  middle  of  the  century,  "  the  lower  part  of  the  cove  "  was  "the 
scene  of  the  greatest  commercial  activity.  On  its  cast  .side  was  water  deep 
enough  for  brigs  and  banjues,  making  voyages  to  London  and  Dublin."  Car- 
goes were  unloaded  "  at  the  wareliouses  which  were  behind  the  residences  or 
offices  of  their  owners,  on  the  Town  Street.  At  the  corner  ol  a  long  dock  or 
slip  of  considerable  depth  and  capacity,  now  tilled  up  and  called  Steeple  Street, 
was  the  office  of  Clark  &  Nightingale."  The  house  of  M'illiam  Russell  was 
near  the  foot  of  Meeting  Street.    (Dorr's  "  Providence,"  p.  198,  lO'J) . 


A    CITIZEN    OF    TROVIDENCE.  91 

the  scene  of  commercial  activity  would  be  from  the 
bridge  at  Market  Square,'  to  Fox  Point.  He  lived 
to  witness  the  most  of  these  changes. 

THE    COMMERCIAL    DEVELOPMENT    OF     PROVIDENCE. 

Having  forecast,  in  his  own  mind,  the  commercial 
future  which  this  town  had  before  it,  and  accurately 
divined  the  channels  through  which  it  was  to  come, 

1  "  Commerce,"  says  Mr.  Dorr,  "  aided  the  movement  of  the  town  towards 
a  new  and  more  convenient  centre.  When  we  first  gain  a  clear  view  of  it 
from  the  columns  of  the  Gazette,  [1702],  the  advance  had  already  begun." 
(Dorr's  "Providence,"  p.  198).  By  1768  the  post-oflice  had  been  removed  to 
what  is  now  Market  Square  and  vigorous  cflbrts  were  put  forth  to  improve  the 
square  and  remove  certain  obstructions.  The  market-liouse,  combining  as  in 
more  than  one  instance  in  Old  and  New  England,  the  functions  of  a  commer- 
cial exchange  and  a  building  for  municipal  otiices,  was  not  erected  until  1773. 
Of  the  arches  under  the  civic  building  of  Udine,  on  the  Adriatic,  Jlr.  lidward 
A.  Freeman  remarks  :  "  The  pillared  space  forms  the  market-place  of  the  city." 
And  he  goes  on  to  add  that,  as  in  .Southern  Europe,  so  in  Great  Britain, 
"  Many  a  English  market-town  has  an  open  market-house  with  arches,  with  a 
room  above  for  the  administration  of  justice."  (Freeman's  "Sketches  from 
the  subject  and  neighbour  lands  of  Venice,"  p.  31,  32).  (Compare  also  The 
Nation,  XXXIV.  130).  Providence  is  not  the  only  American  town,  moreover, 
where  this  interesting  combination  of  an  arched  markit-placo  with  a  building 
for  municipal  purposes  has  existed.  Not  to  speak  of  Faneuil  Hall,  in 
Boston,  the  ancient  municipal  buildings  of  Salem,  Newport,  and  other  New 
England  towns  furnish  similar  instances.  The  present  City  Hall  of  Provi- 
dence replaced  the  Market-house  in  1878. 


92  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

Steplicn  Hopkins  proceeded  to  do  what  lay  in  his 
own  power  to  bring  in  the  new  order  of"  things. 
Mention  is  elsewhere  made  of  the  public  spirited 
citizen,  Nathaniel  Brown, i  who  had  conic  to  Provi- 
dence about  1711,  from  Massachusetts,  and  was  en- 
gaged in  ship-bnilding,  on  Weybosset  Neck,-  for 
nearly  twenty  years. 

"  Ilis  ves.sols,"  says  Air.  Dorr,  "were  among  the  first  wliicli 
sailed  from  rrovidence  for  the  West  Indies  and  the  Spaiiisli 
Main."^  "The  rirst  vessels,  sucli  as  Nathaniel  Brown  Ijnilt, 
(1711-1730,)  were  sloops  and  seliooners,  the  largest  of  some 
sixty  tons  burden.  These  earried  the  earliest  colonial  exports,'' 
horses,  timber,  ])arrel-staves,  and  hoop-poles,  to  the  West  Indies 
and  the  Spanish  filain."* 

The  lack  of  custom-house  records  is  a  serious  o]> 
stacle  to  the  comprehensive  tracing  of  the  beginning 

1  Seethe  "  Ui.storicrtl  discourse"  on  the  150th  anniversary  of  St.  John's 
Ijarisli,  J).  4s. 

2  Tlie  town  f,M-anted  liim  "one-Iialf  acre  on  Waybosset  Neck,  on  salt  water." 
(Uorr's  "  Providence,"  \).  117). 

3  Dorr's  "  Providence,"  p.  lis. 

4  Mr.  Dorr  says:  ("  Providence,"  p.  137)  "  I'pon  tlie  fislieries  wliich  were 
sources  of  tlie  earliest  vvealtli  of  Mussacliusetts,  tlie  Plantations  did  not  ven- 
ture." They  certainly  did  not  to  a  large  extent,  but  si'vcral  allusions  to  fisher. 
ies  will  be  found  in  tlie  letter  of  Moses  Brown. 

5  Dorr's  "  Providence,"  p.  13(;-37. 


A    CITIZEN    OF    PROVIDENCE.  93 

and  growth  of  the  commerce  of  this  seaport.  Prov- 
idence, in  fact,  never  attained  the  distinction  of 
being  a  port  of  entry, ^  until  brought  under  the  juris- 
diction of  the  United  States  government,  in  1790.- 
Until  then  the  Newport  collector  and  the  Newport 
custom-house,  were  made  to  serve  the  purpose  of 
the  whole  of  Rhode  Island.  "During  the  first  half 
of  the  last  century,  therefore,"  says  Mr.  Dorr,  such 
enterprise  is  only  to  l)e  traced  "  in  the  lengthening 
rolls  of  tax-payers,  in   the  ampler  probate  invento- 


1  There  seems,  however,  to  Imve  been  a  local  officer,  called  a  "naval  offi- 
cer," so  early  as  16S0,  or  1082.  (Letter  of  Moses  Brown,  Jan.  V2,  Ki.'iO).  Au 
ordinance  of  the  General  Assembly  in  1G82,  ordered  "  that  there  sliall  be  in  the 
towne  of  Newport  (,nnd  elsewhere  the  Governor  of  tliis  collouy  shall  judge  meet) 
*  *  a  navall  office."  (K.  I.  Col.  Records,  III.  110.  See  also  IV.  23G,  4.39;  V. 
71,74).  This  officer  was  appointed,  however,  not  by  the  home  government, 
but  by  the  colony.  Moses  Brown,  in  the  letter  just  cited,  mentions  Jeremiah 
Olney  and  Ebenezer  Thompson  as  having  held  this  position.  An  officer 
appointed  by  "  the  commissioner  of  His  Majesty's  revenue,"  in  Boston  was 
known  as  "  the  surveyor  of  the  King's  customs."  Though  living  at  Provi- 
dence, he  reported  at  Newport.  "  Each  new  vacancy,"  says  Mr.  Uorr.  "called 
forth  angry  complaints,  that  none  but  a  Massachusetts  man  was  ever  deemed 
worthy  of  tliis  royal  favour."  (Dorr's  "  Providence,"  p.  218).  Comi)are  also 
a  "  Searcher's  notice,"  in  the  Providence  Gazette,  Nov.  20, 17<>3. 

2  President  Washington,  in  1790,  appointed  Jeremiah  Olney  collector  of 
the  port  of  Providence,  and  Theodore  Foster  naval  officer.  (Stone's  "  John 
Howland,"p.  160). 


94  STKPIIKN    HOPKINS. 

rics/'   and   .similar   iiistruiuciits,  "preserved    in    the 
pn])lic  nrchivcs/'' 

Fortunately,  h(nvovcr,  the  extensive  ))usincss  of 
one  of  the  most  entei-prising  families-  of  this  period 
has  secured  a  record,  l)ri(?f  and  incomj)lete,  to  l)e 
sure,  but  very  welcome  in  the  absence  of  ihe  olh'cial 
custom-house  records.  Moses  Brown,  in  a  letter 
written  in  iy3(],^  carefully  copied  a  list  of  "84  ves- 
sels before  the  year  '60" ■^  "named  [as  he  said]  in  our 
books,"  and  these  eighty-four  may  be  taken  as  ap- 
proximating very  closely  to  the  total  then  owned  here. 
To  this  family  of  "  four  brothers," ■"  every  one  of  them 


1  Dorr's  "  rrovidcnce,"  p.  137. 

2  The  Brown  family. 

;}  Tlii-;  letter  has  tdreaily  boon  cited  several  time.-  in  these  pages.  Sec  pages 
85,  8(5,  S7.  It  was  written  .Fiin.  \2,  ISlJCi,  in  answer  to  a  letter  of  Uon.  Tristani 
IJurges,  who  liad  been  invited  to  deliver  an  address  before  the  Khode  Island 
Historical  Society,  on  the  early  coniinerce  of  Providence  ;  and  who  turned  most 
naturally  to  his  A-enerable  friend,  then  '.»7  years  of  age,  for  trustworthy  infor- 
mation on  that  point.  Mr.  i'.urges's  letter  contained  eight  sejiarate  (picries,  to 
winch  Hoses  IJrown  replied  in  a  letter  of  nearly  thirteen  foolscap  pages  of 
mauiiMcript.  At  the  end  of  his  letter  iic  adds  the  list  of  vessels  above 
alhuled  to.  Both  Mr.  Bnrges's  letter,  and  Moses  Brown's  answer,  copied  by 
himself,  are  in  the  possession  of  Ihe  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society. 

1     1700.  .5    Nicliolas,  .Joseph,  .Tohn,  and  Closes. 


A   CITIZEN   OF    PROVIDENCE.  95 

en<nio-ecl  in  mercantile  pursuits, i  as  their  ftither^  and 
uncle='  had  been  before  them,  the  town  is  not  a  little 
indebted  for  a  decided  impetus  in  the  commercial 
advances  now  going  forward.  In  them  Stephen 
Hopkins  found  from  the  very  outset  the  most  intel- 
ligent of  coadjutors,  in  developing  his  far-reaching 
plans.  With  Nicholas,  the  eldest,  the  father  of  the 
chief  benefactor  of  Brown  University,  his  intercourse 
was  close  and  constant,  in  service  on  committees  for 
patriotic  purposes,"*  in  business  enterprises, ^  and  in 
family  relationship,  their  wives  being  cousins. e    With 

1  The  tirni  of  Brown  &  Ives,  still  in  existence,  may  be  traced  back  through 
successive  changes,  to  the  mercantile  partnerships  lormed  by  these  brothers. 

2  James  P.rown,  the  great-grandson  of  Chad  Brown,  Uoger  Williams's  con. 
t<.™porary  and  associate,  and  son  of  llev.  James  Brown,  was  born  in  Provi- 
dence in  1CU8.  "  He  engaged  in  active  business,  and  became.a  successful  mer- 
cliant  of  Providence,  thus  laying  the  foundations  of  the  wealth  and  prosperity 
of  his  descendants."    (Guild's  "  J.ames  Manning,"  p.  155). 

.-5    Obadiah  Brown  was  a  younger  brother  of  James,  first  mentioned.  He 

had  died  three  years  before  Stephen   Hopkins  removed  to  Providence.  He 
became  one  of  the  largest  ship  owners  of  these  earlier  years. 

4  For  instance  on  the  committee  of  correspondence,  appointed  in  17M.  (R. 

I.  Col.  Itecords,  VI.  40.3). 

5  In  the  m.anagement  of  Furnace  Hope.     (See  Arnold's  "  Rhode  Island." 

11.201). 

0  Sarah  Scott,  Governor  Hopkins's  wife,  and  lllioda  Jenckes,  the  wife  of 
Nicholas  Brown,  were  descendants  of  Itichard  Scott,  and  the  same  time,  of 
Joseph  Jencks,  the  second  of  tlie  name. 


96  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

Joseph  he  was  connected  in  various  literary  and 
scientific  projects  ;  and  he  was  associated  with  him  in 
the  observation  of  the  transit  of  Venns,  in  17G9.i 
With  the  energetic  and  patriotic  John  Brown,-  whose 
name,  as  has  been  pointed  ont  1)y  another  writer, 
receives  more  "  frequent  mention  "  than  any  other, 
in  the  records  of  the  colony  from  1776  to  1779,  ''in 
connection  with  important  committees  and  various 
public  services,"^  he  was  in  unbroken  and  intimate 
connection.  With  Moses,  the  youngest,  how- 
ever, the  intimacy  was  perhaps  greater  than  in 
either  of  the  other  three  instances.  They  were  both 
Friends.  They  were  both  deeply  interested  in 
mathematical  stndies.  They  were  both  unusnally 
devoted  to  promoting  public  education  in  Provi- 
dence^      They  were  both  assiduous    readers   and 


1  See  Benjamin  West's  pamphlet,  "An  account  of  the  observation  of  Venus 
upon  the  sun,"  Providence,  1701). 

2  Also  connected  by  marriage  with  Governor  Uopkins,  to  whose  second 
wife,  Anne  Smith,  his  own  wife,  Sarah  Smith,  was  neice. 

3  (iuild's  "  .lames  Manning,"  p.  107. 

4  See  Staples's  "Annals,"  p.  490-500.  Sanderson's  "Biography  of  the 
signers  to  the  declaration  of  Independence,"  VI.  251.  Guild's  "  James  Man- 
ning," p.  174. 


A    CITIZKN    OF    PKOVIDENCE.  97 

students,'  perluips  umong  the  most  widely  rend  citi- 
zens of  the  town.  Moses  Brown,  in  fact,  retiring 
eiirly-  from  active  business,  with  un  ample  fortune, 
found  abundent  leisure  for  what  Governor  Hopkins 
was  obliged  to  dismiss  to  some  spare  hours  snatched 
from  much-needed  rest.  This  abundant  leisure, 
moreover,  he  frequently  devoted  with  self-sacrificing 
tj-encrosity,  to  his  friend,  Governor  Hopkins;  acting 
"on  various  occasions"  "as  his  amanuensis,  on  com- 
mittees of  the  assembly,  in  the  correspondence  of 
the  committee  of  safety,  as  well  as  in  matters  of 
business."  "* 

Moses  BroAvn's  commercial  review  of  nearly 
twenty-five  years  shows  the  pre-eminence  of  his  own 
family  throughout  the  whole  period.''  So  early  as 
1736,  he  says,  "I  find  by  my  ancestors'*'  books,  they 

1  SaiKlcrsou's  "  15iogr:ii)liy  ol"  tlio  .sif?iit'rs,"  VI.  248. 

2  Guild's  "  .lames  Maniiiiijj,"  p.  173. 

3  In  his  public  life,  .<ays  Beamau.  lio  lillftl  up  "  all  the  spare  hours  of  his 
life  with  reading."    (IJeaman's  "  Scituate,"  p.  L'l). 

4  Sanderson's  "  IJiography  of  the  signers,"  VI.  2-45-l(). 

5  "  From  17;tO  to  1748,"  he  says,  "  I  find  tifteen,"  owned  by   "  the  Drowns," 
"  and  from  1748  to  1700  about  sixty  vessels." 

6  DoubUess  James  and  Obadiah  Urown.      1  he  latter  owned  the  sloop  Dol- 
phin, so  early  as  1733. 

9 


iJ8  STEPHEN     HOPKIxXS. 

owned,"  (or  were  principally  concerned  in)  "  four 
sloops  that  used  the  West  India  trade."  Of  one  of 
these,  his  father-in-law,  (and  kinsman),^  Ohadiah 
Brcnvn,  was  captain  and  owner  in  pait.  Of  these 
vessels  the  majority  were  doubtless  among  those 
built  by  Nathaniel  Brown  before  1730,-  but  it  is 
probable  that  that  builder  had  now  been  succeeded 
by  Roger  KinnicutJ*  Later  he  cites  the  sale  of  a 
l)rigantine  in  174(S,  which  was  owned  in  shares,  by 
as  many  as  ten  owners,  to  show  the  prevalence  of 
this  custom  at  first  ;"*  which  was  gradually  abandoned 
as  the  scale  of  ojierations  broadened.  The  years 
from  1780  to  17.5(i  were  mainly  years  of  peaceful^ 
ti-ade  and  navigation.      On   the    breaking  out  of  the 

1  Moses  15i-u\vn  niarrinl  Cor  his  first  wife  the  (liiiij,'litt'r  ol'  Obiuliah  IJrowii, 
the  brotlRT  of  his  CatlitT. 

•^  Dorr's  "  I'rovidenee,"' p.  l-iCi.  iVathaiiifl  liiowirs  family  was  a  I'lvnioutli 
family,  and  hail  no  coiiiieclion  whatever  with  that  of  James  Brown,  at  Provi- 
dence. (Dorr's  "  I'lovidencc,"' p.  lir;  Savage's  "  (ieuealogical  dictionary," 
I.  2()l)-70;  xV.  K.  Historical  and  Genealogioil  Register.  \\\\\.  IKis-ri). 

3  Dorr's  "  I'rovidence,"  p.  lis.  Col.  Edward  Kinnicut,  his  brother,  was 
engaged  in  commerce  in  Providence,  a  few  years  later. 

■i  Stephen  Hopkins  was  liimself  at  first  engaged  in  many  such  partnerships 
on  shares.     See  Sanderson's  "  Biograpliy  of  the  signers,"  VI.  2-i>S-4'.). 

5  The  exception  was  the  shoi-l  "  War  of  the  .\nstrian  succession,"  (King 
George's  war),  1744-48. 


A    CITIZEN    OF    rilOVIDENCE.  99 

"Seven  years'  war,"  in  1756,'  Moses  Brown  tells  us, 
some  of  the  citizens  tleterininetl  to  secure  [)rizes  of 
war.  "In  live  ino[iiths],  four  days,^  from  the 
declaration  to  lit  out,  man,  and  capture  the  prize,"  a 
valuable  Spanish  vessel  re-named  the  Desire,^  was 
brought  in  triumph  to  the  wharves  of  Providence. 
The  name  of  the  daring  captor  was  Esek  Hopkiiis. 

Easily  second  in  fact  to  the  Brown  family  in  com- 
mercial pre-eminence,  was  the  Hopkins  family,  now 
rising  to  distinction.  In  Moses  Brown's  list  of 
Providence  vessels,^  seventeen  are  either  owned  or 
commanded  by  various  members  of  the  Hopkins 
family,^'  and   in   still  other  instances  Stephen  Hop- 

1  Tills  war,  (17J0-0;!),  was  sometinifs  known  in  this  country  as  "  I'ho  old 
French  war." 

■Z    Tlie  30tli  of  January,  1757. 

:j  The  fact  tliat  Desire  was  the  name  of  Captain  Uopkins's  wife,  and  later 
of  his  daughter,  tln-ows  some  light  on  the  re-naming  of  tliis  vessel.  (Hopkins 
"genealogy,"  p.  2i,  27). 

4  Of  these  seventy-nine  vessels,  two  are  ships,  three  schooners,  twelve 
snows,  nineteen  brigs  or  brigantines,  and  forty  one  sloops;  two  are  unde- 
scribed.  They  are  elsewhere  referred  to  as  "eighty-four,"  (see  p.  W),  but 
in  several  instances  the  same  vessel  is  mentioned  twice. 

5  Besides  "Stephen  Hopkins  &  Co.,"  (so  early  as  174ri).  Esek  Hopkins's 
name  occurs  as  master  of  a  vessel  four  times,  and  their  nephew  Christopher's 


100  STEl'IIEN    IIOrKINS. 

kins's  interest  may  be  traced.  But  it  was  not  simply 
as  owner  and  manager  of  vessels,  that  Stephen  Hop- 
kins was  now  engaged  in  imparting  an  impetus  to 
the  commercial  development  of  the  town.  His  com- 
prehensive intellect  was  taking  in  not  merely  the 
details  of  tonnage,  the  measuremeiit  of  sloops  and 
hrigantines,'  the  storage  of  molasses  and  sugar;  but 
was  rancinii"  the  seas  Ibr  new  markets,  was  calcula- 
ting  the  eliect  of  new  or  proposed  duties  to  be  laid 
by  the  home  government,  was  plannnig  the  most 
economical  and  labor-saving  routes  for  the  foreign 
trade,-  and  was  watching  constantly  for  new  feeders 

twice.  Of  thf  governor's  sons,  Kufii.s's  name  ajipears  as  captain  so  early  as 
174(i;  Jolm's  so  early  as  1700;  and  (ieorge's  so  early  as  ITCiO,  at  the  age  of  21. 
It  is  to  be  remeniberefl  also  tliat  in  more  tlian  a  quarter  of  these  instances  the 
name  ot'the  owner,  or  tlie  master,  is  omitted;  and  in  some  of  these  the  proba- 
bility is  very  strong  that  Stejihen  ni)])kins  had  an  interest. 

1  "  Brigantine,"  In  only  one  instance  in  Jloses  Brown's  list,  is  "brig" 
used  instead  of  this  form  of  the  word.  The  distinction  between  the  two  species 
of  craft  is  not  always  observed. 

2  One  of  his  vessels,  about  tlie  year  ir.Tl,  loaded  in  the  "Seekonk  River"  with 
lumber  wliich  had  been  lloated  down  from  3Iassachusetls,  sailed  to  London, 
was  sold  with  her  cargo  on  board,  for  goods  brought  home  in  another  vessel, 
"  which  set  up  three  shops,"  and  ajipiars,  according  to  I\Ioses  Brown's  state- 
ment, to  have  been  the  beginning  of  the  dry  goods  business  of  l'ro\  iilence. 
■'  Before  tliis,"  he  says,    "shops  of  dry   goods   owned  by  people   in   rsewiiort, 


A    CITIZKN    OF    TKOVIDENCE.  101 

to  the  business  of  Providence,  from  the  outlying 
country. 1  A  commercial  town  nmst  have  docks  and 
warehouses.  "  With  increasing  trade,"  says  Mr. 
Dorr,  "deeper  warehouses  were  built,  and  l)ehind 
them,    wharves   of  timber,    beneath   which    the   tide 

l)i-incipally  supitlied  our  cuiiiity."  (Li-tter  otMoscs  Hrowii  to  T.  l;iir;,'i's).  U 
was  not  long  before  .loseiiU  iuid  Willi:iiii  Kiis^ell,  both  of  thoiii  activL-Iy  asso- 
ciated with  Hoi)kins  in  public  enterprises,  began  their  eniineutly  successful 
mercantile  career.  "On  tlio  arrival,"  says  Mr.  Dorr,  -'of  a  barque  or  a  brigautine 
for  .Joseph  and  William  Itussell,  their  advertisement  of  her  cargo  often  filled 
an  entire  pageof  the  Gazetia."  (Dorr's  '•  I'rovidence,"  p.  l<i'.»).  Joseph  llussell, 
later  in  life,  became  a  sort  of  son-in-law  to  Governor  Uopkins,  having  married, 
April  28,  1771,  his  step-daughter,  Amey,  (daughter  of  his  second  wife,  Anne 
Smith).  (Hopkins  genealogy,  p.  75).  And  in  the  later  years,  their  nephew, 
Charles  H.  Russell,  one  of  the  eminent  niercliants  of  ISew  Vork  City,  and  their 
kinsman,  Jonathan  Russell,  the  late  head  of  the  mercantile  liouse  of  Russell 
&  Sturgis,  of  Atnnila,  liave  still  farther  extended  the  honorable  name  so  early 
acquired.     ( Bartletfs  "  Russell  family,"  p.  23,  28,  :i4-:!.0) . 

1  As  has  just  been  seen  above,  the  interior  of  Massachusetts  was  "  tapped" 
for  its  stores  of  lumber.  But  it  was  now  beginning  to  be  tapped  for  its  trade 
no  less.  "  In  174o,"  says  Mr.  Dorr,  "  Providence  had  through  the  Blackstone 
valley,  much  of  the  trade  of  central  Massachusetts."  (Dorr's  "I'rovidence," 
p.  172).  And  again  he  remarks  :  "At  the  close  of  the  Seven  years'  war,  [1763], 
Providence  was  the  centre  of  a  populous  region,  and  possessed  mucli  of  the 
West  India  trade  of  the  interior  of  Massachusetts."  (Dorr's  "  Providence," 
p.  207).  Nor  is  it  less  likely  that  etforts  were  made  to  develop  a  more  active 
trade  with  the  growing  settlements  of  northern  Rhode  Island.  Stephen  Hop- 
kins's intimate  familiarity  with  this  region  would  make  this  an  almost  neces- 
sary  consequence. 


102  STKrHEN    lIOrKlNS. 

ebbed  and  flowed."  '  But  it  w;is  easy  to  see  that  this 
encroachment  would  l)efore  long  leave  no  navigable 
channel,  north  of  the  bridge.  The  southward  move- 
ment in  Avhich  he  interested  himself,-  found  its  justi- 
fication when  in  1790,  his  friend,  John  Brown, 
"built  the  lirst  wharves  :ind  storehouses  in  the 
locality  now  called  India  Point."  ^  Here  was  a  chan- 
nel in  wdiose  deep  waters  his  ships  could  lie  while 
unloading  their  cargoes  of  teas,  cotfces,  and  silks 
Avhich  he,  first'  among  Ehode  Island  merchants,  im- 
ported from  China  and  the  East  Indies. 

1  Dorr's  "  rrovidciicc,"  p.  143. 

2  He  built,  as  wc  have  noticed,  liis  own  liousc  in  174'^,  considc'ral)Iy  soutli 
of  what  was  then  tlie  centre  of  business.  lUs  \\  ill  makes  mention  of  "  two 
lots  of  land  at  Tock(inotton,"  (see  Appendix  N),  which  he  perhaps  secured  at 
the  same  time  for  commercial  purposes.  The  Uojikius's  and  tlie  ISrowns, 
however,  were  not  the  only  men  to  perceive  that  the  movement  of  business 
was  then  in  this  direction.  "Daniel  Abbott,"  says  IMr.  Dorr,  "the  chief 
land-holder  of  his  day,"  "  was  a  man  of  enlightened  forecast.  He  had  laid  out 
streets  at  Tockwotton,  by  a  plat  which  may  be  seen  in  the  city  clerk's  office." 
(Dorr's  "  Providence,"  p.  23(1). 

3  Dorr's  "Providence,"  p.  ■-.'.'U'l. 

4  His  ship,  the  General  Wasliivfjton,  Captain  Jonathan  Donison,  1,000  tons 
burden,  sailed  triDu  J'rovidence  in  December,  17n7,  arriving  at  Canton,  Oct.  28, 
1788,  (Staples's  "Annals,"  p.  .'iol ;  "Journals  of  Major  Sanuiel  Shaw,"  p.  2'.t5), 
and  was  not  only  the  first  Rhode  Island  vessel  in  Chinese  waters,  but  one  of 


A    CITIZEN    OF    PROVIDENCE.  lOo 

TIIK    QUESTION    OF    IIKillWAYS    AND    STKEKTS. 

Vn\i  :i  coinmercial  town  iicedeJ  also  easy  lines  of 
coninuinication  with  the  localities  which  served  as 
feeders  of  trade  in  the   interior  of  New   England. i 
Nature  had  so  placed  both  Newport  and  Providence, 
on  the  outer  rim  of  a  small  colony,  that  it  was  well 
nigh  impossible  that  they  should  not  become  centres 
of  trade,  and  markets  for  the  exchange  of  products, 
ft)r  the  circle  of  outlying  country,  even  though  it 
should  include  Plymouth  or   Massachusetts  Bay  ter- 
ritory.    But  if  anything  could  hinder  this  beneficent 
tendency,  it  was  the  almost  total  lack  of  attention  to 
the  roads  which  connected  Providence  with  Worces- 
ter on  the  north,  Kehoboth,  Taunton  and  Bristol  on 
the  cast,  and  New  London  on  the  south.     Attempts 
had  indeed  been  made  to  push  through  two  highways 

tlie  first  ton  Aiiii'iicaii  ships.  A  sloop  from  New  Vorlv,  the  Enterprise,  (sec 
Hishop's  "AiiKiicau  inamifactiues,"  I.  (H),  was  the  lirst  American  vessel  to 
make  "  a  direct  voya^je  to  that  country,"  in  1785;  being  followed  by  the  sliip, 
Empress  of  China,  wliieh  sailed  from  New  Yorlc,  Feb.  2-_',  17S4,  arriving  at 
Canton,  Aug.  30,  1785.  See  the  "  .loiiruals  of  31ajor  Samuel  Shaw,"  p.  13:j, 
1C3,  :'..")'.» ;  also  the  '•  Jlemorial  history  of  IJo.ston,"  IV.  ~'08. 
1     See  Dorr's  '■  Providence,"  p.  17-',  207. 


104  STKriiEN    HOPKINS. 

on  the  west,  to  Woodstock^  and  to  Plaintield,'  in  the 
Connecticut  Coh)ny,  but  hitherto  without  success. 
But,  says  Mr.  Dorr, 

"The  generation  which  came  in  with  tiie  last  centuiy  was 
weaiy  of  llie  seclusion  of  the  priuiilive  town — disowned  bj'  its 
puritan  ueighliors,  and  not  caring  to  cultivate  intercourse  with 
them  in  return.  The  new  townsmen  applied  themselves  to  the 
opening  of  highways,  in  order  to  develop  their  own  resources, 
and  to  avail  themselves  of  the  wealth  of  their  neighbors."^ 

Ot"  this  new  generation,  Stephen  Hopkins  was  one 
of  the  most  conspicuous  and  thorough  representatives. 

"Nothing,"  w^rote  one  of  the  representatives  of 
the  new  order  of  Provi(]encc  citizenshi[),  in  1773, 
"  nothing  contributes  more  to  the  growth  of  any 
phicc,  tlum  having  the  avenues  leading  to  it  kept  in 
good  order, — and  that  they  be  as  many  as  possible."^ 
We  have  already  seen"*  that  in  1737, before  his  removal 
fi'om  Scituate,  the  duty  of  re-surveying  the  Provi- 
dence and  Scituate  lands  had  been  laid  upon  Stephen 
Hopkins.     Taking  advantage  of  the  opportunity  thus 

1    See  page  30.  2    Don's  "  rrovidence,"  p.  122. 

."?    Providence   Gazette,  Feb.  13,  177.3;  in  connection  with  an  appeal  to  tlie 
public  in  behalf  of  a  bridge  at  India  Point.    Perhaps  written  by  John  Brown. 
4    See  page  GC. 


A    CITIZEN    OF    PROVIDENCE.  105 

offered,  he  seems  to  have  IVoiii  this  time  taken  every 
means  in  his  power  to  bring  the  necessity  for  a  more 
enlightened    policy    home    to    the    members  of  the 
General  Assembly,  and  the  public  at  large.     In  the 
General  Assembly  he  had  pressed  the  necessity  for  a 
new  and  improved  route  for  the  Plainfield  road,  in 
1734;'  and  of  two  new  bridges  on  the  same  road,  in 
1735  f  and  now  in  3  740  we  tind  the  General  Assem- 
bly   taking   action    for    the    buildiug  of  Pawtucket 
bridge,  and  keeping  open  a  highway  to  Boston  r'  and 
similar  action  again    in    1741,^    (Stephen   Hopkins, 
speaker)  ;    also    in    1741    appointing    a    committee, 
(Stephen   Hopkins,   chairman),  on  a  much  needed 
highway  in  Warwick;-^  and    in   1742  making  appro- 
priations  for  seven  bridges  in  various   parts  of  the 
colony  .'5     The  rclucttmce  to   bridging  the  "  Seekonk 
Kivcr,"  either  at  the  present  "  lied  Bridge  "  or  "  India 
Bridge,"  was  perhaps  due  to  more  than  one  reason. 
It  may  have  been   felt,  however,  that  the  towns  to 
the  east  and  south-east,  (Rehoboth,  Swanzey,  Bris- 

1     R.  I.  Col.  Kccoids,  IV.  WJ.  -^     Ibid.,  IV.  51-. 

3     Und.,  IV.  585.  ^     Ibid.,  Y.  :!f.. 

5   n.id.,  V.  r;,  5-.  ''   H'iti-  '^■-  -^o- 


106  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

tol),  had  water  coinnuuiication  with  Providence,  and 
that  that  would  be  suthcient.  At  all  events,  the  pro- 
ject for  a  bridge  at  India  Point,  though  advocated  in 
177o  with  persuasive  eloquence,  by  John  and  Joseph 
Brown,  Nicholas  Cooke, i  and  others,  was  coniiielled 
to  wait  until  1792,  when  it  was  carried  through  by 
the  enterprise  of  John  Brown,  alone.-  Above  the 
ferries  over  the  Seekonk,  the  river  could  l)e  turned 
to  some  slight  commercial  use,  as  for  instance  in 
floating  lumber  doirn  from  the  Massachusetts  forests  ;3 
but  its  utility  was  only  in  this  direction.  It  was 
"good  only  one  way."  It  offered  no  lacilities,  like 
the  Connecticut,  for  the  transportation  of  articles  of 
commerce  up,  as  well  as  down  ;  dammed  as  it  every- 
"vvhere  was,  with  natural  waterfalls.^     This  fact  ren- 

1     I'rovidence  Gii-clU.  Ffb.  i:!,  177:!. 

'2    Don's  "  rrovicicncc,"  p.  230.  .3    See  page  100. 

4  "  The  foundation  of  commerce,"  says  Col.  Charles  W.  Lippitt,  in  a  recent 
very  comprehensive  and  pain.staking  survey  of  the  commerce  of  Providence, 
"  is  quick  communication."  "  Tlie  rocky  hills  of  Kliode  Island  furni.<lied  an 
adequate  reason  for  the  loss  of  tlie  commerce  that  formerly  sought  her  shores. 
Not  a  river  falling  into  Narragansett  Bay  is  navigable  for  any  distance  from 
its  nioutli."  "The  cataracts  common  to  tliese  rivers  tliat  liave  created  Paw- 
tucket,  Woonsocket,  Lonsdale  and  .Mliion,  Natick  and  Arkwright,"  etc., 
"stood   as    impassal)le  harriers  ihat    the   tlien  known   means   of   transporta 


A    CITIZPIN    OF    PKOVIDENCK.  107 

dered  necessary  us  close  attention  to  the  land  high- 
ways in  this  direction  as  towards  the  west  and  south. 
But  a  commercial  town  needed  more  than  easy 
access  from  the  outlying  territory.  It  needed 
equally  an  intelligent  development  of  its  internal 
system  of  roads  and  streets.  Of  this  movement  also, 
"  the  most  radical  change  proposed  during  the  last 
century,"  i  Stephen  Hopkins  appears  to  have  been 
a  most  effective  promoter.  It  will  certainly  not  be 
unprotitable  to  examine  the  basis  underlying  this  im- 
portant change,  which  in  one  sense  may  be  regarded 
as  the  line  of  separation  between  the  agricultural  town 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  (most  properly  designa- 
ted "  Plantations,")  and  the  commercial  and  manufac- 
turing town  of  the  last  one  hundred  and  twenty-tive 

tion  were  unable  protital>Iy  to  siirmoiuit."  (Annual  aildress  of  president  of 
tlie  Providence  Board  of  Trad",  Jan.  10,  ISSi,  p.  7).  No  Yunliee  guess  appears 
to  have  solved  tlie  riddle  of  this  Sphinx  of  unnavigable  rivers,  and  it  was  left 
for  the  Englishman,  Samuel  Slater,  in  1789,  to  show  what  an  era  of  manufac- 
turing pre-eminence,  based  on  these  very  waterfalls,  was  open  to  the  well- 
directed  efi'orts  of  Rhode  Islanders.  See  White's  "  Life  of  Samuel  Slater." 
Samuel  Slater  married  iu  1791,  a  distant  kinswoman  of  Governor  Hopkins, 
Hannah  Wilkinson,  in  tlie  si.vth  generation  from  the  original  ancestor.  (Wil- 
kinson Memoirs,  p.  22(5) . 
1    Dorr's  "  Providence,"  p.  150. 


108  STi;riiEN  iiofklns. 

years.  The  desiiiii  of  tlic  original  proprietors^  was 
not  a  close  corporation.-  IJnt,  says  Air.  Dorr,  "the 
town  was  made  sucli,  some  years  later."  The  tract 
of  land'*  which  had  been  split  into  long,  rihhon-likc 
estates,  hy  the  "home-lot"  assignment  in  1(538,  h:id 
scarcely,  np  to  this  time,  (1742),  been  penetrated-* 
l)y  anj^  ways  for  travel,  (with  the  exception  of  the 
two''  expressly  indicated*^  in  the  original  division), 
which  had  been  regularly  :iccei)ted  by  the  town.^ 
The  proprietors'  own  dwellings  had  been  placed  on 

1  Till' lirst  "  purcliasfi-s,"  in  i(i:!s,  and  tlic  "  quin-tcr-right  )iui-cliasers  "  ol' 
ir>45,  and  previously,  (Stapk's's  "Annals,"  j).  :M-;!5,  (i(Mil),  Cdniiirisedflie  body 
ol'proiu-ietoi's,  admitted  fVoni  time  t<i  time.  The  whole  nunibei-,  says  Staples, 
"never  exceeded  one  hundred  and  one  persons."     ("Annals,"  p.  (in). 

2  They  had  the  power,  by  the  deed  executed  by  IJoger  Williams,  in  lOCil, 
(confirnnitory  of  that  of  U'<:'>7),  to  admit  otliers  to  their  fellowship;  and  their 
"heirs,  executors,  administrators  and  assigns,"  likewise,  were  to  succeed 
regularly  to  their  rights  in  the  purchase. 

:)  This  tract  was,  as  has  already  been  stated,  that  now  bounded  by  Olney, 
nojie,  and  Wickenden,  and  North  and  South  Jlaiu  Streets.  (Slaiiles's 
"Annals,"  p.  :jO-:il,  .'i4,  35). 

4  And  even  tlic  "  highway  at  the  head  of  the  lots,"  (the  present  Hope 
Street),  was  fenced  across.     (Dorr's  "  I'rovidence,"  p.  Ki). 

5  Now  known  as  Power  Street  and  i\Ieeting  Street. 

G  By  the  woids,  "a  highway."  See  the  manuscript  "revised  list." 
(I'rinted  in  Stiiples's  "Annals,'']).:!.')). 

7  With  the  "  old  gangways,"  says  5Ir.  Dorr,  "the  town  meeting  had  noth- 
ing to  do." 


A    CITIZEN    OF    PROVIDENCE. 


109 


the  end  of  their  lots  which  joined  the  Town  Street. 
A  little  farther  up  the  hill,  their  successors  had  laid 
out  the  small  family  burial  grounds, i  of  which  there 
was  a  continuous  though  irregular  line,  from  north  ^ 
to  south  ;2  and  nearer  the  "highway  at  the  head  of 
the  lots," 3  were  the  pastures.  The  idea  of  "a 
town  "  thus  conceived  by  these  men  of  the  first  gen- 
eration Avas  adopted  with  little  change  by  their  de- 
scendants, and  the  gradual  filling  up  of  "The  Neck" 
crowded  the  houses,  the  business,  and  the  travel, 
into  the  Town  Street,  and  such  ways  as  had  branched 
out  from  it  at  the  "  North  End,"  or  even  west  of  the 
river. 4      The  rest  of  the   land  within  the  purchase 

1  There  is  a  comprebensive  discussion  of  these  ear?y  burial  grounds  in  a 
paper  read  before  tlie  Rliode  Island  Historical  Society,  Nov.  15,  ISSl,  by  C.  B. 
Farnsworth.    (Providence  Journal,  Nov.  16,  1881). 

2  It  followed  generally  the  line  of  the  present  Benefit  Street.  (Dorr's 
"  Providence,"  p.  45). 

;<    Now  Hope  Street. 

4  "  It  is,"  says  Mr.  Dorr,  "  a  singular  illustration  of  the  resistance  of  the 
old  Plantations  to  any  division  of  their  home  lots,  or  disturbance  of  their 
agricultural  pursuits,  that  more  than  a  century  from  their  beginning,  the  pec 
pie  were  widely  scattered  over  the  western  side  of  the  ' Salt  river?  '"  "  while 
the  Town  Street  was  still  tlie  only  important  thoroughfare  on  the  East." 
(Dorr's  "Providence,"  p.  117). 

10 


110  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

was  regarded  as  "  common  land  ;" — a  part  of  it  being 
the  "stated  common,"^  in  which  each  proprietor  had 
an  original  or  inherited  right  for  pastnrnge,^  or  else 
land  which  was,  at  the  snccessive  meetings  of  the 
proprietors,  parcelled  ont^  in  shares  to  each  member, 
or  a  number  of  members.  Such  a  thing  as  land 
understood  to  be  "in  the  market,"^  as  an  inducement 

1  Sucli  a  "  stilted  common ''  was  on  ."Smith's  }Iil].  Sec  tlie  map  preserved 
with  the  "  proprietors'  records." 

2  It  is  curious  to  notice  that  few  early  New  Enghtnd  communities  seem  to 
have  more  completely  reproduced  the  Old  Knglish  and  Germanic  prototype  of 
"a  town"  than  I'rovidence.  Such  a  "  town,'"  in  its  essential  features,  is  thus 
described  by  Dr.  H.  I{.  Adams,  of  Baltimore,  in  a  recently  inililished  mono- 
graph :  "A  village  community  of  allied  families,  settled  in  close  proximity  for 
good  neighborhood  and  defense,  with  homes  and  home  lots  fence<l  in  and 
owned  in  severalty,  hut  with  a  coiumon  Town  Street,  and  a  A'illage  (ireen,  or 
Home  Pasture,  and  with  common  tields,  allotted  outside  the  town  for  individ- 
ual mowing  and  tillage,  but  fenced  in  common,  togetlier  with  a  vast  sur- 
rounding tract  of  absolutely  common  and  undivided  land,  used  for  pasture  and 
woodland,  under  commercial  regulations."  (''Johns  Hopkins  University 
studies  in  historical  and  political  science,"  II.  ::.'7-'J8).  In  only  one  of  these 
jjarticulars  did  the  early  Providence  settlement  vary  from  this  prototype.  It 
had  no  "  Village  Green ;"  as  it  had  no  common  burial-ground,  (till  1700), 
meeting-house,  school-house,  or  town-house. 

If  Such  was  nearly  all  the  land  on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  (lovcrnor 
Hopkins's  grandfather  received  a  "lay-out"  of  land  "in  half  of  his  father's 
right,"  which  comprised  a  large  part  of  his  ^Masjuijiaug  estate.  (Proxidence 
Deeds,  etc.,  transcribed,  p.  3L'y)- 

4  "The  proprietors,"  says  5Ir.  Dorr,  "held  a  monopoly  of  the  unsold 
lands,"  and  "  instead  of  ottering  for  sale  their  lands  on  the  west  side  to  persons 


A    CITIZEN    OF    PROVIDENCE.  Ill 

to  straugers  to  come  and  settle  among  them,  adding 
their  quota  of  wealth,  energy,  and  public  spirit,  was 
not  the  end  in  view.  It  cannot  be  regarded  as 
stranse  that,  under  these  circumstances,  wealth  and 
population  did  not  flow  in  with  constant  and  increas- 
insf  volume.  Such  as  did  flow  in  came  at  the  more 
gradual  and  reluctant  rate  which  required  a  century 
for  that  which  might  easily  have  been  attained  in  a 
decade. 1 

The  new-comers,  though  they  might  never  become 
"proprietors,"  might  readily  become  "freeholders, "2 
and  did  become  freeholders  ;  and  thus  was  inserted^ 
the  thin  edge  of  a  wedge  which  one  day  was  to  split 
and  essentially  change  the  original  plan  of  organiza- 
tion.    Until  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century, 

wlio  would  improve  them,  they,  in  1718-19,  caused  tlicir  property  in  '  Weybos 
sett  Neck'  to  bo  surveyed,  and  divided  among  themselves— to  each  owner  a 
share."     (Dorr's  "  Trovidence,"  p.   115).     Tlie  plat  showing  this  division  is 
still  preserved  among  the  "  proprietors'  records." 

1  Perhaps  there  could  be  no  more  striking  contrast  in  this  respect,  than 
Newport  and  Providence,  in  the  years  previous  to  17J0. 

2  The  colony  charter  authorized  this.     (K.  I.  Col.  Records,  II. '.)). 

3  So  early  as  16G2,  the  "  meetings  of  the  proprietors  "  became  no  longer 
identical  with  the  "  town-meetings  "  of  the  citizens.  (Staples's  "Annals,"  p. 
131).    They  had  the  same  clerk,  however,  till  1718. 


112  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

the  proprietors  had  the  advantage  of  numbers,  as 
well  as  of  position  and  influence.'     From  that  time, 
however,  frequent   collisions  were  inevitable,  as  the 
"ideas"    and   "theories"    of  the    newer    men  were 
gradually  recognized  to  be  irreconcilable  with  "what 
had  been  from   the   beginning,"   and  what  the  pro- 
prietors intended  should   continue.       Some   of  the 
points  at  issue  were  the  "  lands  in  common  "  ^  which 
were  not  "in  the  market;"  the  fencing  of  highways, 
with  gates  to  be  opened  and  shut  ;3  the  question  of  a 
bridge, 4    the  location  of  the    "county  house"  ;^    the 
building  of  wharves  and  warehouses  ;6  new  highways, 
—  in  short,  the  question  whether  the  predominating 
interest  was  to  be  commerce  or  agriculture.      Audit 
was   a  question   which,  perhaps,  a   contest  between 
the  proprietors  on  the  one  side,  and  the  "  foreigners  " 
on  the  other,  never  would  have  settled  satisfactorily. 
Fortunately  there  were   in  Providence,  young  men 
of  the  fourth  generation  from  the  original  proprie- 
tors, who  fully  appreciated  the  situation. 

1    Dorr's  "  Providence,"  p.  139-40.  2    Ibid.,  p.  115. 

8    Ibid.,  p.  82-84, 152.  4    Ibid.,  p.  104-8. 

5    Staples's  "Auuals,"  p.  191-92.  0    Dorr's  "Providence,"  p.  94-104. 


A    CITIZEN    OF    PROVIDENCE.  113 

The  very  year  after  Stephen  Hopkins  became  a 
citizen  of  Providence,  the  issue  was  raised.  A  peti- 
tion was  presented  to  the  town  council,  asking  for 
a  street,  parallel  with  the  Town  Street,  and  to  the 
eastward  of  it.^  But  this  was  upon  the  proprietors' 
soil.  The  petition  was,  of  course,  unsuccessful. 
But  it  was  presented  again  in  174(3.2  Reluctantly 
and  not  very  gracefully,  the  issue  was  recognized ; 
and  one  year  later,  (Feb.  15,  1747),  a  committee  was 
appointed  to  inspect  it  and  "  make  report  to  the  coun- 
cil in  some  convenient  time. "3  The  report  was  in 
favor  of  it,  but  so  great  was  the  opposition  which 
the  measure  encountered,  that  it  was  not  fully  carried 
throuo-h  as  then  ordered, "^  until  1758.^  Stephen 
Hopkins,  as  the  town  records*^  testify,  was  a  princi- 

1  The  present  Benefit  Street.  The  line  followed  by  it  continued  southward 
the  line  of  an  old  "  way,"  not  more  than  twenty  feet  in  width,  which  had  ex- 
isted at  some  portion  of  its  extent,  (perhaps  no  farther  than  from  the  present 
Star  Street,  northward) ,  so  early  as  1718.  See  the  plat  of  1718,  preserved  with 
the  "  proprietors'  record.^*."    This  "  way  "  was  upon  the  Whipple  estate. 

2  Dorr's  "  Providence, "  p.  147-48. 

3  Jeremiah  Field,  chairman.     (Dorr's  "  Trovidence,"  p.  149). 

4  It  was  expressly  intended  to  run,  at  this  time,  no  farther  south  than 
Power  Street;  and  its  northern  end  perhaps  did  not  at  first  connect  with  the 
"  way  "  of  1718.  "  The  extensions  at  either  end  were  afterthoughts."  (Dorr's 
"  Providence,"  p.  150). 

5  Dorr's  "  Providence,"  p.  152.  6    See  the  petition  of  Oct.  27,  1740. 


114  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

pal  mover!  in  this  aftair.  The  contest  was  protracted 
but  the  issue  was  decisive;  and  "thus,"  says  Mr. 
Dorr,  "the  old  town  yielded  to  the  new."^  The  "old 
dehate-s,"  the  same  writer  elsewhere  saj's,  "were 
ended,"  "  The  days  of  Gregory  Dexter  and  Gor- 
ton, had  gone  hy."^  The  days  of  men  like  Stephen 
Hopkins  were  taking  their  place,  and  were  to  be 
characterized  by  pluck,  energy,  and  enterprise. 

OTHER   ENTERPRISES. 

The  vei'y  next  year  alter  the  presentation  of  this 
first  Benefit  Street^  petition,  the  important  question 
of  the  bridge  at  Wcybosset  came  up^  for  action  ;  and 
here  again  the  name  of  Stephen  Hopkins  is  found 
among  the  promoters^  of  the  enterprise.^  The 
brid<2:e  had  not  been  rebuilt  since  1719,^  and  the 
opposition  which  this  most  necessarj'^  step   met  with 

1  He  may  have  written  the  petition  of  1740,  to  which  his  name  is  signed. 
So  also,  Mr.  Dorr  suggests,  may  Dr.  Gibbs,  his  connection  by  marriage. 

2  Dorr's  "  rrovidence,"  p.  151.  3    Ibid.,  p.  1.34. 

4  Tile  name  "  Benefit  Street,"  appears  to  date  from  1747.     (Dorr's  "  Provi- 
dence," p.  149). 

5  1744.    (li.  I.  Col.  Records,  V.  100).  6    Staplcs's  "Annals,"  p.  198. 

7  The  method  adopted  for  securing  the  funds  was  a  lottery,  a  practice 
«xceedingly  common  in  the  years  following  this  date. 

8  Dorr's  "  Providence,"  p.  108. 


A    CITIZEN    OF    TROVIDENCE.  115 

can  hardly  be  accounted  for  except  by  supposing 
that  the  gradual  advance  of  the  "  West  Side "  ^  in 
popuUition  and  importance  was  not  wholly  approved 
in    "The  Neck." 

A  public  market  was  an  enterprise  which  appears 
to  have  had  the  support  of  Stephen  Hopkins  from 
the  beginning,  and  though  not  finally  secured  until 
nearly  thirty  years  later,2  was  a  most  natural  accom- 
paniment of  that  enterprise  which  had  rebuilt  Wey- 
bosset  Brido:e,  had  brousrht  the  centre^    of  business 

1  This  appreheusion  witli  regard  to  the  West  Side  was  well  founded.  Even 
so  early  as  this,  the  present  Weybosset  Street,  with  its  continuation,  had 
taken  a  formidable  start,  as  being  the  direct  road  from  Boston  to  New  York. 
*'  Uuildings  sprang  up,"  says  Mr.  Dorr,  "  shops  and  inns  —  along  the  line  of 
travel,  and  the  road  to  Narragansett  became  the  earliest  rival  of  the  Town 
Street."  (Dorr's  "Providence,"  p.  132).  Westminster  Street,  though  laid 
out  before  1763,  was  but  slowly  built  up,  and  had  in  1771,  only  five  houses. 
(Stone's  "John  Rowland,"  p.  31). 

The  definite  purpose  of  the  second  bridge,  says  Mr.  Dorr,  was  that  "of  devel- 
opment and  growth,"  and  the  highways  laid  out  westward  from  it  "carried 
forward  the  same  design."     (Dorr's  "  Trovidcnce,"  p.  120). 

2  1773.  Stephen  Hopkins  and  Joseph  Brown  were  tlien  appointed  "direc- 
tors "  to  supervise  its  erection.      (Staples's  "Annals,"  p.  202). 

3  When  in  1729  a  "  county  house  "  was  to  be  erected  in  Trovidencc,  it  was 
contended  with  great  warmth  that  the  most  central  location  for  it  was  on 
"  laud  of  James  Olncy,  on  or  near  what  is  now  Olncy  Street."  (Staples's 
"Annals,"  p.  191-92).  But  it  was  finally  located  on  the  lot  next  south  of  the 
present  site  of  the  State  House;  (the  latter  building  dating  from  1702).    Its 


116  STEPHEN    HOPKIKS. 

from  the  foot  of  Stampers  Hill  to  the  public  square^ 
at  iIiG  bridge,  ai)4l  was  gradually  transferring  the 
headquarters  of  the  shipping  interest  to  a  point  below 
the  bridge.  The  petition  already  alluded  to-  as 
having  been  probablj^  written  I)}'  him  shows  that, 
even  in  1746,  the  practice  of  making  the  Town  Street 
virtually  a  market  place  had  great  inconveniences. 
It  represents-''  that  the  recent  increase  in  population 
has  ^"  much  increased  the  trade  and  business  therein 
[i.  e.,  in  the  Town  Street]  transacted,  by  which  so 
great  a  number  of  carts,"  and  of  "horses  and  people 
are  necessarily  employed  that  the  street"  is  most 
inconveniently  choked  up.  His  foresight  was  a 
part  of  that  enlightened  policy  which  had  determined 
"that  Providence  should  have  a  market  of  its  own, 
and  should  be  a  competitor  with  its  contemporary 
towns."  4 

" establishment," says  5Ir.  Dorr,  "so  far  to  the  southward,  was  a  victory  of 
the  progressive  men  of  that  day."    (Dorr's  "  Providence,"  p.  155). 

1  The  name,  Market  Square,  does  not  appear  to  liave  been  given  it  until 
177.3.  The  space  was,  liowcvcr,  laid  out  by  the  town  in  17-38.  (Dorr's  "  I'rovi- 
dence,"  p.  HI).  Tlie  "  hay  ward,"  or  "  Iiaymarket,"  was  established  here  in 
some  year  not  long  subsequent  to  this.    (Don-'s  "  Providence,"  p.  157). 

2  See  page  114.  3    Printed  in  Dorr's  "  Providence,"  p.  147. 
4    Dorr's  "Providence,"  p.  134. 


A   CITIZEN    OF    PROVIDENCE. 


117 


No  banki   nor  insurance  office^  was  incorporated 
in  Providence  until  tlie  last  decade  of  the  century. 
Yet  a  system  of  insurance  policies,  highly   appre- 
<;iated  bv  the  merchants  of  this  earlier  period,  seems 
to  have  been  instituted  by  Stephen  Hopkins.    "Gov- 
ernor Hopkins,"  says   Moses  Brown, 3  "as  early  as 
1756,  and  probably  earlier,  held  an  office  by  him- 
self," for  issuing  insurance  policies.       Other  "fillers 
of  policies,"  he  elsewhere  adds,  were  "John  Gerrish 
iind    Joseph  Lawrence."-*      The    risks   taken   were 
doubtless  chiefly  if  not  entirely  marine,  rather  than 
fire  risks,  and  are  an  interesting  indication  of  the 
commercial  development  of  the  town. 

1    The  first  was  the  Providence  Bank,  iroi.    (Staples's  "Annals,"  p.  357). 

'i  The  first  insurance  company  regularly  incorporated  was  the  Providence 
Insurance  Co.,  (incorporated  Feb.  3,  1799) ;  which  on  being  united  with  the 
Washington  Insurance  Co.,  (incorporated  Feb.  17,  ISOO),  became  in  1S20,  the 
«'  Providence  Washington  Insurance  Co.,"  which  is  now  one  of  the  oldest  in 
existence  in  Providence  and  in  New  England.  Compare  also  the  Providence 
Gazette,  March  29,  1800;  also  Rider's  BookXotes,  Providence,  Sept.  22,  18S3. 

.■?    Moses  Brown's  letter  to  Tristam  Burges,  Jan.  12,  1S36. 

4  Also  Henry  Paget.  See  advertisement  iu  Providence  Gazette,  Nov.  20, 
1762.  See  also  an  advertisement  in  the  Providence  Gazette,  Dec.  7,  1782. 
"  These  is  somewhere  in  being,"  wrote  Moses  Brown  in  1836,  "  a  list  of  all  the 
vessels  sailing  or  owned  from  here,  collected  by  Joseph  Lawrence,  which 
contains  the  tonnage  of  each,  and  the  owners'  names."  (Letter  to  Tristam 
Burges,  Jan.  1'2,  1S30).  Unfortunately  he  was  unable  to  find  the  list,  and  it 
lias  not  been  handed  down  to  us. 


118  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

EDUCATION   IN   PROVIDENCE. 

It  will  readily  be  seen  that  the  town  had  had  few 
citizens, — perhaps  none, — more  thoroughly  attentive 
to  its  material  interests.  But  Hopkins's  care  and 
solicitude  were  by  no  means  limited  to  these.  Un- 
like not  a  few  "self-made"  men,  he  appears  at  all 
times  in  his  career  to  have  had  a  lively  appreciation 
of  the  other  and  no  less  important  half  of  the  ques- 
tion of  human  development.  His  young  friend, 
Moses  Brown,  when  not  quite  thirty  years  of  age,^ 
iit  once  took  up  the  issue,  and  throughout  the  remain- 
•der  of  his  long  life,  was  one  of  the  most  per- 
sistent and  effective  agitators  in  behalf  of  the 
schools.  So  early  as  1738,  the  committee  ap- 
pointed "to  revise  the  bounds  of  the  highways," 
acting  under  the  diiection  of  Stephen  Hopkins's 
brother, 2  as  chairman,  and  acting,  perhaps,  under 
the    recommendations    of    Stephen     Hopkins    him- 

1  irG7.  He  was  born  in  173S.  He  died  iu  1830,  lacking  only  a  few  weeks  of 
reaching  liis  08th  year. 

2  Col.  William  Hopkins.  In  1690,  their  grandfather,  Major  William  Hop- 
kins, had  been  one  of  the  petitioners  for  a  school-house  at  the  North  End. 
(Staples's  "Annals,"  p.  4'J4}. 


A    CITIZEN    OF  PROVIDENCE.  119 

self,  ill  his  report  of  the  year  before, i  had  designatecl 
"a  lot  opposite  the  west  end  of  the  court-house 
parade,  for  a  school-house  lot. '"2  This  recommenda- 
tion was  favorably  acted  on,  and  although  it  does 
not  appear  in  what  year  the  building  was  erected, 
one  was  standing  there  so  early  as  1752.  In  that 
year  a  committee  was  chosen  by  the  tow'u,  (Stephen 
Hopkins's  brother,  Esek,  being  a  member), 3  "to 
have  the  care  of  the  town"*  school-house."  ^  Among- 
other  public  spirited  citizens^  associated  during 
these  years  with  Stephen  Hopkins  and  i\[oses  Brown^ 

1  "In  1737  he  was  employed  by  the  proprietors"  "to  revise  the  Tow» 
street,"  says  Moses  Brown.  (Letter  to  Robert  Wain,  1823).  With  this  re- 
vision lie  submitted  a  map. 

2  Staples's  "Annals,"  p.  494-95.  It  is  shown  on  the  "  plat  of  the  ware- 
house lots,"  dated  1747,  in  the  "  proprietors'  records."  AVhetber  this  plat,  like 
that  of  the  proprietors,  dated  ten  years  earlier,  was  drawn  by  Stephen  Hop- 
kins, does  not  appear.  This  was  the  year  in  which  he  was  successful  in  his 
connection  with  the  Benefit  Street  project.  (Dorr's  "  Providence,"  p.  147-50). 
See  pages  113-114,  of  this  work. 

3  Town  meeting  records,  Oct.  9,  1752.     (St.iples's  "Annals,"  p.  495). 

4  It  appears  that  the  extent  to  which  the  town  went  at  this  time,  in  its 
"support"  of  a  public  school,  was  limited  to  "  furnishing  a  room  at  a  fixed 
rent."     (Staples's  "Annals,"  p.  495).    The  teacher  was  paid  by  the  pupils. 

5  Staples's  "Annals,"  p.  495. 

6  As  shown  in  the  record  of  successive  committees  appointed  by  the  town  ► 
(Staples's  "Annals,"  p.  495-96). 


120  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

in  their  unremitting  but  decidedly  up-hill  endeavors 
to  establish  the  system,  were  Nicholas  Brown, i  John 
Brown, 1  Daniel  Abbott, 2  John  Jenckes,  Samuel 
Nightingale, 3  Nicholas  Cooke, -^  Darius  Sessions, ^  and 
Jabcz  Bowen.c     The  last  named  citizen,  almost  alone 

1  Brothers  of  Moses  Brown,  and  hardly  less  interested  than  hinisell',  in  tlie 
movement  now  in  hand. 

2  He  was  not  only  active  in  securing  the  bridge  at  Weybosset,  in  1~11, 
(Stone's  "  Jolin  Howland,"  p.  3'.i),  but  when,  in  173><,  tlie  revision  of  the  "ware- 
house lot s  "  was  accomplislied,  it  was  apparently  owing  to  his  public  spirit  that 
"  a  corner  of  said  Abbott's  land  "  was  named  as  the  southern  extent  of  a  thus 
greatly  enlarged  open  space,  later  known  as  ^Market  Square.  (Dorr's  "  Provi- 
dence," p.  141).  Eight  years  later,  Jlay  19,  1740,  he  made  over  to  the  town, 
"  the  common,  so  called,  Jnow  Abbott  I'ark]  for  passing  and  repassing,  train- 
ing and  the  like,  always  to  be  kept  clear  and  free  of  any  building  forever."  A 
little  more  of  this  enlightened  thoughtfulness  for  the  succeeding  generations 
would  have  placed  us  under  still  greater  obligations  to  him. 

3  Together  with  his  enterprising  partner,  John  Innes  Clark,  he  did  much 
to  devoloj)  the  importing  trade  of  Providence.  "  Clark  and  Nightingale,"  says 
3Ir.  Dorr,  were  among  "the  chief  importers  of  English  and  Irish  goods." 
(Dorr's  "Providence,"  p.  108-00).  Their  wharf  stood  where  8teei)!e  Street 
now  is. 

4  I'he  future  governor  of  Ivhode  Island  during  the  tirst  three  years  of  the 
war  of  independence. 

C>  (.iovernor  Hopkins's  associate  in  various  connections  during  the  period  of 
the  committees  of  correspondence.     (See  Wells's  "  Samuel  Adams,"  II.  1.3-17). 

(i  .labez  Bowen,  the  younger,  (who  died  in  ISIS),  w.as  a  nephew  of  Daniel 
Abbott,  and  was  one  of  the  most  continuously  useful  citizens  of  his  day.  In  the 
movenu'nt  for  a  school  system,  in  the  revolutionary  struggle,  in  the  resistance 


A    CITIZKN    OF    rilOVIDENCK.  121 

of  the  citizens  of  Providence  in  17()7,i  was  a  grad- 
uate of  a  college.-  To  him  is  due^  the  very  com- 
prehensive^ report'^  presented  to  the  town  in  the 
next  year,''  (Messrs.  Sessions  and  Xightingale,  with 
Moses  Brown,  comprising  the  other  members  of  the 
connnittee).     The  rc[)ort  was  r«;jected  ;"   after  having 

to  the  paper-money  iiiadues.s,  in  the  nitirtcation  of  the  natioiuil  constitution, 
and  in  connection  with  tlie  foundation  and  developniLMit  of  IJi-own  University, 
lie  was  invariably  to  he.  depended  on.     See  Stai)Ie-;'s  '-Annals,"  /icifinim. 

1  Silas  Downer,  a  gi"iduate  of  Haivard,  In  the  elates  of  iriT,  and  Ilev.  Jlr. 
Graves,  of  King's  Church,  ai)i)ear  to  l)e  the  only  others.  Not  nnfil  irO'.Mvas 
the  first  class  graduated  from  Ilhode  Island  College. 

2  Yale  College;  cla-!s  of  1?.j7.  Chlt'f-justice  John  Sloss  lloliart,  of  New 
York,  was  a  classmate. 

3  It  is,  says  Staples,  "  in  the  hand  writing  of  the  late  (iov.  [i.  c,  hieu- 
tenant  Governor]  IJowen."  ('-Annals,"  p.  l'.)7).  \'et  it  is  in-ohahle  that  this 
report  is  even  more  directly  tin;  inspiration  of  Governor  Hopkins  than  has 
been  generally  sujjposed;  for  there  has  been  preserved  among  a  few  miscel- 
laneous papers  of  Stephen  Hopkins,  a  "preamble"  very  similarly  worded. 
(Printed  in  Sanderson's  "  Signers,"  VI.  251).  "All  institutions  of  learning," 
says  Governor  Hopkins's  draught,  "  beconu'  so  imich  more  useful  as  they  are 
more  free,  and  witiiin  reach  of  tlie  j)oor  as  wi>ll  as  the  rich."  A  comparison  of 
this  language  with  the  preamble  of  .labez  IJowen's  committee,  (Staples's 
"Annals,"  p.  4i'7),will  show  a  decided  correspondence.  There  was  undoubtedly 
some  communication  between  them. 

4  It  provided  for  a  levy  of  EV.JO  "  on  the  polls  and  estates  of  tlie  inliabitants 
of  this  town."    (Staples's  "Annals,"  p.  41)8). 

5  Staples's  "Annals,"  p.  ■i'.)7-5aO.  "  Neither  "  this  nor  one  on  building  a 
school  house,  says  Staples,  "  is  on  file  or  recorded." 

(i    .Ian.  1,  ir()8. 

7    Town  meeting  records,  ,Jan.  1,  1768. 

II 


122  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

been  "  first  voted  by  the  town  with  great  freedom,"^ 
and  a  minute  affixed  to  it  by  Moses  Brown  indicates 
some  of  the  reasons.  One  cannot  forbear  sharing 
his  snrprise,  as  he  records  :  "What  is  most  surpris- 
ing and  remarkable,  the  phm  of  a  free  school,  sup- 
ported hy  a  tax,  was  rejected  by  the  pooi-er  sort  of 
the  people."-  A  lack  of  "public  spirit"^  to  appre- 
ciate and  execute  a  measure  which  would  so  surely 
benefit  themselves,^  he  conceives  to  be  the  chief  rea- 
son. He  could  not  have  hit  the  nail  more  s(piarely 
on  the  head.  A  lack  of  "  i)ublic  spirit,"  indeed,  it 
was,  which  not  only  he  i)ut  his  thi'ce  brothers, — and 
no  less  Governor  ll()i)kins,  hituself, — found  in  re- 
peated instances  thereafter,  lying  like;  a  senseless  log 
across  the  patli  of  some  needed  ini[)rovement  or  pub- 
lic euter[)iMsc.  It  was  the  inevitable  outcome  of  the 
enforced  ignorance  in  which  this  same  "  poorer  sort 
of  the  people"  had  for  generations  been  coming  up 
to  citizenship  and  to  a  control  of  the  town's  policy  ; 
as  well  as  of  the  years  of  placid   indifference  to  any 

1  The  language  of  Mo.scs  IJrowii,  (Staijlus's  "Annals,"  p.  500). 

2  Staples's  "Annals,"  p.  500.  3     Ildd.,  j).  500. 

4     Tlic  inovcnmnt,  says  .lohii  Ilouiaiid,  "  met  witli  the  most  opposition  from 
the  class  it  was  designeil  to  benefit. "     (Stone's  "John  Howlanfl,"  p.  VM). 


A    cm;'. EN    OF    PROVIDENCE, 


123 


but  the  luuTowost  interests,  on  the  part  of  the  nuun 
body  of  the  proprietors.  These  eighteenth  century 
citizens,  however,  at  the  head  of  whom  were  Hop- 
kins and  Bowen,  were  men  of  phick  as  well  as  en- 
terprise, and  they  did  not  rest  until  they  liad  carried 
their  |)()int.  Stephen  Hopkins  ended  his  h)ng  life 
before  the  final  result  was  reached  ;  but  Jahez  Bowen 
lived  to  serve  as  a  member'  of  the  school  committee 
of  the  town  under  the  act  of  the  General  Assembly 
passed  in  1800,2  since  which  the  town  of  Providence 
has  never  been  without  public  schools  ;  and  Moses 
Brown  lived  to  see  the  re-organized  system  of  1828^ 
adopted,  since  which  time  the  state  has  at  no  time 
been  deprived  of  the  same  benetits. 


^.    A 


1  Staples's  "Annals,"  p.  510. 

2  Barnard's  "  Keport  and  documents  relatini?  to  tlie  publio  schools  of 
Rhode  Island,"  l^ts,  p. :!'.).  It  was  repealed  in  180:j,  but  the  system  continued 
in  operation  in  Trovidenoe. 

3  See  Higginson's  •■  History  of  public  education  in  Kliode  Island,"  p.  :]S-io. 

4  The  biographer  of  John  Uowland,  whose  is  the  distingiuslied  honor  of 
being  known  as  "  Uie  father  of  the  free  school  system  of  Rhode  Island,"  in 
citing  the  names  of  those  whose  -cooperation  and  i)ersonal  exertions  were 
added  to  his,  and  who  '■  will  ever  be  litld  in  grateful  remcndirance  for  the  in- 
tercst  they  early  exhibited  in  the  sacred  cause  of  education,"  names,  first  of 
all,  Stephen  Hopkins.     (Stone's  "  Jolin  llowland,"  p.  HI))- 


124  STEPHEN    HOriCINS. 

LII'.RAKIES    IN    niOVlDENX'E. 

All  aciito  observer,^  in  u  recent  survey  ot  a  single 
phase  of  the  progressive  development  ot"  Rhode  Is- 
land, reaches  the  conclusion  that  "wherever  we  see 
the  state  or  any  part  ot  its  people,  moving  in  ways 
higher  than  the  average,  there  we  are  sure  to  tind 
Stephen  Hopkins  prominent  in  the  movement.""-  This 
is  conspicuously  manifest  in  his  connection  with  the 
movements  to  develop  the  town's  commerce,  the 
town's  higinvays,  and  the  town's  schools  ;  yet  it  is 
perhaps  cpiite  as  manifest  in  another  matter,  of  less 
commanding  i)rominence,  but  of  no  less  marked  in- 
terest,— the  establishment  of  the  Providence  Library 
about  1754.''  Occasion  has  alread}'  arisen  for  notic- 
ing the  circumstances  under  which  the  reading  habit 
was  planted  in  tlie  mind  of  the  l)o\',  Stephen.'  It 
was  now  bearing  tVait,  Several  characteristics  of 
the  man  are  to  l)e  observed  in  his  use  of  books.  It 
was  [)ursued  with  constant  and  unllagging  interest. 
"His    pul)lic   life,"  says   one  writer,   "made  him  the 

1  ('liiof-justioe  Durfcc 

2  Durfee's  "  Gk'iiiiings  from  ilii'  jmliuiMl  liisrorv  of   Khod:'    Island, "  (K.*!. 
Historical  Tract,  \o.  lis),  p.  '.».!. 

."i     K.  [.  CdI.  llcconiR,  v.  ;!7t<-7'.i.  4     Sie  pagt-s  ■i8-4S>. 


A    CITIZKN    OF    PKOVIDEIsCK.  125 

servant  of  all  ;  and  he  was  a  close  and  severe  stndent, 
filling  np  all  the  .spare  hours  of  his  life  with  read- 
ing."'^ It  was  at  once  thorough  and  comprehensive. 
"He  was  a  man,''  says  Chief-justice  Durfee,  "  of  ex- 
traordinary capacity," — "omnivorous  of  knowledge, 
which  his  energetic  mind  rapidly  converted  into 
power.'' 2  A  friend  of  his  later  years  declared  that 
he  had  "  never  known  a  man  of  more  universal  read- 
ing, nor  one  whose  memory  was  so  faithful.''-'  His 
method  of  historical  research  w;is  the  correct 
one.  "Holding,"  says  another  writer,^  "all 
abridirmeuts  and  abridgers,  in  very  low  estimation, 
it  is  cited,  in  excmplitication  of  his  iiabitual  deep 
research,"  "that  instead  of  depending  upon  sum- 
maries and  concentrated  authorities,  he  persever- 
ino-ly  perused"  the  original  sources'"  of  iuf)rmation. 

1    Beaman's  ■'Scituate,"  p.  Ul. 

•>     Durlff's  "  (ileanings  from  tlit-juilicial  liistory  of  Ulioile  Island,"  p.  »)2-9;{. 

3  Remarks  of  Asher  llobbins  at  ^COtli  aunivi  rsiuy  of  T'rovidtiu'i" ;  (in 
Providence  Journal,  Aug.  8,  IS^SO). 

4  Sanderson's  "  Signers,"  VI.  248.      (On  the  information  of  Moses  Brown). 

5  Among  the  instances  cited  is  Thurloe's  "Collection  of  state  papers;" 
which,  says  Mr.  nunter,  he  "  read  through  and  annotated."  One  can  hardly 
imagine  a  more  absolutely  repulsive  task  than  this  would  have  been  to  more 


126  STEPHEN    HOPKINS, 

He  mude  his  rending  not  onlv  a  moans  of  culture, 
hut  a  means  of  discipline.  He  was  "skilled  in  many 
branches  of  the  liberal  arts,"  says  one  writer.' 
Another  testimony  pronounces  him  "  a  scholar,  a 
man  of  science  and  ii^oneral  literature."-'  His  "  read- 
ing,"  iiowever,  had  not  merely  made  him  "a  full 
man,"  to  quote  Lord  Bacon, ^  but  the  mental  disci- 
pline which  accompanied  it  had  made  him  "a  ready 
man  "^  and  "an  exact  man.""> 

*  It  was  beyond  the  range  of  [)robal)ility  that  he 
could  long  content  himself  with   the    meagre    collec- 

tliaii  one  of  lii«  coiilciiipoiMrii'S.  Al  tliu  saiiio  liiiic,  it  is  easy  to  sec  that  lio 
(oiilil  lia\e  i.iiueii  ill  Ccw  (lirei-fioiis  which  woiiUl  luivc  so  thoroiijjhly  e<]uippc(I 
liiiii  ibr  his  S!ibs((|iieiii  laljois  in  ailvocatiiig  the  rishli^  of  American  colonies 
inuler  tlie  Knglisli  crown.  Uis  aiifaf^onists  nii^rht  well  find  occasion  to  heed 
the  connsel,  "beware  of  tlie  man  of  one  hook,""  e\  en  thon^'Ii  Uopkins  cotild 
not  projierly  be  so  designati-d. 

1  Sanderson's  "Signers,  "  \'I.  'J4'.t. 

2  IJwislit's  "  Sij;ners,"  |i.  (V.K 

3  Hacon's  Kssay  "  Of  sln<lies,"  (■'  Kssays."  iNo.  :>0). 

4  See  the  instances  given  of  liis  retentive  memory  in  Sanderson's  "Si<i;iu'rs," 
VI.  248-40. 

5  See  the  interesting,'  account  of  his  iiarticipation  in  tlie  observatifin  of  the 
transit  of  \'eniis  in  l?(i9.  (West's  "Account  of  the  observation  of  Venns  upon 
the  sun").  .Vlso  Moses  Brown's  account.  (Letter  to  Robert  Wain.  1S2:!).  Mr. 
West  dedicated  the  pamphlet  just  cited  to  (governor  Uopkins  in  testimony  of 
"your  honour's  superior  abilities  in  niiithematics  and  natural  philosophy." 


A    CITIZEN    OF    PROVIDENCE.  127 

tions  of  books  such  as  were  to  be  foinul  ;it  the  Wil- 
kinson li'oraiy  of"  his  boyhood,'  oi-  were  iiiiywhere 
accessible  in  Providence  before  1750.  His  visits  to 
New[)ort,  i)egiin  as  early  as  1732,-  and  continued 
without  interruption,  several  times  in  each  year,^ 
had  made  him'  familiar,  beyond  doubt, ^  with  the 
treasures  of  the  library  collected  so  early  as  1730,» 
under  Dean  Berkeley's  interested  supervision  ;  and 
later  organized  as  the  "Redwood  Library,"  in  1747  ; 
Stephen  Hopkins's  own  kinsman,  Joseph  Whipple, 
Jr.,  being  one  of  the  incorporators.^. 

It  is  possible  that  his  experience  at  Providence 
was  somewhat  similar  to  that  of  Franklin  at  Phila- 
delphia. 

"At  the  time'  1  establish'd  myself  in  Penusylvauiu,"  says 
Frankliu,  "  there  was  uot  a  good  bookseller's  shop  in  any  of  the 
colonies  to  the  southward  of  Hoston.     Those  who  lov'd  reading 

1  See  pages  46-48. 

2  As  member  of  tlie  General  Assembly.    (K.  I.  Col.  Records,  IV.  468). 

3  See  pages  72-73.  4    See  page  76. 

5  Dr.  Uavid  King's  "  Historical  sketch  of  the  Kedwood  Library  and 
Athenaeum,"  p.  3. 

fi  King's  "  Historical  sketch  of  the  Redwood  Library,"  p.  4.  His  name 
stands  next  to  that  of  William  Ellery. 

7    1723. 


128  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

were  obligM  to  semi  for  their  books  from  Eughuid.  The  mem- 
bers of  the  Junto  had  each  a  few."  "  I  propos'd  that  \vc  should 
all  of  us  bring  our  books  to  [one]  room,  where  they  would  not  only 
be  ready  to  consult  in  our  conferences,  but  become  a  common 
benefit,  each  of  us  being  at  liberty  to  borrow  such  as  he  wish'd 
to  read  at  home.'" 

This  suo-ffested  to  Fraiikliirs  ever-fertile  brain  the 
idea  of  "u  public  subscription  library,"  which  ho 
accordinoly  founded  ;  and,  he  adds,  "  the  institution 
soon  manifested  its  utility."- 

There  is  a  strikino-  resemblance^'  l)etween  this 
experience  of  Franklin,  and  that  of  the  studious 
Rhode  Islander,  who,  in  the  next  twenty'  years,  was 
ransacking  all  the  literaiy  i-esources  of  Providence 
which  could  serve  his  purpose.  Like  Franklin, 
Hopkins  fouiul  no  "good  bookseller's  sh(jp  "  in  his 
town.^      fjike  the  Philadelphia  associates,  he  and  his 

1  Fraiikliu's  Autobioj^rapliy.     (liigelow'.-  "  Franklin,"  I.  'i-'O-:,'!). 

2  Bigolow's  '•  Franklin,"  I.  L'v:l. 

3  n  does  not  fully  appear  wln'ther  tlu-  Pliiladelpliia  or  the  Newport  experi- 
nient  had  on  the  whole  the  most  influence  in  the  formation  of  the  Providence 
Library  about  1751.  U  will  perhaps  be  safest  to  conclude  that  the  latter  furnished 
the  suggesliou  and  inspiration,  while  the  former  supplied  a  model,  in  most  of 
its  details. 

4  The  iirst  l>ooksellei-  in  Providence  appears  to  have  been  Daniel  Jenckes, 
about  1763.  Uis  book  shop  was  "just,  above  "  the  (ireat  JJridge,  "  at  the  sign 
of  Shakespeare's  head."     (Dorr's  "  Providence,"  p.  1!»7). 


A    CITIZEN    OF    PROVIDF.NCE.  129 

friends  "  raised  and  sent  to  England  a  sniu  of  money 
snfficient  to  purchase  books  to  furnish  a  small 
library."  1  Like  them  also,  they  h)oked  about  for 
"a  proper  phice  to  keep  the  books  in."  Like  the 
Philadelphia  company,  once  more,  they  soon 
advanced  to  the  point  where  they  found  it  practica- 
ble to  make  it  "  a  public  subscription  library."  The 
year  in  which  the  first  steps  were  taken  is  uncertain, 
though  it  may  have  been  1750.^  The  associated 
members  were  in  search  of  a  place  to  store  their 
books  in  1754,  when  they  sent  to  the  General  As- 
sembly a  petition, 3  (Stephen  Hopkins's  name  head- 
ing the  list),  that  they  might  use  "  the  council  cham- 
ber in  the  court  house'*  at  Providence"  as  their 
lil)rary   room."'      The   petition  was  readily  granted. 

1  R.  r.  Col.  Rpcords,  V.  :ir'.t. 

2  Wilkinson  say.s  "  in  17.50,"  but  does  not  suite  liis  iiutliorily.  (Wilkinson 
Memoirs,  p.  :300). 

Z     K.  I.  Col.  Kecorils,  V.  Isri^-zO. 

4  Erected  in  17.31.    (Staples's  "Annals,'"  p.  lOJ). 

5  The  earlier  books  were  catalogued  by  Stephen  Hopkins.  (Letter  of 
Moses  ISrown,  l.s'^:!).  No  copy  of  this  catalogue  is  known  to  exist.  But  there 
is  in  the  .John  Carter  P.rown  library  at  I'rovidencc,  a  neatly  printed  "  Cata- 
logue of  all  the  books  belonging  to  the  Providence  I, ibrary,"  published  in  1708; 
and  in  this  a  star  *  is  used  to  designate  such  of  the  books  in  the  former  col- 
lection as  escaped  burning  by  being  in   the   hands  of  readers  at  the  time  of 


130  STKPHEN    HOPKINS. 

Four  yeur.s  later,'  unfortiiiuitely,  the  building  was 
burned  y^  nnd  the  groiitcr  part  of  the  lil)rary  with  it. 
Some  of  the  treasures^  of  the  library,  however,  were 
at  that  time  in  the  hands  of  renders,  and  were  thus 
preserved."*  On  the  completion  of  the  suercs.sor  to 
this  building',  (the  i)resent  State  House  biiihling), 
four  years  later,''  the  lil)rary  [)roi)rietors  were  again 
authorized"  to  make  use  of  it  for  their  newly  collect- 
ed library."      In   l(So()  its  books  became  the   property 

tliL'  tire.  'I'lic  cala!<>j;no  is  of  no  little  interest,  as  show  iiif>  wliat  hooks  Stei'lieu 
Hopkins  and  his  associates  thoiiglil  it  necessary  to  liave  at  liand.  'J'lie  classics 
are  exceedingly  well  rejiresenti  (i.  So  also  is  the  standard  Kuglish  literature 
of  that  century  as  well  as  of  previous  periods.  Milton  and  Hooker,  the  Spectator 
and  the  Guardian,  Itacon  and  J^ocke,  are  on  the  library  shelves.  History  is 
well  ref/resenled  in  'fhucydides,  I'lutareh,  Sallust,  I'aeilus,  Clarendon,  IJurnct, 
and  many  otiiers;  but  I'rince's  "  New  England  chronology''  appears  to  be  tlie 
only  work  of  American  history  comprised,  except  Herrera  and  La  Uontnn. 
These  last  entries  show  that  Iheie  were  critical  scholars  among  their  readers. 
Political  science  and  international  law  were  rejiresented  by  Coke,  ^'attel.  I'uf- 
fendorf,  Grotius,  and  the  "Lex  niercatoria  rediviva."  The  library  also  con- 
tained a  copy  of  Franklin's  work  on  ■'  Electricity,"  in  (puirlo  form. 

This  catalogue  is  an  exceedingly  rare  pamphlet. 

1     December  :;:4,  175S.  2    Staples's  "Annals,"  p.  53-4. 

3  It  had  now  become,  to   use   the   language   applied  to  it  in    1759,    •' a  very 
valuable  collection  of  books."     (K.  I.  Col.  Records,  V.  215). 

4  These  are  designated  by  a  star  *    in  the  catalogue  of  l?(i8. 

6  17(W.     Staples's  "Annals,"  p.  IM.  6     I!.  L  Col.  Kecords,  VI.   215. 

7  Stephen  Hopkins,  says  Moses  ISrowu,  was  "active  in  securing  another 
library,  which  arrived  "    soon  after.     (Letter  to  Uobcrt  Wain,  182:i). 


A    CITIZKN    OF    riiOVIDEN'CE.  131 

of  the  Providence  AtheuaMim/  (incorporated  1831), 
which  is  thns  its  lineal  successor.  It  was  not  until 
more  than  forty  years  later^  that  a  "  pul)lic  library  " 
was  established  in  Providence,  on  such  a  f>asis  as  to 
become,  to  use  Stephen  Hopkins's  own  language, ^ 
"so  much  the  more  useful  as"  it  is  "more  free,  and 
within  reach  of  the  poor  as  well  as  the  rich." 

The  end  contemplated  by  these   founders^    of  the 

1  Staples's  "Annals,"  p.  5:!-i-:W.  Itss  builiUng  was  opened  to  tlic  public,  July 
11,1838.  Soe  the  "Discourse  dcliverPd  at  the  opening  of  the  Providence 
AthenEeum,"  by  I'lisident  Francis  Wayland,  of  lirown  I'niversity.  This 
library  was,  in  18r(>,  the  tenth  in  size  in  New  England,  and  among  the  most 
carefully  selected  in  the  country. 

2  Opened  to  the  public  Feb.  4,  187^.  "Firsl  annual  report  of  the  librarian 
of  the  Providence  Public  Lilirar}." 

3  Used  with  reference  to  public  schools.  (Quoted  in  Sanderson's  "biog- 
raphy of  the  signers,"  VI.  251. 

•1  Some  of  these  were  Stephen  Hopkins,  Chief-justice  Cole,  Judge  Jenckes, 
Colonel  Ephraim  Bowen,  and  Nicholas  Brown.  Most  of  them  were  also  mem- 
bers of  that  "  political  club,"  which  was  a  very  noteworthy  factor  in  the 
development  of  a  patrioticspirit  during  the  years  1703-74,  and  in  whose  society, 
perhaps  at  Stephen  Hopkins's  house,  John  Adams's  friend,  Daniel  Leonard, 
passed  a  very  agreeable  evening  in  17<iO.  ("  Works  of  .lohn  Adams,"  II.  181). 
Judge  Cole,  though  long  a  resident  of  Providence,was  a  native  of  the  Narragan- 
sett  country,  and  was  a  son-in-law  of  Daniel  Updike.  (Updike's  "  Memoirs 
of  the  Rhode  Island  bar,"  p.  122-30,  35-64).  Judge  Jenckes,  (of  the  Provi- 
dence County  Court  of  Common  Pleas),  opened  about  1763  the  first  bookstore 
in  Providence.  (See  p.  128).  He  was  a  nephew  of  Governor  Joseph  Jencks; 
his  wife  was  a  cousin  of  Governor  Hopkins's  first  wife;  and  one  of  his  daugh' 


132  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

library  was,  to  quote  their  own  language,  "to  pro- 
mote useful  knowledge."  '  Looking  to  the  indirect 
as  well  as  the  direct  results  of  their  enterprise,  it  is 
plain  that  their  [)urpose  way  abundantlj'  realized.- 
Its  influence  may  be  traced  in  a  wider  outlook  and 
more  conii)rehensive  gras[)  of  public  questions,  on 
the  part  of  those  wlio  were  the  leaders  at  this 
period,  and  who  made  use  of  its  treasures.  But 
it  is  no  slight  honor  to  kStephen  Hopkins  and 
those  associated  with  him,  to  have  established  this 
public  subscription  library  here  at  so  early  a  date. 
Aside  from  these  two^*  in  this  small  colony  of  Rhode 

ters  inarricd  (iitvcriioi-  Uopkins's  iicijliew,  Captain  C'liristoplior  Uopkins. 
Another  (laujjlitci-  nKuricil  Nicholas  Urown.  Could  tlifse  two  eiylitueuth 
century  lil)niry  jiroprittors,  (Jeiickes  and  Brown),  have  looked  into  the  next 
century,  and  seen  tlie  wealth  of  that  private  library  collected  by  their  descend- 
ant, and  known  as  the  "  John  Carter  Brown  library,"  they  would  doubtless 
have  felt  amply  repaid  for  their  i)ains  ;ind  labor.  In  the  altluence  of  its 
treasures  this  stands  to  most  other  collections  of  works  on  America,  some- 
what in  the  relation  in  which  the  sign  of  inlinity  stands  to  ordinary 
numbers.  Instead  of  rendering  it  necessaiy  now  to  "send  to  England" 
to  supi)leiucnt  it,  it  has  on  several  occasions  been  necessary  for  English 
historians  to  send  to  it  for  material.  (See  Bogers's  "l'ri\ate  libraries  of 
Brovidence,"  ji.  (i'.)-70.     See  also  p.  104-5). 

1  n.  I.  Col.  Uecords.  V.  :i7,S. 

2  111  one  instance  the  beiietit  was  very  direct.  "  No  man,''  says  Moses 
Brown,  "knew  better  or  improved  more  by  reading"  these  books,  than 
Stephen  Hopkins.     (Letter  to  Robert  Wain,  Ls-J3). 

3  Newport  and  Providence. 


A    CITIZEN    OF    PHOVIDENCE.  133 

Island,  there  was  at  that  time  only  one^  other  "pub- 
lic library"  in  New  England,  outside  of  Boston. 2 

HIS    LITEUAUY    LABORS. 

How  early  in  life  Stephen  Hopkins  began  tluit  al- 
most continuous  use  of  his  pen  which  characterized  the 
years  from  1750  to  1770,3  does  nut  appear.  One  of 
the  earliest  papers  of  his  of  which  we  know,  aside 
from  official  documents,  is  the  "family  record,"  already 
alluded  to,^  dated  February  3,  1754.  Whether  he 
made  farther  genealogical  researches  is  also  unknown. 
His  position  as  a  public  officer, — aided,  of  course,  by 
a  very  pronounced  natural  disposition  for  historical 
inquiries, — caused    him   to    collect    such    papers    as 

1  The  Concord  Public  Liliniry,  Concord,  Mass.,  established  1072.  "It  is 
probable,"  says  a  statement  of  the  trustees  in  1875,  "  that  a  library,  more  or 
less  public,  has  existed  in  Concord  for  a  longer  period  of  time  than  in  any 
other  town  in  the  United  States."  ("  Catalogue  of  the  Free  Public  Library 
of  Concord,  Mass.,"  1875,  page  v). 

2  See  pages  47-48,  49-50.  Stephen  Hopkins's  connection,  fifteen  years  later, 
with  the  gathering  of  the  volumes  which  have  grown  into  the  valuable  Library 
of  Brown  University,  Is  described  farther  on  in  this  work.    See  Chapter  IX. 

3  It  was  in  the  neighborhood  of  this  date  that  liis  nervous  affection  begau 
to  disable  him.  After  this,  says  Sanderson,  ("  Signers,"  VI.  245),  "when 
he  wrote  a't  all,"  "  lie  was  compelled  to  guide  his  right  hand  with  the 
left." 

4  See  page  9.    Compare  also  .\ppendix  C. 

12 


I.M 


iSTI'J'lU.:.     ll'il'KfNM. 


("un<;  ill  liin  way  lli;il  W(;)'c,  of  iii;';l,')ri<;  inlriv'^t,  ;iii(] 
v;ilii<';  .-iii'l  l>y  lli':  yi'iii'  I7<)i?,  ]><■  w.v-.  (lonlill'-  •,  in 
))';■■,<•,  i'*ii  (A  .■III  jiii)»')rl  ;i  III  lli  ,l<)rif;i  I  <  ol  li-cl  ir>i). 
I'loiii  llic  (•  ));i|)<:i  ■,  ;iii'l  Irniii  llic  i  iil  flliyciil  liidy' 
wliidi  lie  l)ri)ii"lil  l<(  l(C,ir  iijioii  IImmi,  t  ();'<t  |j(|-  willi 
hiirli  iw))|;itc(;i  I  hi -I  ())  ici  I  |)ii  Idic'il  loji  .  ;i  •,  li<-  w.'ii-  ;iM<; 
!,'»  crdiiill  III  rroviili-iM'c,  ,\'(-\v|)oi-t,,  ;iiii|  I'm  l.oii, 
r(fHiill'<i  lli  ,  "  III  t'»ric;i|  ;i(:(;()iiiil  (,i  llic  |)l;ihtiii;'  ;iii(| 
(.'fowlli    1)1     riovidriicc,,""'-    wlii'li     iinli.i)i|)il  y   in    Ifll    ii 


1  A  si)/(ii'wli.il  1"  111.1/ I'.iiliji'  i|i(/ri'-  <if  i'ill|r;il  (i;m'Iii>Ii  jiijiI  jmlliiii)  litli  m-sii 
«(  l<  (/i|)<  I ,  ;iii  )/liiliily  oil  ■••)'viil/li-  111  III.-  Ill  I'/ili'iil  wiillii(/;-.  /  li"'.-<-  ;ui  <|iiiiil 
ll<R  IMll  illloprl^lllir  <:i||lllll<lll  lllllllllf/  Wt'lli'l'.';  >li  IiIk  llllll'.  till-  III!  lllill  il|r:i:l|llil|l- 
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linn-.  I'.lll      )l      llllll    ^/H'ill     l-Jil'I'lll'lli;!-.--,     llUlll      ill    :-.|/'ll',<   II    Mini    Wl  jlllll     fll.'TC'llll'KI!, 

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jiKVV"  rlul,  ;-()iiiiliiiii';:  i-iii-);j;ill<^,  (/<  in-iiil)y  iiiliii,  liilloiiiil,  iinil  ''')iivi(i<;)ii(f ; 
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\Ki'iij,  Any  iiiM'  wli'i  will  lulu-  Mm  limilili-  hi  rHiuiiliM-  tiirli  nl  'ioMiiior 
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lIli.  ••fijil'iMiinn  III  Uir  nii'oli'  Islull'l  lllBloijiiil  rt.iiiils   "  VII. 


A  <iri/i:N  OF  ri;(»vii)F,N(!K.  l."^/") 

f'i'i»i»"iu(iit  .1  Ili.s()ll\(M'  writings- :i  If,  almost  witliDiit 
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iiii|)(trt:iiil  ciuiiuMlioii  with  llu'  roiiiiiit  ion  of  public 
opinion,  Iract'd  in  siil>s(M|iit'iil  cliaplfi's.^i 

'i'o  a  siihsocpUMit  fliaplcr'  lu'loiius  also  lli(>  cotisid- 
tM'alioii  of  Sti'plu'ii  llo[»kiiis'.s  cMUiiu'ctioii  with  Iho 
loiiiitlatioii  and  .support  ol'  llu'  earliest  Providoiico 
no\vspai>er.'  The  motive  tor  its  estahlishment  at 
(hat  time,  (17(">2),  was  largely,  i)tU'haps  i)i'odoniiiia- 
lini^ly, — political.  ll,  Imwiver.  played  no  iiniin- 
portant  part  in  the  unidual  advaiu'i>  ot  llu^  now 
tlioroiiu'lily  awakened  town,  aloii;;'  its  various  liiu's 
ol' eommereial,  ediieational  and  social  proiii'oss. 

SKViaJAI.   KUANKI.IN    lOKAS. 

The  stiideiii  of  (lovernor  Hopkins's  i'art>er  cannot, 
fail  to  remark  tlu'  repeated  instances  in  which  he  is 
ill  some  way  hriui^^ht  into  coniu'ction  with  lUMijamin 
Fnmklin.  The  noU'wurthy  resemlilance  in  llu^  cir- 
cnnislMiicos    under   which  thcii'    "  suhjcripl  ion    lihra- 

I     ll  siiipM  III  UW.i.  I  lii'i'i' I'liu  lit' IlKk'   (loiilit    Ilitii  he  hail  iiiiiti'iiiil  I'or  I'lir- 
ryl«K  It  I'urllx'i'. 
•J    8»'.'  ApiMiulK  H.  a     S.'c  Clmiitos  VI..  \  III.,  |\. 

•I    SiH' rliii|iiii'  \  HI  ft    'I'Uv  l^roviilcncff  liir.i tie. 


136  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

ries"  were  established,  has  ah'eacly  been  mentioned.' 
The  establishment  of  this  newspaper  in  17G2  is  more 
than  likely  to  have  grown  ont  of  Hopkins's  oppor- 
tnnity  for  observing  Franklin's  pre-eminent  success  in 
forming  public  opinion  by  his  newspaper  at  Phila- 
delphia,- and  also,  perhaps,  from  correspondence^ 
with  him  regarding  it.  Only  six  years  later  (1768) 
the  management  of  the  Providoice  Gazctfe  passed 
into  the  hands  of  John  Carter,''  a  native  of  Philadel- 
phia, and  one  of  Franklin's  l)est  tried  and  most 
approved  apprentices.  The  mastei-  in  this  case  cer- 
tainly had  no  occasion  to  feel  ashamed  of  his  appren- 
tice's work.''  Two  other  "  Franklin  ideas  "  appear 
at  Providence  in  or  about  1754,  the  year  from  which 

1     See  pages  127-20.  2     See  cliapter  VJII. 

3  No  letters  of  tliis  period  are  pre^e^ve(l,  liowever. 

4  He  was  a  eonstaut  coadjutor  of  nojikiiis  aiui  tlje  JJrowns,  and  his  daugh- 
ter married  tlie  son  of  one  of  these  four  brothers,  (Nichohis  Brown,  .Tr.). 

5  "  The  Ga-^c'l'e"  says  Staples,  "  under  the  editoiship  of  Jrr.  Carter,  is  such 
a  raonuinent  as  the  liruiest  patriot  and  the  best  citizen  might  honestly  desire. 
He  prided  himself  on  the  typographical  correctness  of  his  paper,  and  the  pub- 
lic relied  on  the  correctness  of  its  contents.  It  would  be  difficult  to  find  an 
error  in  eitlier  department,  justly  chargeable  to  Mr.  Carter."  (Staples's 
"Annals,"  p.  514-45).  This  testimony  is  abundantly  confirmed  from  other 
sources.  John  Carter  Hrown,  son  of  Nicholas  Brown,  the  younger,  was  a 
grandson  of  .Tohn  Carter,  and  was  named  for  liini. 


A    CITIZEN    OF    PROVIDENCE.  137 

the  intimacy  between  Frunlvlin  and  Hopkins  proba- 
bly dates.  These  are  the  post-office  and  the  tire 
department.  "No  trace,"  says  Staples,  "can  be 
found  of  tiie  Hrst  establishment  of  a  post-office  in 
Providence."'  It  is  certain,  however,  that  it  existed 
in  1758,-  and  in  all  prol)abillty  earlier.  Franklin's 
appointment  as  deputy-post-master-gencral  of  the 
American  colonies  dates  from  1753,3  though  he  had 
been  appointed  postmaster  of  Philadelphia,  as  early 
as  1737.'  A  systematic  fire  department,  first  put  in 
practice  by  Franklin  in  Philadelphia  in  11S6,^  was 
organized  in  Providence  in  1754  f  Hopkins's  frequent 

1  Staplcs's  "Annals,"  p.  014. 

2  Some  attempt  at  postal  service  luid  existed  since  KJ'Jl,  (Stiiples's  "An- 
nals,"  p.  <U4),  and  as  Providence  was  on  tlie  route  from  Boston  to  New  York 
and  the  southern  colonies,  it  gained  the  benetit  of  it.  It  was  provided  in  169.3, 
(R.  I.  Col.  Records,  III.  .31;^),  that  the  king's  post  should  cross  the  ferry  at  the 
present  Red  Bridge,  witli  no  hindrance.  Thence  it  passed  through  Olney's 
Lane,  and  the  Town  Street,  crossing  by  the  ferry  at  Weybosset,  and  thence 
through  Warwick  and  New  London  to  New  York.  (Arnold's  "  Rhode  Island," 
1.527).  But  no  postmaster  was  appointed  until  the  place  was  filled  by  Sam- 
uel Chase  (or  Chace),  in  one  of  the  years,  1753-58.  (Staples's  "Annals,"  p. 
614;  Dorr's  "  Providence,"  p.  IW). 

3  Bigelow's  "  Franklin,"  I.  .307.  4    Ibid.,  I.  261. 

5  Ibid.,  I.  263-00. 

6  Staples's  '-Annals,"  p.  199-200;  R.  1.  Col.  Records,  V.  401. 


138  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

associates  in  many  an  enterprise,  Ohadiah  Brown' 
andJaraes  Angell,^  being  the  committee  in  charge  of 
it. 

KAMILY     CONNECTIONS. 

Dnring  these  years,  moreover,  his  bnsiness,  social, 
and  family  (-onnections  had  been  gradnally  but 
steadily  widening  the  scope  of  his  interests,  and 
bringing  him  into  relations  not  only  with  Providence 
and  Newport  society,  but  with  some  of  the  best 
known  families  of  Boston.  His  brother  Esek,  mar- 
rying in  1741  into  a  Newport  fimily,  had  become  at 
once  a  resident  of  Newport.^  At  about  the  same 
time'  his  brother  John  married  the  daughter  of 
William  Turpin,  the  inn-keeper"'  and  town  treasurer. 

1  One  of  tlic  earliest  luerchaiits  in  tlic  foreign  trade;  uncle  of  tlie  "four 
brothers;"  father-in-law  of  Closes  Brown,  anil  of  Jabe/.  ISowen,  Jr. 

2  Cousin  to  Governor  Hoplcins's  brother-in-law,  Nathan  Angell ;  brother-in- 
law  of  Kiifus  Hopkins;  father-in-law  of  William  (ioikiard,  the  printer;  and 
grandfather  of  the  late  Professor  Jacob  Whitman  Bailey,  of  West  Point. 
James  Angell  was  town  clerk  for  seventeen  xears,  VbS-lCt. 

3  He  nnirried  Desire  Burroughs,  Nov.  28,  1741.  He  was  a  resident  of  New- 
port until  1755.     (Hopkins  genealogy,  p.  24). 

4  The  record  of  the  date  is  not  preserved.     (Hopkins  genealogy,  p.  19). 

5  He  h.ad  succeeded  his  father,  (William  Turpin,  senior),  in  KO'.),  as  pro- 
prietor of  the  principal  inn  in  the  place,  which  was,  says  Mr.  Dorr,   "appar- 


A    CITIZKN    OF    PKOVIDENCK.  139 

His  son  Kiifus  married  in  1747,  Abigail  Angel  1,» 
whose  father  still  dwelt  on  the  original  home  lot,  at 
the  foot  of  Angel  1  Street.  A  few  years  later,  his 
son  John  married  Mary  Gibbs,  whose  father,  Robert 
Gibbs,2  was  a  native  of  Boston,  and  descended  from 
the  well  known  colonial  families^'  of  Gibbs,  Shetiffe, 

ontly  the  largest  structure  in  the  town  until  the  building  of  tlie  i)rcsent  State 
House."  Dorr's  "Providence,"  p.  187).  Until  tliat  time  (17.'{1)  tlie  General 
Assembly,  as  weli  as  tlio  courts,  met  iu  tliis  Ijuildinj;.  (Staples's  "Annals," 
p.  607).  It  stood  on  the  west  side  of  North  Main  Street,  nearly  opposite 
Bacon  Street.  William  Turpin,  senior,  was,  says  Staples,  "  the  first  school- 
master iu  Providence,  of  whom  any  mcinorliil  remains.  (Staples's  "Annals," 
p.  493) . 

1  Her  relationship  with  the  Hopkins  family  was  already  somewhat  compli- 
cated. James  Angell,  her  father's  cousin,  had  married  Susannah  Wilkinson, 
the  aunt  of  Governor  Hopkins.  Her  cousin,  Nathan  Angell,  had  married 
Abigail  Hopkins,  the  sister  of  (iovernor  Hopkins.  Through  both  her  father 
and  her  mother  she  was  descended  from  Kev.  Gregory  Dexter,  (and  through 
her  father  from  Roger  Williams).  (Angell  genealogy,  p.  '.),  20,  21 ;  Wilkinson 
Memoirs,  p.  84,  80;  Hopkins  genealogy,  p.  27,  29). 

2  "Dr.  (iibbs,"  says  Mr.  Dorr,  "  was  of  Boston,  a  man  of  education,  and 
rendered  useful  service  by  his  activity  in  public  affairs."  He  also  mentions 
him  as  one  of  the  "  physicians  of  ability  and  note."  (Dorr's  "  Providence,"  p. 
178,  179).    Dr.  Gibbs  was  horn  in  Boston  about  the  year  1700. 

3  These  four  are  among  the  most  prominent  Boston  families  of  the  seven- 
teentij  centurj'.  (See  Mr.  Bynner'.s  and  5Ir.  Whitmore's  chapters  in  the 
"  Memorial  history  of  Boston  ").  Mrs.  Hopkins's  great-grandfather,  Kobert 
Gibbs,  was,  says  Mr.  William  H.  Whitmore,  "  a  noted  merchant "  of  Boston, 
in  that  century.  ("Memorial  history  of  Boston,"  I.  58(5).  His  expensive  Iiouse 
on  Fort  Hill  is  mentioned  with  admiring  comment  by  several  early  chroniclers. 


140  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

Shrimpton,  and  Oliver,  while  through  her  mother 
she  was  descended  from  Captain  John  Whipple.'  In 
1750,  Stephen  Hopkins's  nephew,  Captain  Christo- 
pher Hopkins,^  married  Sarah  Jenckes,'-^  daughter  of 
Judge  Daniel  Jcnckes,^  Governor  Hopkins's  life-long 
friend. 

But  duj-ing  these  same  years  a  crushing  series  of 

Her  gieat-great-grandfiitlier,  Peter  Oliver,  was  auotlier  eminent  Boston  mer- 
chant, and  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Old  Soutli  Church.  His  descendants  con- 
temporary with  Stephen  Hoplcins  were  tlie  well  known  loyalists.  Lieutenant- 
governor  Andrew  (Jliver,  and  Chief-justice  Peter  Oliver.  Still  another  distin- 
guished merchant  was  Mrs.  Hopkins's  great-great-grandfather,  Jacob  Sheaffe, 
who  died  in  105'.).  "He  seems,"  says  Sav.age,  "to  have  had  the  largest  est[ate] 
of  any  that  had  hitherto  died  at  Boston."  (Savage's  "  Genealogical  diction- 
ary," IV.  00).  His  brother-in-law,  Kev.  Henry  Wliitiield,  was  an  ancestor  of 
Senator  Tlieodore  Foster.  Mrs.  Hopkins's  great-grandfather  was  ,)onathau 
Shrimpton,  whose  family  were  noted  landholders.  His  cousin,  Colonel  Sam- 
uel Shrimpton,  was  the  owner  of  the  land  on  which  the  Province  House  was 
built,  and  also  of  that  on  which  the  present  State  House  of  Massacluisetts 
jtands,  as  well  as  of  the  greater  part  of  Beacon  IHll.  (,"  Blemoruil  history  of 
Boston,"!.  .5:^7). 

1  John  Whipple;'  Joseph  Whipple;-  Aniey  Whipple,''  ni.  Bohert  Gibbs; 
Mary  Gibbs.^  Her  husband's  descent  was  as  follows  :  John  Whipple;'  Abigail 
Whipple,'^  m.  William  Hopkins:  William  Hopkins ;3  Stephen  Hopkins;*  John 
Hopkins."' 

2  Son  of  Colonel  William  Hopkins. 

3  Her  sister,  Ilhoda  Jenckes,  married  Nicholas  Brown,  one  of  the  "four 
brothers."    Her  mother  was  a  cousin  of  Governor  Hopkins's  tirst  wife. 

4  See  pages  1.31-32. 


A    CITIZKN    OF    PROVIDENCE.  141 

bereavements  had  fallen  on  him.  In  1744,  his 
brother,  Captain  Samuel  Hopkins,  died'  at  Hispani- 
ola,  in  the  West  Indies,  during  one  of  his  voyages. 
About  six  months  later,  his  brother,  John  Hop- 
kins, likewise  died-^  at  sea.  His  youngest  sister3 
died  a  few  months  later  in  the  same  year.  But  the 
most  overwhelming  blow  came  in  1753,  when  "with- 
in a  period  of  six  months,"  says  the  family  annalist, 
"he  was  called  upon  to  part  with  two  sons'*  in  the 
early  prime  of  their  manhood,  when  their  prospects 
for  a  creditable  career  of  usefulness  were  of  the  most 
flatterinir  characttu-,"  ■'  and  also  as  a  last  and  most 
crushing  blow,  with  his  wife,*^  whose  death  resulted 
from  the  mental  distress  induced  by  the  aggravating 
circumstances  of  these  bereavements.  Early  in  1755 
his  brother,  Colonel  William  Hopkins,  died."  The 
brothers  Stephen  and  Ksek  now  appear  (o  have  been 

1  Hopkins  genealogy,  p.  20. 

2  Feb.  1,  1"4.5.     (Hopkins  genealogy,  p.  19). 

3  Susanna.     (Hopkins  genealogy,  p.  1-',  27). 

4  John  and  Silvanus.    (Hopkins  genealogy,  p.  .iO,  :U-32,  18). 
6  Hopkins  genealogy,  p.  32. 

6  Silvanus  died  April  2.3,  175:t;   .Tolm  died  .luly  20,  17.53;   their   mother  died 

Sept.  9,  1753. 

7  Feb.  17,  1755.     (Hopkins  genealogy,  p.  12). 


142  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

the  only  survivors   of  their   father's   fami!\^  of  nine 
children,  still  bearing  the  name. 

POLITICAL   Connections. 

More  than  was  usual  with  tlie  averaoe  citizen  of 
Providence,  Stephen  Flopkins  had,  during  these 
years,  identified  himself  with  the  commercial,  the 
educational,  and  the  social  life  of  the  town.  But  he 
had  by  no  means  withdrawn  himself  from  that  politi- 
cal connection  with  public  life  which  he  had  so  strik- 
ingly developed  previous  to  1742.^  In  1741,  just 
before  his  removal  to  Providence,  he  was  holdino- 
the  position  of  clerk  of  the  Court  of  Common 
Pleas,  of  Providence  County  ;"~  and  at  the  same  time 
was  speaker  of  the  General  Assembly,^  (being 
deputy  for  Scituate)  ;^  and  also  served  as  town  clerk 
of  Scituate^  and  president  of  the  Scituate  town  coun- 
cil.'' These  two  latter  positions  he  resigned  Decem- 
ber 24,  1741  ;^  and  he  probably  resigned  his  seat  in 

1  See  Chapter  IV. 

2  See  Records  of  the  Providence  County  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  I.  433. 

3  K.  I.  Col.  Records,  V.  11),  -,'1.  4    Ibid.,  V.  ■^l. 
5  Beaman's  "  Scituate,"  appendix,  p.  7. 

C    Letter  of  Moses  Brown  to  Robert  Walu,  1823.  7    Ibid. 


A    CITIZEN    OF    PROVIDENCE.  143 

the  General  Assembly  not  long  after. '  But  his 
name  appears  again  on  the  roll  of  members  in 
1744,2  this  time  as  deputy  from  Providence,  and  he 
was  immediately  re-elected  speaker. 3  It  was  doubt- 
less this  unwillingness  of  the  colony  to  relinquish  its 
hold  on  his  services  which  prevented  his  ever  serv- 
ing as  a  member  of  the  Providence  town  council, 
but,  says  Beaman,  "no  man  was  so  often 
chosen  moderator  of  town  meetings  in  Providence. "^ 
As  has  been  already  seen,^  he  was  so  constantly 
raising  issues  for  the  town  council  to  act  upon,  that 
he  may  well  have  been  excused  from  actual  service 
in  that  body.  The  term  of  service  in  the  General 
Assembly,  which  began  in  1744,  was  continued,  by 
sul)sequent  re-elections,  in  1746,  1747,  1748,  1749, 
1751,  and  1752.'^  In  1749  he  was  again  speaker. ^ 
These  were  the  years  of  the  third  Governor  Wanton 

1  He  apptars  to  havt  been  a  member  at  tlie  October  session,  IMl,  but  not 
at  the  session  immediately  preceding  the  election  in  yiay,  1~'12.  (K.  I.  Col. 
Records,  V.  33-37,  42).  At  the  session  beginning  May  4,  1~42,  a  "  Steplien 
Hopkins ''  appears  among  the  freemen  admitted.    (K.  I.  Col.  Records,  V.  42) 

2  R.  I.  Col.  Records,  V.  ^4.  3    Ibid.,  V.  85. 

4    Beaman's  "  Scituate,"  p.  10.  5    See  pagesl03-10. 

(i    R.  I.  Col.  Records,  V.  10(5,  214,  265,  327,  344.    (Staples'*  "Annals,"  p.  050). 

7    Ibid..  A".  200. 


144  STEI'IIKN     HOrivlNS. 

and  the  first  Governor  Greene,  und  were  eharacter- 
izcd  by  a  party  spirit  sufficiently  hitter,  hut  by  no 
means  to  he  compared  with  that  of  the  next  thirteen 
years.  The  eastern  lionndary  question  was 
now  ai)proaehing  a  [)artial  settkuncuit.  Stephen 
Hopkins  had  been  appointed  in  1741  a  member  of  a 
committee  to  represent  the  coh)ny  at  the  hearing 
which  was  to  take  place  before  connnissioners.'  Some 
needed  imjielus  ap[)ears  to  have  been  given  to  the 
matter  by  his  committees  ;  and  by  the  end  of  the 
year  1747,  the  five  towns-  whose  existence  on  the 
border  line  of  Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island  had 
for  years  been  one  of  uncertainty,  were  fully  installed 
into  the  functions  of  Rhode  Island  towns.^  The 
northern  boundary  next  required  attention.     Various 

1     l<"(>r  his  coinioctiim  willi  thus  matter,  sec  thf  U.  I.  Col.   llccords.'V.  15-16 
29-30,  3u'-:i:i,  .■!;■-). 

a    Ouinborland,  Wiurcii,  ISristol,  'rivcrtoii,  und  Little  Coinptoii. 

3  The  royal  dt'crcc  cstablishiiijv  tlie  new  bouiuhiiy  lines  is  (hited  May  1.'8, 
ITlCi;  tlic  report  ot'tlie  Rhode  Island  eoiiiinissioners,  ai)i)ointed  in  coiiseiiuence 
of  the  decree,  is  dated  .Jan.  fi,  17-ir.-7,  (It.  I.  Col.  Records,  V.  199);  tlie  five 
towns  received  incorporation  from  tlie  Uliode  Island  (ieneral  Assembly,  .Jan. 
27,  1710-7,  (R.  I.  Col.  Records,  V.  L'Ol-fi) ;  they  were  assij^ned  to  their  respect- 
ive counties,  by  vote  of  the  (ieiuM-al  Assenil)ly,  in  February,  171('>-7,  (R.  I.  Col. 
Records.  V.  208-9). 


A    CITIZEN    OF    niOVIDENCE.  145 

commissions  were  appointed  in  1748,^  1750,2  and 
1751.3  But  there  seemed  to  be  no  definite  point 
reached,  and  at  the  June  session,  1751,  the  matter 
was  placed^  in  the  hands  of  Stephen  Hopkins  and 
two  others  for  thorough  examination.  They  con- 
ferred with  commissioners  from  Connecticut,'^  and  in 
1752  reported^  that  the  "skillful  artists," ^  Wood- 
ward andSaffery,  who,  in  1642,  had  said  they  knew 
where  this  line  struck  the  Connecticut  River,  were 
several  miles  out  of  the  way.^ 

1    K.  I.  Col.  Records,  V.  255.  2    Ibid.,  V.  281,  299. 

.3    Ibid.,  V.  .322-25.  4    Ibid.,  V.  333. 

5  One  of  the  Connecticut  commissioners  was  Roger  Wolcott,  Jr.,  afterwards 
Stephen  Hopkins's  associate  in  the  Albany  congress. 

6  April  4,  1752.  (R.  I.  Col.  Records,  V.  .346-48.  Bowen's  "  Boundary  dis- 
putes of  Connecticut,"  p.  62-fi3). 

7  What  the  Massachusetts  government  meant,  says  Mr.  Clarence  Bowen, 
"by  calling  these  surveyors  '  skillful  artists,'  seems  a  matter  of  conjecture." 
(Bowen's  "Boundary  disputes  of  Connecticut," p.  19). 

8  The  Massachusetts  government  appointed  as  surveyors  of  this  line  in  1642, 
Nathaniel  Woodward  and  Solomon  Saffery.  "  They  started  the  line,"  says 
Mr.  Bowen,  "  from  the  point  they  thought  was  three  miles  to  the  south  of  the 
southernmost  part  of  Charles  river,  and  instead  of  extending  the  survey  acrosB 
the  country,  they  sailed  round  Cape  Cod,  and  up  the  Connecticut  River,  to  the 
point  they  supposed  was  in  the  same  degree  of  latitude  with  the  starting  point." 
This  was  more  than  four  miles  too  far  south.  They  were  thence  sarcastl- 
caUy  called  "the  mathematicians."  (See  Bowen's  "Boundary  disputes 
of  Connecticut,"  p.  19,  63,  and  Map  IV.)      In  this  case,  though  Stephen 

13 


146  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

Durins:  Governor  Greene's  first  administration > 
the  war  with  France  and  Spain^  broke  out.  Stephen 
Hopkins's  friend,  Jabez  Bowen,  the  elder,  was  a 
colonel  in  the  Rhode  Island  line,  at  the  time  of  the 
reduction  of  Louisburg,  and  shared  in  the  glory  of 
that  campaign.^  After  the  close  of  this  year's  active 
military  operations,^  Stephen  Hopkius  waited  on  Sir 

Hopkins  did  not  personally  survey  it,  no  doubt  his  careful  training  as  a 
surveyor,  in  his  youth,  served  him  in  good  stead.  He  was  frequently 
called  to  put  this  training  in  practice  even  until  "advanced  in  life," 
says  Moses  Brown.  The  same  writer  says :  "  To  illustrate  his  skill, 
I  will  mention  that  I  was  with  him  about  the  year  1769.  We  were  laying 
out  and  surveying  a  piece  of  land  in  Scituate  for  the  use  of  our  furnace, 
[Hope  Furnace],  when  we  had  to  pass  through  a  very  thick,  shrubby 
plain.  When  we  got  through,  he  felt  for  his  watch  to  see  the  time  of 
day,  and  it  was  missing.  It  occurred  to  us  that  probably  it  caught  by  the 
bushes  and  was  hauled  from  his  fob.  He  set  the  same  course  back,  and  found 
the  watch  hanging  in  the  bushes."    (Letter  to  Robert  Wain,  1823). 

1  1743-45. 

2  The  "'War  of  the  Austrian  succession,"  1744-48;  known  in  America  as 
"  King  George's  war." 

3  "  When  the  expedition  against  Louisburg  was  projected,"  says  Sir  Wil- 
liam Pepperrell's  biographer,  "  Rhode  Island  entered  heartily  into  it,  and 
raised  three  companies  of  one  hundred  men  each,  [and]  paid  them  more  liber- 
ally than  any  other  colony."  He  adds  :  "  The  troops  failed  of  reaching  Boston 
in  season  to  embark  witli  I'epperrell.  They,  however,  proceeded  early  in 
July,  and  proved  a  valuable  reinforcement  in  preserving  the  conquest."  (I'ar- 
8ons's  "  Life  of  Sir  William  Pepperrell,  p.  135). 

4  Most  of  the  New  England  troops  appear  to  have  returned  in  1740.  The 
reduction  of  Louisburg  took  place  in  1745. 


A    CITIZEN    OF    PROVIDENCE.  147 

William  Pcpperrcll,  at  Boston, i  at  the  request  of  the 
General  Assembly,  and  was  successful  in  having  the 
really  very  creditable  participation  of  this  colony  in 
the  war  properly  placed  on  record. 2  During  this 
period  two  issues  of  bills  of  credit  took  place,  the 
second  one  being  made  the  occasion  of  a  vigorous  in- 
terference by  the  home  government.  The  General 
Assembly,  on  receiving  a  letter^  from  the  English 
secretary  of  state,  containing  inquiries  as  to  these 
successive  issues,  voted  to  place  the  matter  in  the 
hands  of  a  committee  (Stephen  Hopkins  and  three 
others),  to  make  examination  and  report. 4  The 
committee  possessed  too  much  intelligence  to  pre- 
sent a  defence  of  the  practice,  and  their  report  was 
almost  wholly  limited  to  a  statement  of  the  bare 
facts.  But  this  occasion  presented  a  good  oppor- 
tunity for  the  committee  to  emphasize  the  ruinous 
tendency  of  the  course  to  which  Rhode  Island  had 

1  R.  I.  Col.  Records,  V.  202. 

2  See  also  General  Wolcott's  letter  in  testimony  of  the  service  of  the  Rhode 
Island  troops,  (dated  Nov.  15,  1745).    (R.  I.  Col.  Records,  V.  155). 

3  Dated  July  10,  1749.    Printed  in  the  R.  I.  Col.  Records,  V.  278-79. 

4  Their  report  is  dated,  Newport,  Feb.  27,  1749-50.     (Printed  in  R.  I.  Col. 
Records,  V.  283-86). 


148  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

been  committing  herself,  and  by  an  appeal  to  the 
intelligence  and  sense  of  honor  of  the  colony  to  pro- 
cure the  arrest  of  the  tendency  by  its  own  action, 
withont  waitino^  for  the  home  government  to  act. 
That  the  committee  did  not  do  so  may  perhaps  have 
been  due  to  timidity  ;  perhaps  also  to  an  impression 
that  their  words  would  produce  no  eflect.  This 
action  is  less  excusable  in  Stephen  Hopkins  than  in 
the  other  members,  for  it  had  alreadv  been  made 
clear  that  his  influence  was  equal  to  nearly  any 
emergency,  where  public  opinion  was  to  be  shaped. 
The  opportunity  was  lost ;  and  the  very  next  year 
witnessed  another  of  the  insane  issues  of  paper 
money  by  the  General  Assembly,  to  the  amount  of 
£25,000.^  The  long  suftering  merchants  of  New- 
port, convinced  that  there  was  no  farther  ground  for 
believing  that  this  body  would  act  intelligently  in 
the  matter,  resolved  to  appeal  to  the  King.  This 
they  did,  in  a  petition^  dated  September  4,  1750, 


1  Potter's  "  Bills  of  credit,"  p.  72-77. 

2  Printed  in  R.  I.  Col.  Records,  V.  311-13. 


A   CITIZEN    OF   PKOVIDENCE.  149 

aud  signedi  by  seveuty-two  of  their  number  ;— pray- 
ing that  the  General  Assembly  "  may  be  prevented 
and  efFectually  restrained  from  making  or  emitting 
any  more  bills  of  credit  upon  loan."  The  appeal 
appeared  to  beeliectual,  and  a  bill-  passed  the  House 
of  Commons,  in  1751,  prohibiting  any  farther  issue. 
But  in  one  sense  even  this  beneficent  interference 
came  too  late.  The  expenses  of  the  Louisburg 
campaign,  in  1745,  had  left  all  the  New  England 
colonies  financially  embarrassed  ;  and  an  appropria- 
tion of  £800,000  was  made  by  parliament  in  1747,^ 
to  reimburse  these  colonial  outlays.  Upon  this,  the 
colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  seizing  the  favorable 
moment,  imposed  a  sufficiently  heavy  tax  in  addition, 
for  this  special  purpose,  and  was  able  to  redeem 
every  one  of  her  outstanding  bills.'*       There   appear 

1  Among  the  names  signed  to  this  petition  are  those  of  Abraham  Eedwood, 
Joseph  Harrison,  Peter  Uarrison,  Henry  Collins,  Heury  Ball,  John  Cole,  and 
George  Gibbs. 

2  Potter's  "  Bills  of  credit,"  p.  84-86. 

3  See  Sumner's  "  History  of  American  currency,"  p.  34. 

4  This  action  of  Massachusetts  is  to  be  credited  largely  to  the  intelligent 
exertions  of  Governor  Thomas  Hutchinson,  at  that  time  a  member  of  the 
General  Court.    (Sumner's  "  History  of  American  currency,"  p.  34). 


150  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

to  be  several  reasonsi  why  the  Rhode  Island  colony 
did  not  take  the  same  action  ;  but  she  did  not  take 
it,  as  she  had  abundant  reason  subsequently  to  regret. 

CONNECTION    WITH    THE    COURTS. - 

It  was  in  the  year  just  mentioned  (1747),  that 
Stephen  Hopkins,  who,  in  1736,  became  justice 
of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  of  Providence 
County,^  was  now  made  one  of  the  assistant 
justices  of  the  Rhode  Island  Superior  Court."*  This 
position  he  held  only  two  years,  but  in  1751  he  was 
made  Chief-justice  of  the  Superior  Court. '^  This 
latter  position  he  held  at  the  time  of  his  election  as 
governor,  in  May,   1755.*"     First  and  last,  Stephen 

1  See  Potter's  "  Bills  of  credit,"  (p.  (!7),  where  it  is  pointed  out  that  Rhode 
Island  at  this  time  received  from  the  honu'  government  only  £7,800,  out  of  her 
share  of  the  funds,  amounting  to  £16,407;  and  that  a  tax  adequate  to  discharge 
the  obligations  at  this  time  "  would  have  amounted  to  nearly  £14  per  capita." 

2  Compare  Appendix  F. 

.'(    See  Records  of  the  Providence  County  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  I.  163. 

4    Records,  (Mss.)  of  K.  I.  Superior  Court,  I.  1. 

6    Ibid.,  I.  81. 

6  Governor  Hopkins,  no  doubt,  at  once  resigned  the  office  of  Chiefjustice, 
on  assuming  the  executive  chair;  for  Francis  Willet  was  elected  Chief-justice 
at  the  May  session  of  the  General  Assembly  in  1755.  ("Acts  and  resolves,"  May, 
1755,  p.  8).  But  owing  to  the  failure,  probably,  of  Mr.  Willet  to  qualify,  a  new 
election  took  place  at  the  August  session  of  the  General  Assembly  in  the  same 


A    CITIZEN    OF    PROVIDENCE.  151 

Hopkins  had  considerable  to  do  with  the  courts,  and 
with  hiwsiiits  ;  but  he  had  never  "  studied  law,"  in 
the  sense  in  which  this  language  is  used  of  an  edu- 
cated lawyer  of  our  day.  It  is  therefore  at  first 
sight  somewhat  singular  that  he  should  have  gradu- 
ally risen  to  the  highest  attainable  position  in  this 
as  well  as  in  each  one  of  the  other  lines  of  advance- 
ment open  to  him.  The  truth  is,  that  until  long 
after  this  date,  (to  quote  from  Chief-justice  Durfee), 
"the  regular  lawyers  were  few,  and  must  have  been 
imperfectly  trained  and  slenderly  equipped."  i  An 
elective  judiciary  was  the  established  practice  in  this 
colony ;  and  in  the  annual  choice  of  judges  the  pref- 
erences of  the  citizens  lighted  now  on  some  active 
farmer,  now  on   some  tradesman  who  had  risen  to 


year,  (1755),  at  which  the  Assembly  chose  "His  Honor  the  Governor  Chief- 
justice  of  the  Superior  Court  of  Judicature,"  etc.,  etc.  ("Acts  and  resolves," 
August,  1755,  p.  36;  see  also  p.  44).  Governor  Hopkins  served  under  this 
election  from  August,  1755,  to  May,  1756,  when  John  Gardner  was  elected 
his  successor.  ("Acts  and  resolves,"  May,  1750,  p.  7).  Thiscertainly  very  unusual 
occurrence  is  pronounced  by  Arnold  "a  union  of  the  highest  executive  and 
judicial  powers  in  the  colony,  as  rare  as  it  would,  at  this  day,  be  thought 
dangerous.  It  attests  the  confidence  of  tlie  people  in  his  integrity  and 
nncommon  mental  attainments."  (Arnold's  "  Rhode  Island,"  IT.  iy4). 
1    Durfee's  "  Gleanings  from  the  judicial  history  of  Rhode  Island,"  p.  66. 


152 


STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 


mercantile  prominence  in  the  Town  Street, — and  at 
rare  intervals,  on  some  thoroughly  equipped  lawyer, 
like  William  Ellery  or  David  Howell.  The  wonder 
is  that  these  annual  choices  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly resulted  so  well.  "For  the  ordinary  run  of 
judicial  business,"  Judge Durfee  remarks,  "honesty, 
good  sense,  diligence,  and  fair-mindedness,"  were 
"tolerable  substitutes  for  professional  learning."  ^ 
From  this  point  of  view,  Stephen  Hopkins  can  easily 
be  believed  to  be  a  satisfactory  public  officer. 
"  Though  not  a  lawyer,"  says  Judge  Durfee,  he  "  was 
doubtless  a  good  judge."-  Little  remains  to  throw 
light  on  the  cases^  which  came  up  before  him  for  deci- 
sion. The  one  best  known  is  the  curious  case  of  Maw- 
uey  vs.  Peirce,4  in  1752,  in  which  the  "omnipotent"^ 
General  Assembly  pronounced*'  upon  the  validity  of 
the  court's  rulings,  as  it  assumed  to  do  thirty-four 
years  later  in  the  case  of  Trevett  vs.  Weeden,^  and 

1  Durfee's  "  Gleanings  from  the  judicial  history  of  Khode  Island,"  p.  91. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  93. 

Z  For  the  case  of  Angell  vs.  Belknap,  sec  Appendix  F. 

•1  See  Records  (Mss.)  of  the  K.  I.  Superior  Court,  I.  86,  92,  9^100,  106. 

5  See  Arnold's  "  Rhode  Island,"  II.  520. 

6  K.  I.  Col.  Records,  V.  358-59. 

7  Arnold's  "  Rhode  Island,"  II.  526-28. 


A   CITIZEN    OF   PROVIDENCE.  153 

as  it  repeatedly  claimed  the  right  to  do  even  into 
the  present  century.^  It  was  during  Stephen  Hop- 
kins's first  chief-justiceship,  that  suitable  court 
houses^  were  provided  at  East  Greenwich  and 
Kingston,  for  the  accomodation  of  the  court. 3 

HIS    INFLUENCE. 

The  thirteen  years  daring  which  Stephen  Hopkins 
had  now  been  a  citizen  of  Providence,^  had  been 
years  of  the  closest  application  and  unremitting 
attention  to  public  business.     It  was  impossible  that 

1  Durfee's  "  Gleanings  from  the  judicial  liistory  of  Hhode  Island,"  p.  61-65. 

2  K.  I.  Col.  Records,  V.  349-50.     (Arnold's  "  Rhode  Island,"  II.  185). 

3  The  following  memorandum  shows  the  official  connection  of  Stephen 
Hopkins  with  Rhode  Island  courts  during  his  life.  »Justice  of  the  Inferior 
Court  of  Common  Pleas  for  Providence  County,  1736-40,  (Records,  C.  C.  P., 
I.  163,201,224,256,277,  303,  319,  341,  370,  384);  ^Clerk  of  the  same,  1741-44, 
(Records,  C.  C.  P.,  I.  433,  485,  529,  605;  II.  1,  31,  93,  169,  217) ;  'Clerk  of  the 
same,  1746,  (Records,  C.  C.  P.,  H.  363) ;  Assistant-justice  of  the  Superior 
Court  of  Judicature  of  Rliode  Island,  1747-49,  (Records,  R.  I.  Superior  Court, 
I.,  1,  22;  R.  I.  Manual  1882-83,  p.  134);  Chief-justice  of  the  same,  1751-55, 
(Rec'ordl,  R.  I.  Superior  Court,  1.81,  87,94,  101,  109,  116,  127,  137);  Chief- 
justice  of  the  same,  1755-56,  (Records,  R.  I.  Superior  Court,  I.  149,  163) ; 
Chief-justiceofthesame,  1770-70,  (Records,  R.  I.  Superior  Court,  II.  36,53, 
67,90,  125,  155,200,  205,  .323).  Metcalf  Bowler  does  not  appear  to  have  suc- 
ceeded him  until  March,  1776.  He  also  acted  as  justice  of  the  peace,  from  1736. 
(See  Appendix  F). 

4    For  his  later  connection  with  town  interests,  see  Chapters  IX,  XI. 


154  STEPHEN   HOPKINS. 

such  a  citizen  should  fail  to  make  his  personality, 
his  iuflueuce,  and  his  effprts  felt ;  and  as  a  conse- 
quence, neither  the  town  of  Providence  nor  the  col- 
ony of  Rhode  Island  was  the  same  community  at 
the  end  of  this  period  as  at  the  beginning.  The 
town  was  wealthier,  more  enterprising,  more  influ- 
ential ;  the  colony  was  more  united,  more  aggressive, 
more  disposed  to  defend  and  develop  its  commer- 
cial facilities.  The  new  issues  which  were  now 
forming,  and  which  are  to  be  considered  in  subse- 
quent chapters  grew  in  part  out  of  this  fact.  The 
growth  of  Providence,  at  first  unnoticed  and  dis- 
missed from  attention,  was  now  seen  to  be  giving 
Newport  a  rival  in  the  internal  control  of  the  colony  ; 
and  this  fact  soon  made  itself  manifest  in  Rhode  Is- 
land politics.!  The  commercial  growth  of  this, 
with  other  American  colonies,  likewise,  when  once 
recognized  by  the  home  government,  led  to  the 
more  literal  and  stringent  enforcement  of  those 
repressive  measures  which  precipitated  the  war, 
and  eventually  resulted  in  the  independence  of  the 
colonies.- 

1    See  Chapter  VII.  2    See  Chapter  VIII. 


I 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  STATESMANSHIP  OF  THE  ALBANY  CONGRESS. 

There  were  few,  doubtless,  among  the  industrious 
burghers  of  that  quaint  old  town  in  which  the  Al- 
bany congress  of  1754  held  its  three  weeks'  ses- 
sion,^  who  looked  upon  it  as  anything  but  one  more 
interview  with  the  Indian  chiefs  whose  favor 
it  was  constantly  necessary  to  secure.  Nor  was  it 
until  within  the  present  century  that  this  conference 
was  seen  to  have  been  a  most  important  step  in  the 
gradual  progress  towards  a  national  government  on 
this  continent. 

This  progress  was  anything  but  a  simple  and  un in- 
volved tendency.  There  are  four  political  ideas 
which  are  at  once  seen  to  underlie  the  successive 
movements  of  the  eighteenth  century  ; — Local  self- 
government  ;    Union  ;    Independence  ;    Nationality. 

1    It  assembled  June  19, 1754;  and  was  dissolved  July  11,  1754. 


156  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

Yet  any  attempt  to  treat  these  tendencies  otherwise 
than  as  interlacing  with  each  other ;  and  as  now 
coming  to  the  front  in  this  shape,  now  in  that,  is 
met  with  insurmountable  difficulties. 

The  tendency  to  local  self-government  was,  no 
doubt,  the  earliest  to  manifest  itself.  It  was  inherent 
in  the  very  charters  which  furnished  the  basis  of 
colonial  organization;  and  if  it  had  not  been,  it 
would  have  been  evolved  from  the  essential  spirit  of 
the  asserted  rights  of  the  colonists,  as  Englishmen. 
Independence,  however,  particularly  in  the  form 
into  which  the  idea  finally  developed,  was  not  in  the 
letter  of  the  colonial  charters  ;  nor  was  this  stage 
reached  until  after  a  century  and  a  half  of  political 
a""itation.  Long  before  this  was  attained,  the  idea 
of  union  had  become  one  of  the  most  familiar  and 
significant,  in  the  thought  and  discussion  of  the  col- 
onists- 
More  than  one  scheme  of  uuioni  is  to  be  found, 
from  which  the  veriest  suggestion  of  independence  is 
conspicuously  absent.      Yet  it  was   not   until   inde- 

1    For  a  reference  to  some  of  these  schemes,  see  Appendix  G. 


8TATESMAXSHIP    OF  THE    ALBANY    CONGRESS.     157 

pendence  had  boon  secured,  that  the  problem  of 
union  became  in  truth  a  vital  one  ;  and  a  most  per- 
plexing question  of  method  and  detail.  And  with 
this  last  stage  of  progress  came,  as  the  latest  and  the 
consummate  development  of  this  new  world  political 
growth,  the  nationality  of  the  American  people  ; — a 
nationality  in  which,  as  a  whole,  each  subordinate 
centre  of  local  self-government  finds  its  harmonious 
jidjustment. 

From  the  nature  of  the  case,  the  current  at  first 
set  most  strongly  away  from  the  centralizing  tenden- 
cies, and  in  the  direction  of  isolation,  and  the  most 
pronounced  self-government.  There  is  of  course  a 
difference  in  degree  to  be  noticed,  in  comparing  one 
colony  with  another  ;  yet  in  general  this  was  true  of 
all.  Nowhere,  however,  was  it  more  completely  the 
case  from  the  first ;  and  nowhere  did  the  tendency 
continue  longer,  than  in  Rhode  Island.  Self-govern- 
ment in  fact  could  safely  be  pronounced  the  essen- 
tial principle  in  its  p(^litical  theory  and  practice. 
When,  at  some  future  time,  the  Rhode  Island  town 
o-overnmants  of  the  seventeenth  century  shall  receive 


lo8  STEPHEN    HOPKINS, 

the  cotnpreheiisive  stud}'  which  so  fascinating  a  field 
invites,  it  will  he  found  that  they  were  scarcely  less 
than  little  "states,"  in  the  functions  which  they 
exercised  ;'  and  that  the  successive  steps  hy  which 
they  were  brought  to  unite  in  the  first  General  As- 
sembly in  1647,2  and  later  to  accept  the  more  rigid 
restraints  of  the  charter  of  l()i33,-'  ma}-  as  truly  be 
described  as  concessions  ''extorted  from  the  ffrind- 
ing  necessit}^  of  a  reluctant"  people, ^  as  in  the  case 
of  the  great  political  event^  of  which  these  words  of 
John  Quincy  Adams  were  written. 

The  appearance  and  re-appearance  of  this  early 
trait  has  already  been  noted  in  these  pages. ^  It  was 
manifested  in  the  long  neglect  of  communication  be- 
tween this  colony  and  its  neijilibors  ;  in  the  failure  to 
open  highways  into   the  adjoining  colonies;   in  the 

1  Some  of  tiicse  may  be  studied  (Vom  the  record  of  tlieir  proceedinjjs,  iu 
R.  I.  Col.  Records,  I.  1-HO. 

2  See  the  late  Judge  Stiiplos's  pampldet  ou  "  Tlie  proceedings  of  tlie  first 
General  Assembl),"  witli  notes  historical  and  explanatory.    1847. 

.•5    See  Arnold's  "  Rhode  Island,"  I.  2iSu. 

4  Address  of  John  Qiiincy  Adams,  on   "  Tlie  jubilee  of  the  constitution," 
1839,  p.  55. 

5  The  adoptiou  of  the  United  States  coustitution. 
«    See  pages  2.  110-12. 


STATESMANSHIP    OF    THE    ALBANY    CONGKESS.     159 

long  and  surprising  absence  of  commerce,  for  which 
this  Bay  was  so  perfectly  adapted  ;  in  the  bitterness 
with  which  the  early  generations  nursed  their  remem- 
brance of  w^rongs  and  injuries  received  from  Massa- 
chusetts and  Connecticut;  in  the  fact  that  "the  old 
townsmen,"  to  quote  from  Mr.  Dorr,  ''gave  no  cor- 
dial welcome  to  emigrants,  and  ottered  them  no  in- 
vitation by  the  establishment  of  schools,  or  other 
means  of  improvement."  i 

Yet  the  momentum  of  nature  was  too  strong  for 
the  permanent  continuance  of  even  these  deep-rooted 
tendencies  and  sentiments.  Even  before  Stephen 
Hopkins  entered  on  public  life,'-^  these  barriers  were 
beorinnino-  to  come  down.  Commercial  connections^ 
were,  of  course,  a  most  important  factor  in  this 
transformation.     The  natural  market  which  such  a 


1  Dorr's  "  Providence,"  p.  KiS. 

2  1731. 

3  The  position  of  this  port,  at  the  head  of  navigation,  with  a  productive 
outlying  neighborhood  depending  on  it  for  supplies,  not  only  in  Rhode  Island, 
but  outside  the  colony  limits,  lying  moreover,  in  the  direct  path  between  the 
two  constantly  growing  commercial  centres,  Boston  and  New  York,  on  the 
route  over  which  the  King's  post  was  obliged  fo  pass,  is  of  significance  in  this 
connection. 


160  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

town  as  Providence  afforded,  formed  cue  of  the  in- 
termediate steps  by  vvhicli  it  was  transformed  from 
an  isolated,  agricultural  community  to  a  trading 
town,  and  later  to  a  commercial  port  and  manufac- 
turing centre.  When  caro'oes  beo-an  to  be  inter- 
changed  with  distant  seaports  ;  when  outside  mer- 
chandise was  introduced, — outside  customs,  outside 
ideas,  and  outside  visitors, — there  came  also  per- 
manent settlers,  whose  fathers  and  grandfathers  were 
not  Rhode  Island  men,  but  whose  sons  and  grand- 
sons were  to  have  a  hand  in  modifying  some  of  the 
fundamental  ideas  of  the  Rhode  Ishmd  colony.^ 

There  can  bo  no  doubt,  also,  that  the  very  bound- 
ary disputes,"  whose  existence  and  successive  settle- 
ment would  a[)pear  to  have  constituted  an  almost 
ever-present  source  of  diiHculty,  had  no  unimportant 

1  A  comparison  of  the  names  most  largely  represented  in  the  directories  of 
Providence  and  Newport  of  to-day  or  of  those  connected  with  the  business  and 
society  of  both  those  cities,  with  the  early  records,  will  show  that  there 
are  many  such  "representative  names"  which  were  not  "  llliode  Island 
names  "  earlier  tliau  IHO,  and  which  are  borne  by  families  originally  identi- 
fied with  Windham  County,  Connecticut,  Worcester  County,  ^Massachusetts  , 
Norfolk  County,  Massaeiiusetts,  or  some  one  of  tlie  counties  of  the  "Old 
Colony." 

2  See  pages  ?!,  71-ra. 


STATf:SMANSHIP    OF    THK    ALBANY    CONGRESS.     101 

influence  in  nibbing  off  some  of  the  projecting  cor- 
ners of  Rhode  Island  individualism.  And  when  in 
1747  the  hist  important  one  was  settled,  and  the  five 
townsi  on  the  eastern  border  of  the  colony  were  defi- 
nitely added  to  its  territory,  there  was  then  intro- 
duced into  Rhode  Island  society,  and  into  its  politi- 
cal organization,  a  population  which  for  more  than  a 
century  had  been  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts and  Plymouth  governments, — identified 
with  the  interests,  the  history,  and  the  traditions  of 
Massachusetts.'^  This  new  element  has  not  failed  to 
contribute  its  share  of  noteworthy  and  influential 
characters  to  Rhode  Island  history,  both  in  that  cen- 
tury, and  in  our  own  time.^      It    is  sufficient  to  cite 

1  Cuniberlaiid,  Warren,  Bristol,  Tiverton,  iiiitl  Little  Coiiipton.  A  sixtli 
town,  Barriugton,  was  in  1770  formed  from  the  territory  of  Warren.  See  p.  144 . 

2  lu  fact,  the  union  of  the  characteristics  of  botli  colonies  in  these  border 
towns  seems  to  have  produced  a  somewhat  felicitous  result.  A  sentiment 
which  can  be  heartily  approved  is  that  of  Colonel  Thomas  Wentworth  Higgin- 
lon,  at  Bristol  in  1880.  ("Celebration  of  the  two-hundredth  anniversary  of 
Bristol,"  p.  75). 

3  For  instance,  the  late  Professor  Diman,  certainly  the  most  distinguished 
historical  scholar  that  the  state  has  produced;  the  late  Hon.  Thomas  A- 
Jenckes,  whose  name  is  associated  with  more  than  one  noteworthy  instance 
of  constructive  statesmanship;  and  the  late  Chief-justice  Durfee  of  the 
.Supreme  Court  of  Rhode  Island,  whose  son  now  occupies  the  same  position 
ou  the  bench. 


162  STEPHEN    HOPKIXS. 

William  Bradford, i  Benjamin  I^ourne,^  and  James 
Manning,*^  among  Stephen  Hopkins's  contemporaries. 
And  when  the  stress  of  British  hostilities,'*  of  paper- 
money  madness,'"'  and  of  opposition  to  the  constitu- 
tion,^ called  for  the  best  energies  and  the  I)est  intel- 
ligence of  Rhode  Island  men,  no  towns  were  more 
steadfast  in  the  defence  of  correct  principles  than 
were  these. 

1  He  was  boru  ut  I'lyrapton,  nyar  Plymouth,  was  a  descendant  iu  the  fifth 
generation  of  Governor  Bradford,  whose  name  he  bore,  and  became  a  resident 
of  Bristol  about  1758.  He  was  deputy  governor,  177.5-78,  and  P^nited  State.s 
Senator,  1703-07. 

2  He  was  a  native  of  Bristol,  a  graduate  from  Harvard  College  in  the  class 
of  1775;  served  in  one  of  the  Rhode  Island  regiments  during  the  war,  and  was 
elected  the  first  representative  in  congress  from  Rhode  Island,  1700.  His 
name  is  found  iu  the  "Acts  and  resolves,"  with  the  spelling,  "Bonrn,"  like 
that  of  the  present  governor  of  the  state.  (1883-84). 

3  He  was  a  native  of  New  Jersey,  and  a  Princeton  graduate,  but  a  resident 
of  Warren,  K.  I.,  from  1704  to  1770,  being  identified  with  Rhode  Island  College 
as  its  head,  from  the  very  first,  and  president  until  his  death  in  1791.  See  his 
"  Life,"  by  R.  A.  Guild. 

4  See  Cowell's  "  Spirit  of  '7(5  in  Rhode  Island."  One  of  the  most  distin- 
guished names  of  the  late  civil  war  also — that  of  the  late  Major  General  Burn- 
side,— belongs  to  one  of  these  towns  (Bristol),  as  that  of  an  adopted  citizen, 
though  not  as  a  native. 

5  A  record  of  the  votes  of  the  towns  on  these  two  important  questions 
shows  the  intelligent  position  generally  taken  by  these. five  towns.  See  Ar- 
nold's "Rhode  Island,"  II.  520;  Staples's  "Rhode  Island  in  the  Continental 
Congress,"  p.  580,  1)27;  3Iunro's  "  History  of  Bristol,"  p.  •245-4li. 


STATESMANSHIP    OF    THE    ALBANY    CONGRESS.     163 

Undoubtedly,  also,  the  gradual  establishment  in 
Newport  !Uid  Providence,  of  institutions  such  as  the 
printing  press;  tlie  post-office  ;^  the  custom-house,'^ 
and  the  insurance  agencies  ;^  gava  a  very  appreciable 
impetus  to  this  liberalizing  tendency.  Even  more 
is  to  be  said  for  the  lil)rarics#of  Newport  and  Prov- 
idence, which  at  once  laid  open  to  those  who  used 
them  a  world  of  thought  and  activity,  by  no  means 
circumscribed  by  the  narrow  limits  of  the  colony. 
And  the  successive  movements  towards  a  system  of 
public  education,-^  though  long-delayed,  may  be 
considered  to  have  broken  down  the   last  barrier  of 

is(jlation. 

Another  such  tendency  may  be  traced  to  what, 
like  the  boundary  disputes,  was  apparently  an  evil 
and  only  an  evil, — the  successive  wars  with  the 
European  enemies  of  Great  Britain.  These  rendered 
necessary  among  the  American  colonies  constant 
association  for  military  defence.  Indian  foes  there 
had  been,  from  the   beginning,   but  since    1689  the 

1  At  Providence  so  early  as  17o8.  2     At  Xcwporf,   lOSl. 

3  At  Providence  so  early  as  17o(;.    See  page  11~. 

4  Redwood  Library,  1~4~;  Providence  Library  so  early  as  i:.)4. 

5  From  17C7. 


164  STEPHEN    HOPKIxXS. 

ever-active  aggressions  of  the  French  on  this  conti- 
nent had  complicated  the  situation. 

The  English  colonics  were  a  mere  crust,  along  the 
Atlantic  coast,  under  the  constant,  steady  pressure 
of  these  allied  foes.  Yet  the  same  pressure  which 
crowded  them  thus  tH  the  seaboard  served  also  to 
crowd  them  into  closer  connection  with  each  other. 
So  early  as  1643,  four  New  England  colonies  were 
forced  to  take  united  action  for  protection  against 
their  foes  ;  and  the  "New  England  confederacy  "'  was 
formed.  King  Philip's  war  made  heavy  demands 
upon  their  energies,  and  it  was  ^vithin  the  limits  of 
Khode  Island,  itself  not  a  member  of  the  confederacy, 
that  the  decisive  campaign-  occurred.  In  1703  the 
assistance  of  this  colony  in  furnishing  troops  was 
asked  for  in  behalf  of  Massachusetts  and  New  York. 3 
The  war  of  1744-48  called  out  the  utmost  available 
force  of  all  the  New^  England  colonies,  and  Rhode 
Island  troops  bore  a  distinguished  part  in  the  Louis- 

1  Its  proceedings  are  comprised  in  Hazard's  "  Historical  collections,"  vol- 
ume 2. 

2  The  Narragansett  Swamp  fight,  Dec.  19, 1075.    Arnold's  "  Rhode  Island," 
I.  403-6. 

3  Arnold's  '•  Shode  Island,"  II.  13.    . 


STATESMANSHIP  OF  THE  ALBANY  CONGKESS.  165 

burg  campaign.^  The  "  Seven  years' war,""'  also, 
M'hich  was  one  of  the  episodes  of  Stephen  Hopkins's 
governorsiiip,  made  constant  demands  on  the 
resources  and  military  spirit  of  Rhode  IsUmders.  In 
Khode  Island,  moreover,  the  commercial  instinct  had 
now  become  so  fully  developed,  though  so  late  in 
manifesting  itself,  that  the  service  of  its  citizens  was 
quite  as  frequently  and  as  f()rcil)ly  rendered  on  the 
seas  as  on  the  land.^ 

From  1703  onward,  no  French,  nor  Spanish,  nor 
Indian  foe  longer  molested  the  colonies.  But  the 
colonists  had  formed  the  habit  of  acting  together. 
They  possessed  officers  and  men,  trained  in  the  act- 
ual experiences  of  war.  The  foundation  had  been 
laid,  unwittingly,  so  far  as   the   home   government 

1  Not  at  the  siege  itself,  but  as  a  most  "  valuable  reinforcement  in  preserv- 
ing the  conquest."     (Parsons's  "Sir  William  I'epperrell,"  p.  i;!5). 

2  Referred  to  in  many  colonial  records  as  "  The  Old  Frencli  war." 

3  For  the  achievements  of  the  privateer  Tartar,  see  Sheffield's  address  on 
"The  privateersmen  of  Newport,"  p.  1.V17.  "  While  Louisburg,"  he  says, 
"was  besieged  by  the  ships  of  Sir  Peter  Warren  in  front,  and  by  the  army  of 
Sir  William  Pepperrel  in  the  rear,"  nine  luuidred  French  and  Indians  under 
command  of  M.  Marin,  were  crossing  the  Bay  of  Fnndy  as  reinforcements,  and 
were  successfully  repulsed  by  the  Tartar.  "  This  expedition  "  of  the  Tartar, 
says  Sheffield,  "  probably  decided  tlie  fate  of  Louisburg."     (p.  1(5,  17). 


166  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

was  concerned,  which  was  to  serve  as  a  basis  for  the 
"continental"  army  of  1775,  under  the  command  of 
that  same  Colonel  Washington,  whose  military  ex- 
perience had  been  acquired  in  Braddock's  campaign, 
in  1755  ;  in  the  support  of  which,  moreover,  Stephen 
Hopkins  was  to  tind  pre-eminently  serviceable  that 
familiarity  with  military  organization  which  the 
duties  of  his  administration'  had  rendered  necessary 
during  the  "Seven  years'  war." 

But  military  experience  was  not  the  only  thing 
for  which  the  colonists  were  indebted  to  the  danger 
from  French  aggressions.  To  this  same  source  they 
owed  the  institution  known  as  the  "  congress  of  dele- 
gates." This  political  agency,  regarded  by  the  home 
government  with  complacency  and  even  approval, 
so  long  as  it  served  merely  for  local  military  defence, 
became  at  last  the  medium  throiio-h  which  were 
reached  successively,  remonstrance  against  measures 
touching  political  rights,  determined  resistance  to 
those  measures,  and  finally,   political   independence. 

The  New  England  confederacy  of  1643  to  1686, 
as    has    been    already    indicated, ^    did    not    include 

1     See  Chapiers  VII.,  X.,  XI.  2    See  p.  C. 


STATESMANSHIP  OF    THE    ALBANY    CONGRESS.     167 

Rhode  TsUind.  An  ill-considered  letter  of  William 
Coddington,  applying  for  admission  in  1648, ^  bronght 
onl}^  a  refusal  from  the  commissioners.  Whatever 
sentiment  of  union  might  have  been  developing  in 
Rhode  Island,  either  at  Newport  or  Providence,  was 
very  effectually  extinguished  by  this  action.  Yet 
the  existence  of  this  confederacy  for  forty  years  was 
a  most  important  and  significant  fact  in  American 
political  development;  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  it 
prepared  the  way^  for  that  intensity  of  sentiment  in 
favor  of  colonial  union  and  co-operation  which,  in 
the  next  century,  was  strong  enough  to  sweep  Rhode 
Island  along  also. 

Rhode  Island  was  not,  however,  represented  in 
the  earliest  of  the  nine  congresses^  which  preceded 
that  of  1754.  In  some  instances,  no  doubt,  she  was 
not  invited.^     In  others,  the  importance  of  the  prin- 

1  Printed  in  Uazard's  "  Historical  collections,"  II.  99-100. 

2  See  Frotliiugham's  "  Rise  of  the  republic,"  p.  72. 

3  lOS-1,  lOO.'?,  1001,  1709,  1711,  1722, 1741,  1748,  1751.  See  Frothingham's  "Rise 
of  the  republic,"  p.  118-20.  There  were  also  "interviews  of  governors,"  of 
less  importance  than  these,  as  for  instance  in  1740  and  1747. 

4  The  invitation  was  certainly  received  in  1746  and  1747.  (R.  I.  Col.  Rec- 
ordi,  v.  157,  108-69,219}. 


168  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

eiple  had  not  impressed  itself  on  the  minds  of  her 
public  men.  Indeed  it  was  not  until  Stephen  Hop- 
kins's influence  had  already  become  a  power  in  the 
colony  that  Rhode  Island  delegates  were  chosen,  in 
1740,  ]754,  1755,  1757,  and  1758.i  No  reported 
utterance  of  his,  earlier  than  the  year  1755, 2  in  re- 
lation to  this  system  of  congresses,  remains.  The 
probability,  however,  that  the  representation  of 
Rhode  Island  in  the  first  four  of  these  is  to  be  con- 
nected with  his  active  influence,  is  strengthened  not 
only  by  the  lact  that  in  each  of  these  instances  the 
General  Assembly  chose  him  as  one  of  the  dele- 
gates -f^ — but  also  l)y  the  f:ict  that  both  by  correspond- 
ence and  l)y  personal  intercourse  lie  had  by  this 
time  laid  the  foundations  of  that  wide  acquaintance 
in  all  the  colonies  which  subse(juently  served  him  so 

1  H.  I.  Col.  Keconls,  V.  108-70,  :?S4-S<J,  MV-i-::,;  VI.  10-11,  13,  117-19; 
GammeH's  "  Suiimel  Ward,''  p.  2.51-54.  Tlie  delegates  were,  in  1746,  Stephen 
Hopkins  aiiiM^'illiaui  iCUeiy:  in  17o4,  Stephen  Hopkins  and  Martin  Howard, 
Jr.;  in  17,55,  Stephen  Hopkins  and  Daniel  Updike;  in  1757,  Stephen  Hopkins, 
.fames  Honynian,  and  George  Brown:  in  17,")S,  William  Greene,  .John 
Andrews,  and  Sanuiel  Ward. 

2  His  pamphlet,  "  A  true  representation  of  tlie  plan  Ibrmed  at  Albany  for 
uniting  all  the  British  nortiii>ru  colonies."    Providence,  17.)5. 

3  See  note  4. 


STATESMANSHir    OF    THE    ALBANY    CONGRESS.    169 

well  as  M  member  of  the  committee  of  correspond- 
ence.^ He  was  therefore,  even  at  this  time,  a  man 
of  wider  ontlook  ami  less  provincial  spirit  than  the 
o-reat  body  of  his  associates. 

An  examination  of  the  specified  purposes  for  which 
these  successive  congresses  were  called^  shows  that 
in  only  one  instance, — that  of  1754, — was  a  plan  of 
union  mentioned  or  hinted  at.  In  all  the  other 
cases,  the  simple  fact  of  danger  from  French  or 
Indian  hostilities  is  cited  as  the  occasion  of  conven- 
ing- the  deleofates.  That  element,  in  fact,  character- 
ized  the  congress  of  1754,  in  common  with  the 
others.  The  last  preceding  congresses,  (those  of 
1748  and  1751),  had  found  the  threatened  defection 
of  the  Six  Nations  to  be  a  cause  for  serious  appre- 
hension.^ That  also  was  a  no  less  distinct  cause  of 
solicitude  in   the   debates   of  the  All)any  congress." 

1    See  Chapter  VIII. 

•i    A  summarized  record   of  their  proceedings   is   given   in    Frotiiingham's 
"  Rise  of  the  republic,"  p.  118-20. 

3  See  Frothingham's  "Rise  of  the  republic,"  p.  110-20. 

4  It  probably  was  more  or  less  in  view  tliroughout  all  the  discussion.     See 
the  official  record  of  the  projoelings  of  the  convention.      There  is  an  original 

15 


170  <TKPHKN    HOPKINS. 

But  SO  early  as  the  previous  August,  the  Earl  of 
HolJernesse'  had  written- to  Governor  Greene,  indi- 
cating with  somewhat  unwonted  liberality  a  system 
of  co-operation  among  the  colonies  :  and  this  was 
followed  by  a  letter^  from  another  of  His  Majesty's 
secretaries."  which,  althouofh  it  failed  to  arrive  until 
after  the  congress,^  is  significant  as  showing  that  the 
home  sovernment  had  iirst  tiien. — (U- thouirht  it  had, 
— the  idea  uf  co-operation  on  its  mind.  And  while 
these  expressions  of  their  wishes  were  chiefly  in  the 


ctr:;:;-c  Ci:'  .:  t^ij  :^<:c-':  in  mauu^crij:,  in  the  oSct  of  the  Secretary-  of 
State  of  Ehoce  I-lanii.  It  i-  dedared  to  be  "A  true  copy.  Examined  by  me, 
Peter  Wraxall." 

1    One  of  the  Secretaries  of  State  for  tlie  cc>loniei. 

■2    Printed  in  E.  I.  Col.  Records,  V.  3y:. 

3    Printed  in  E.  I.  Col.  Record-^,  V.  :^>r-3S. 

i  Froia  Sir  Thosaas  Robinson.  It  vras  this  same  Sir  Thomas  Eobinson 
who,  thirteen  years  before,  had  been  pis«^i  in  a  most  embarrassing  situation 
at  Strthleii  in  I'russia,  at  an  audience  granted  him  by  Frederick  the  Great,  as 
the  diplomatic  representative  of  Euglai.d.  The  interview  is  picturesquely  and 
dramatically  dcscribe«l  by  the  latest  historian  of  Frederick  and  JIaria  Theresa, 
the  Due  de  Broglie.  "  It  was  the  evil  chance,"  he  says,  •'  of  the  unlatky 
diplomatist,  to  find  himself  between  two  imperious  natures."  '•'  Fi-ederick  II. 
aid  iiaria  Theresa,"  ch.  4,. 

5  It  was  written  during  the  sesnon  of  the  congress.  .July  o,  1754.  ;R.  I. 
Col.  Reco-'ls,  V.  .3S7-96; . 


STATESMANSHIP    OF    THK    ALBANY    CONGRESS.    171 

form  of  51  "circLihir  letter,"  1  forwarded  to  all  the 
colonial  governors  at  the  sa\ne  time,  the  Lords  of 
tnide,-2  ill  letters  to  those  more  immediately  in  their 
confidence, 3  named  more  specifically  as  one  of  the 
objects  of  the  ct)ngress,  "  to  enter  into  articles  of 
union  and  confederation  with  each  other.""'  Nor 
should  it  be  overlooked,  moreover,  that  the  congress 
itself  was  to  be  a  body  of  delegates,  chosen  by  the 
respective  colonial  legislatures,  on  the  basis  of 
representation.' 

Here,  certainly,  was  a  plan  marked  out,  which 
must  have  appeared  an  intinitely  suggestive  one  to 
any  American  who  had  looked  far  enough  into  the 
future  to  forecast  and  calculate  the  American  devel- 
opment which  was  possil>le.  One  such  American 
there  was,  at  least  :  and  he  had  been  elected  a  mem- 

1  As  appears  bv  the  Earl  of  Holderne*>es  sratement.     ;K.  I-  Col.  Records. 

V.  397). 

2  The  fail  title  of  thi^  body  WA<  "Tae  Righ:  Hoaorabie  the  Lords  of  the 

committee  of  trade  and  plantations." 

3  Lieateaant  -governor  DeLancey.  of  New  York,  vras  in  more  d-irect  com- 
municatioa  with  the  hoTie  gorernm9a:  thia  the  other  colonial  officials.  He 
also  took  occasion  to  stir  up  the  other  colonies.  See  his  letters  of  March  19 . 
and  April  22,  1751.  in  R.  I.  Col.  Records,  V.  3S5-86,  3SS-64. 

5    gee  Frothingham?  '■  Rise  of  the  republic,"'  p.  152- 


172  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

her  of  this  congress.  Beiijanriii  Franklin  had  come 
to  Alhany^  with  a  specific  phm  in  his  pocket,  for 
secnring  the  "  union  and  confederation  "  thns  hinted 
at.  This  was  an  idea  which  had  hiin  developing  in 
his  mind  for  months,-  oratherino-  siiojgestiveness  and 
clearness  ;  and  the  appearance  of  it  in  the  semi-official 
recommendation  of  the  home  government  must  have 
almost  startled  him  with  its  appositeness  to  his  own 
thoughts.  He  had  advocated  it,  both  by  direct 
argument  and  by  indirect  implication,  in  his  news- 
paper at  Philadelphia,"^  and  had  freely  talked  of  de- 
tails (jf  the  plan  to  his  friends  at  New  York,**  on  his 
way  to  the  congress. 

1  He  was  one  of  the  delegates  from  Pennsylvania. 

2  "There  are  evidences,"  says  Sparks,  "that  Franklin's  thoughts  had 
been  for  some  time  turned  to  a  union  of  the  colonies."  (Note  in  Franklin's 
"  Works,"  III.  25).  Mr.  Bancroft  prints,  ("  History  of  the  United  States,"  I V- 
91-92,  ed.  of  1^52),  an  anonymous  letter,  which  he  believes  to  have  been  Frank- 
lin's, advocating  "  a  voluntary  union,  entered  into  by  the  colonies  themselves," 

(Letter  of  March,  1752). 

3  The  Pennxylvaiihi  Gazette.  It  was  in  this  paper  that  he  had  published  only 
a  month  earlier,  (May  '.»,  1754),  the  article  in  wliieh  he  introduced  the  wood- 
cut "Join  or  die,"  (tlie  tigure  of  a  snake,  cut  into  thirteen  pieces),  which  be- 
came a  very  eftective  device,  ten  years  later.  This  same  article  forcibly 
pointed  out  "  the  very  great  advantage  of  being  under  one  direction,  with  one 
council,  and  one  purse." 

4  Lieutenant-governor  Colden;   Archibald  Kennedy,  who  in  a  pamphlet. 


STATESMANSHIP  OF  THE  ALBANY  CONGRESS.  173 

When  the  nicnibers  assembled  at  the  Court  House 
in  Albany  on  the  U)th  of  June,'  it  was  found  that 
Penns\'lvania  was  not  alone  in  appointing  a  dis- 
tinguished citizen  to  represent  her.  On  the  roll 
of  the  eongress  were  the  names  of  Lieutenant- 
governor  De  Laneey,^  of  New  York,  who  presided  ; 
and  from  the  same  province  William  Smith,  the  his- 
torian,^ and  the  future  Sir  William  Johnson,^  not 
yet  made  a  baronet.  From  the  proprietary  provinces 
of  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland  were  the  well  known 
officials,  John  Penii,  grandson  of  the  founder  ;^  Rich- 

published  in  ir.Vi,  had  proposed  a  sclieiiu'  of  iiniou,  (Frothiugliani's  "  Rise  of 
the  republic,"  p.  116) ;  and  Mr.  James  Alexander.  (Bigelow's  "Benjamin 
P'ranklin,"  I.  o03).  See  also  Sparks's  "  Works  of  Beiyainin  Franklin,"  (III. 
27-32),  lor  some  of  their  suggestions. 

1  The  congress  was  called  for  Die  14th  of  .lime  iLetter  of  UeLaucey,  in 
K.  I.  Col.  Records,  V.  .386),  but  it  did  not  convene  until  the  l'.)th. 

2  See  Sabine's  "American  loyalists,"  (Ed.  of  18(54),  I.  3()~-70. 

3  His  account  of  the  congress  is  in  his  "  History  of  the  late  province  of 
New  York,"  [1608-1762],  II.  219-25.  Besides  Stephen  Hopkins  (and  Franklin 
in  his  "Autobiography"),  Hutchinson  is  the  only  other  member  of  the  con- 
gress who  has  left  in  print  any  account  of  its  proceedings.  (See  Hutchinson's 
"  Massachusetts  Bay,"  III.  19-23).    Hopkins's  account  is  much  the  fullest, 

4  See  the  "  Life  of  Sir  William  .lohnson,"  by  W.  L.  Stone.    (Albany,  1865)  . 

5  He  became  governor  of  Pennsylvania  in  1763.  See  Sabine's  "American 
loyalists,"  II.  150-64. 


174  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

arc!  Peters  ;i  and  Benjamin  Tasker.2  From  the 
province  of  New  Hampshire  were  her  fntnre  gov- 
ernor, Meshech  Weare,^  and  Theodore  Atkinson  ;"* 
and  from  the  province  of  Massachusetts  Bay ,  the 
late  Lieutenant-governor,  Thomas  Hutchinson, 
Colonel  John  Chandler,  of  Worcester, 5  and  Oliver 
Partrido-e,*^  a  man  of  commandino;  influence  in  west- 
ern  Massachusetts."  Lastly,  the  two  colonies'^  which 
had  so  tenaciously  preserved  their  charter  govern- 
ments through  the  vicissitudes  of  more  than  a  cen- 
tury,— Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island, — had  acceded 
to  the  repeated  solicitations  of  the  home  govern- 
ment,^   and  with   unfeigned   reluctance,  we  may  he 

1  Secretary  of  state  of  Pennsylvania. 

2  Of  JIarylanel.  He  Iiad,  says  Frothinsliam,  "a  high  legal  reputation." 
("  Rise  of  the  republic,",  p.  1.3S). 

3  1776-84.  4    At  that  time  Chief-justice. 

5  The  second  of  three  judges  of  the  name,  in  three  successive  generations. 
He  was  judge  of  the  Worcester  County  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  1754-(V-',  and 
served  as  "  special  justice  of  the  Massachusetts  Superior  Court  of  Judicature," 
1756.     (Whitmore's  "  Massachusetts  civil  list,"  p.  118,  73). 

Ci    He  was  also  a  member  of  the  stamp-act  congress  of  ]7rp5. 

7  For  the  complete  list  of  delegates,  sec  Appendix  H. 

8  Tile  only  two.  No  other  colony  had  been  in  possession  of  a  charter  since 
1684;  although  two,  (Pennsylvania  and  Georgia),  were  governed  as  provinces 
under  charters,  with  very  restricted  powers. 

9  For  something  bordering  on  a  threat,  see  a  letter  of  Governor  Shirley  in 
1747,  (printed  in  E.  I.  Col.  Records,  V.  235). 


STATESMANSHIP  OF  THK  ALBANY  CONGRESS.  175 

sure,  li;i(l  sent   iis    represciitutives  men  of  such  wide 
experieuce  in  their  colonial  concerns,  as  Roger  VVol- 
cott,  Jr.,'  and  Stephen  Hoi)kins.      "  America,"  says 
Mr.  Bancroft, -2  "had  never  seen  an  assembly  so  vener- 
able tor  thi!  slates  that  were   represented,  or   for  the 
o-reat  and   able  men  who  composed  it."      They  were 
detained  in  this  hospital)le  old  Dutch  town  for  more 
than  three   weeks,  and  it  is  l)y  no    means  to  be    sup- 
posed that  the  seventeen  stated  sessions  of  the   con- 
gress embodied  all  the  discussion  which  the  occasion 
called    forth.      There    wei'e,    no    doubt,    amidst   the 
social  tea-drinkings,  or  the   frequent  tete-a-tetes  of 
these    members   from  distant   colonies,    much   quiet 
discussion,  much  earnest  argument,  much  determined 
canvassing  of  the  methods  and  details  of  the  plans  of 
union.     For  it  was  found  that  Franklin  was  not  the 

1  Ue  was  at  this  time  a  justice  of  tlie  Superior  Court.  It  will  be  reniein- 
bored  that  he  had  been  associated  with  Stephen  Hopkins  in  the  correction  of 
tlie  Woodw.ird  and  Saffery  boundary  line,  two  years  before,  (see  page  145) . 
His  father  was  a  distinguished  general  in  the  Louisbtirg  campaign,  (see  a  let- 
ter from  him  in  R.  I.  Col.  Records,  V.  155).  His  brother,  Oliver  Wolcott,  was 
a  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  his  no  less  distinguished 
nephew,  Oliver  Wolcott,  Jr.,  was  Secretary  of  the  U.  S.  Treasury,  1795-1801. 

2  "History  of  the  United  States,"  IV.  121-22.  See  also  Hutchinson's 
'•  Massachusetts  Bay,"  (III.  20),  which  pronounces  it  "  an  assembly  the  most 
deserving  of  respect  of  any  which  had  been  convened  in  America." 


176  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

only  member  who  had  <i  phiu  to  offer, ^  and  it  was 
the  superior  merit  of  his  which  caused  it  to  be  accept- 
ed by  the  vote  of  the  congress.  That  there  was  a 
strong:  sentiment  existiniT  amons:  some  of  the  mem- 
bers  against  the  supposed  tendency  of  such  a  plan 
was  soon  found  to  be  the  case ;  and  as  will  he 
seen  on  reflection  to  be  natural,  this  sentiment  was 
most  mjirked  in  the  case  of  such  colonies  as  had 
charter  governments. 

To  understand  the  position  of  Rhode  Island,  for 
instance,  as  related  to  this  movement  in  the  direc- 
tion of  union,  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  remember 
that,  side  by  side  with  this,  another  tendency  had 
been  developing  itself,  which  was  destined  in  the 
years  from  1764  to  1774  to  be  the  grievance  ui)per- 
most  in  the  minds  of  the  colonists.  This  Avas  the 
start  which  the  home  government  was  now  taking, 
in  enforcing  the  most  objectionable  of  the  commer- 
cial regulations.'^  In  fact  this  had  already  begun. 
The   strictly  commercial  colonies  like  Rhode    Island 

1  "It  then  appeared,"  says  Franklin,  "that  several  of  the  commissioners 
had  form'd  plans  of  the  same  kind."    (Bigelow's  "  Franklin,"  I.  30s). 

2  See  Chapter  VIIT. 


STATESJIANSHIP    OF    TIIK    ALBANY    CO^JgKKSS.     177 

were  of  course  the  tirst  to  feel  the  effects  of  it,  uiul 
to  realize  how  it  was  destined  to  modify  and  perhaps 
undermine  the  status  of  their  charter  governments. 
Any  one  who  will  look  through  the  correspondence 
which  since  1748  had  passed  between  Governor 
Greene  of  Rhode  Island  and  the  home  government, i 
will  not  have  much  difficulty  in  seeing  that  with  each 
new  proposition  and  suggestion  from  that  quarter, 
he  and  those  who  from  their  official  and  social  con- 
nection with  him  through  many  years,  hatl  come  to 
think  as  he  did,  must  have  become  more  and  more 
thoroughly  alarmed  and  distrustful.  It  is  easy  now 
to  say  that  a  critical  examination  of  the  plan  of  union 
upon  which  the  Albmy  congress  reported  favorably, 
reveals  nothing  which  can  be  construed  as  impairing 
the  colonial  charters.-  While  that  is  perfectly  true, 
it  is  also  certain  that  their  minds  were  in  no  condition 

1  i;.  I.  Col.  Uecords,  V.  257-5'.),  27S-7i>,  ol3-lli,  350-50,  359-00,  390-98.  (lu 
some  instances.  Governor  (ireene's  letters  are  to  the  colony's  age)it  in  London 
requesting  him  to  act  for  the  colony). 

2  "  I^ach  colony,"  the  "  plan  "  distinctly  stated,  was  to  "  retain  its  present 
constitution,  except  in  the  particulars"  thereafter  named.  It  is  evident  that 
the  people  in  each  colony  would  have  precisely  as  important  rights  under  this 
plan  as  formerly. 


178  STEPHEN   HOPKINS. 

tor  a  critical  oxaiiiination.  It  was  their  misfortune 
that  they  wore  unable  to  look  at  the  subject  with 
that  breadth  of  vision  which  took  in  all  its  bearings. 
Indeed  there  was  now  transferred^  to  this  ominously 
regarded  idea  of  "union,"  ail  that  bitterly  narrow 
spirit  in  the  colony  which  up  to  this  time  had  ex- 
pended itself  upon  the  attempts  to  introduce  com- 
munication with  the  neighborins:  colonies  for  trade 
and  commerce.  The  war  for  independence,  while  it 
smothered  this  feeling,  did  not  extinguish  it,  and  it 
is  the  self-same  spirit  which  llamed  up  in  a  final,  yet 
intensely  fierce  blaze,  thirty-five  years  later,  on  the 
question  of  adopting  the  United  States  constitution.'^ 
In  Connecticut  there  was  in  1754  a  similar  jealousys 
of  an}^   movement    affecting  the   charter   (though  it 

1  Compare  Arnokl's  "  Rhode  Island,"  II.  H»l. 

2  See  Staples's  "  Rhode  Ishmd  iu  tlie  Continental  Congress." 

3  "  The  conunissioners  ti-om  Connecticut,"  says  Trumbull,  "  were  wlioUy 
opposed  to  the  plan.  Tliey  imagined  that  it  was  dangerous  to  the  liberties  of 
the  cplonies."  (Trnmbnll's  "  Uistory  of'Connecticut,"  II.  .355).  See  also  the 
statement  of  "  Kei^ous  "  published  by  the  General  Assembly  of  Connecticut; 
(reprinted  in  IMass.  Hist.  Soc.  Collections,  1st  series,  VII.  210-14).  The  Con- 
necticut members,  he.-ides  Wolcott,  Avere  EHsha  Williams,  rector  of  Yale 
College,  ir2f.-.':!t,  and  ^^'illiam  I'itkin,  at  this  time   Cliirfjustire  of  the  colony. 


STATESMANSHll'    OF    THE    ALBANY    CONGUKSS.     17i) 

subsided'  many  years  earlier  than  in  Rhode  Ishind)  ; 
and  it  is  not  improbable  that  the  three  delegates 
from  that  colony  based  their  opposition  to  the  plan 
chiefly  on  this  ground. ^  That  the  ground  taken  by 
Stephen  Hopkins,  though  a  Rhode  Island  delegate, 
was  diametrically  opposite  to  this,  will  shortly  be 
apparent.  3 

But  this  was  not  the  only  element  of  opposition 
represented  in  the  congress.  There  were  men  in 
every  colony  who  had  watched  with  an  interest  and 
earnestness  equal  to  that  of  the  colonial  leaders 
above  referred  to,  the  widening  breach  between  the 
colonists  and  the  home  government  on  the  question 
of  charter  rights ;  and  their  convictions  in  many 
cases,  their  interests  in  others,  and  later  their  active 
co-operation,  were  with  the  government.     Such  an 

1  Conuocticut  was  one  of  tlie  earliest  states  in  support  of  the  new  constitu- 
tion; ratifying  it  in  January,  1788,  in  less  than  four  months  after  the  adjourn- 
ment of  the  couveution. 

2  It  was  certainly  a  not  unnatural  ground  to  take,  when  it  is  remembered 
that  (as  Franklin  stated  in  a  letter  to  Governor  Shirley),  "the  powers  pro- 
posed by  the  Albany  plaa  of  union  *  *  *  are  not  as  great  as  those  which  the 
colonies  of  Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut  are  intrusted  with  by  their  charters." 
(Franklin's  "  Works,"  III.  61). 

3  See  pages  183-01,  19i-9{j. 


180  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

one  was  Thomas  Hutchinson  of  Massachusetts,  the 
judicial  temper  of  whose  iiivalual)le  history  has  hiid 
all  succeeding  historical  scholars  under  deep  obliga- 
tion to  him  ;^  such  was  also  De  Lancey-  of  New 
York,  who  presided  at  this  "congress."  Their  con- 
scientious opposition  as  "  loyalists,"^  or  "  tories,"  to 
the  measures  of  the  colonists  ten  years  later,  does 
not  greatly  diminish  the  respect  felt  for  them.  They 
acted  from  their  convictions.      The  utmost  desire  to 

1  "  To  the  stiuleiit,"'  says  Mr.  Cliark-s  Deane,  "  who  seeks  for  the  sources 
of  our  history,  his  work  will  always  be  iiiilispensable.''  {Historical  Magazine. 
I.  102). 

2  See  Sabine's  "American  loyalists."  p.  240-52.  A  letter  from  .John  Jay, 
Jan.  2,  irrs,  printeil  in  Sabine.  I.  3511,  shows  that  I)e  Lancey  retainer!  liis 
warm  friendsliiij. 

'.i  It  is  interesting  to  notice  that,  out  of  the  twenty-five  members  of  the 
congress,  about  one  fourth  became  loyalists.  (See  Saljine's  "American  loyal  - 
ists;"  articles,  l)e  Lancey,  Uoward,  Hutchinson,  .Johnson,  Penn,  and  .'^mith.) 
It  does  not  appear  that  all  took  the  same  view  of  it.  Hutchinson  and  Smith, 
as  appears  from  their  Histories,  warmly  supported  it.  The  truth  is,  that  the 
question  of  executive  authority,  coming  thus  early  in  the  development  of  the 
American  progress  towards  nationality,  was  one  which  could  not  fail  to  be  an 
embarrassing  element.  It  was  this  which,  from  its  making  the  president  sub- 
ject to  appointment  by  the  crown,  was  apparently  the  strongest  recommenda- 
tion of  the  plan  in  the  eyes  of  the  loyalists;  it  was  this  which  for  the  same 
reason  was  its  strongest  condemnation  in  the  eyes  of  the  defenders  of  the 
colonial  charters ;  and  it  was  this  which  the  statesmanlike  forecast  of  such 
men  as  Franklin  and  Hopkins  accepted  under  protest,  knowing  that  it  must 
be  superseded  with  the  growth  of  public  sentiment. 


STATKSMANSHIP    OF    THE    ALBANY    CONGRESS.     181 

clo  full  justice  to  the  toiy  delegate  from  Rhode  Isl- 
and, (Howard),  who  acted  with  them,  does  not 
authorize  the  use  of  the  same  language  in  his  case. 
Neither  by  patriot  nor  by  Io3^alist,i  in  the  authentic 
testimony  of  his  own  time,  is  any  such  flattering 
testimony  bestowed.  He  was,  however,  a  man  of 
more  than  averao-e  ability,  and  his  influence,  if  not 
counteracted,  would  have  been  a  very  marked  hind- 
rance to  the  colonists. 

Frasdilin's  own  plan,  fully  outlined  in  his  papers 
collected  by  Mr.  Sparks, ^  is  worthy  of  the  most  care- 
ful study,  especially  i:i  comparison  with  that  actually 
adopted, 3  as  shown  in  the  official  record  of  the  con- 
gress. The  difference,  and  it  is  an  essential  dilTer- 
ence,  is  that  Fraidvlin's  original  and  decided  prefer- 

1  "  His  reputation,"  says  Sablue,  "  does  uot  appear  to  liave  been  good;  nor 
does  it  seem  that  tlie  calm  and  moderate  respected  liim."  "  Careful  pens,"  he 
adds,  "speak  of  his  profligate  character,  and  of  his  corrupt  and  wicked 
designs."  (Sabine's  "Anieiican  loyalists,"  p.  3G'J)-  A  remark  of  his,  some 
years  after,  (quoted  in  Updike's  "  Xarragausett  Church,"  p.  2:21),  shows  that 
he  took  a  somewhat  mercenary  view  of  his  enforced  removal  from  this  colony. 

2  Franklin's  "  Works,"  III.  26-27. 

3  This  also  is  printed  in  Franklin's  "  Works,"  HI.  30-55;  also  in  R.  I.  His- 
torical Tract,  No.  •.).  (".V  true  representation  of  the  plan  formed  at  Albany," 
by  Stephen  Hopkins,  edited  by  S.  S.  Rider),  p.  .Ti-Sy. 

1(J 


182  STEPIIKN    HOPKINS. 

ence  was  for  an  executive  officer  who  would  possess 
actual  executive  powers. i  The  congress  in  seveial 
instances  curtailed  and  hedged  in  this  power. 

As  was  natural,  the  deep-seated  measures  of 
Franklin  ni(^t  with  warm  opposition  ; — "almost  every 
article,"  as  he  states,  "  being  contested  by  one  or 
another."-  Hut  the  result  of  the  fortnii^ht's  del)ate 
was,  that  after  Ix'ing  moditied  in  some  im})ortant 
jiartictilars,  his  i)laii  was  "agreed  to "  ■'  b}-  the 
delegates,  as  expressing  their  views  ;  and  it  was 
resolved  that  the  commissioners  from  the  several 
ofovernments  be  desii'ed  to  lav  tiie  same  before  their 
respective  constituents,  for  tiieir  consideration  f'-i  and 
this  is  ;dl  that  the  congress  Avas  in  reality  authorized 

1     Coiiiimi'i-    tlic  i)i-()visi(i)is  of  the  1st  section,  in  c'lcli  instance. 

■2     Letter   ot  .Inly  21,  1754.       (Citert  by  Hanoroft ;    "  Inited  States,"  IV.  IvU). 

.'(  'I'liis  hin.i;Map;e  is  that  of  the  oHicial  "  lleconl  of  jiroceedings,"  July  St, 
1754.  n  seems  that  tlieie  was  a  very  vigorons  opposition,  i)aiticularly  on  the 
part  of  the  Connecticnt  ilelejrates.  Hntoliinson's  stati'nient,  therefore,  ("  His- 
tory of  the  piovince  of  Jlassachnsetts  l!ay,"  III.  'S.\),  that  it  was  "unani- 
mously voted,"  cannot  be  correct.  The  error,  jierhaps,  arose  from  con- 
foundinji  this  vote  with  iliat  passed  earlier  in  the  sessions  of  the  con^jress, 
(Jnne  24,  1754),  when  tlie  commissioncr.s  did  vote  "unanimously"  that  "a 
nnion  "  is  "at  present  absolutely  necessary."  .\s  to  tile  specilic  method, 
there  was  not  unanimity. 

4     Hecord  of  pi'ocee{lini;s.  .?ulv  10,  17o4. 


o 


STATESMANSHIP  OF    THE    ALBANY    CONGUESS.     183 

to  do.i  Fnuiklin'o  per^iuisive  powers  and  unrivallccl 
tact  had  in  this  instance  achieved  a  striking  success  ; 
but  it  is  to  bo  feared  that  some  of  the  delegates,— to 
judge  from  their  attitude  after  they  returned  home,— 
were  but  "convinced  against  their  will,"  and  could 
never  be  depended  on  to  support  the  plan.  It  one 
<>-ljinces  over  the  roll  of  the  delegates,^  it  will  be 
difficult  to  find  many  names  of  those  who  could  have 
had  very  hearty  sympathy  with  it,  from  the  consid- 
erations already  uoted.  In  fact,  there  is  only  one 
member  of  the  congress  who  appears  to  have  had 
the  same  power  of  political  prescience  as  Franklin  in 
this  matter.     That  member  is  Stephen  Hopkins. 

It  has  been  more  than  once  remarked  that  these 
two  New-Englanders  had  many  characteristics  in 
common.  They  were  almost  exact  contemporaries. 
Franklin  was  born  only  one  year  earlier  than  Hop- 
kins,^  and  survived  him  K-ss  than  five  years. ^  Both 
were  Americans  of  a  very  noteworthy   type   and   of 

1     See  the  instructions  given  by  several  of  the  colonial  governments,  printed 
in  U.  I.  Historical  Tract,  IX.  p.  3-8. 
•I    See  Appendix  II. 

3  Franklin  was  l)orn  Jan.  17,  1705-0;  Hopkins,  llarch  7,  1706-7. 

4  Hopkins  died  July  1.3,  1785;  Franklin,  April  17,  1790. 


184  .STEPHP^N    HOrivINS. 

strongly  in:u-kec]  iiKlividiiality.  In  IkjUi  inslunces, 
nativd  al)i!ity  and  talents  went  far  towards  connter- 
balancing  the  lack  ot"  early  opportunities  for  educa- 
tion. Both,  in  after  life,  were  deeply  impressed 
with  the  necessity  for  public  education,  and  endeav- 
ored to  secure  its  hlessinofs  for  others.^  Both  were 
deeply  interested  in  scientific  studies  and  pursuits. ^ 
Both  had  a  homely,  hut  often  forcible  style. ^  Both 
were  fortunate,  to  an  exceptional  degree,  in  pos- 
sessing the  power  of  lucid  statement;  and  their  lan- 
guage was  "good  English,"  in  the  sense  of  being  clear. 
Both   took   pains   to  educate   public  sentiment,'*   by 

1  See  Bisclow's  "  Franklin,"  I.  2Ss-',)2 ;  also  pages  50-5'^,  IIS-J:'!  of  this  work. 

2  Sec  Bigelow's  "  Franklin,"  I.  -^'74-78;  also  page  VM  of  this  work.  Hopkins 
was,  in  17()8,  elected  to  membership  in  the  American  riiilosopliical  Society, 
perhaps  on  the  suggestion  or  nomination  of  Franklin  himself.  (Ilecords  of 
the  American  I'liilosophical  Society,  April  1,  17(58). 

3  See  Tyler's  "  History  of  American  literature,"  II.  I'ol,  which  speaks  of 
Franklin's  style  a.s  a  "  pure,  pithy,  racy,  and  <lelightful  diction."  Compare  also 
page  l.f-l  of  this  work. 

4  Of  Franklin,  Theodore  I'arker  remarks:  "He  knew  how  to  deal  with 
men,  leading  them  to  accept  his  conclusions."  "He  did  not  drive  men,  l)ut 
led  them,  and  that  often  with  a  thread  so  delicate  that  they  did  not  see  it." 
("  Historic  Americans,"  p.  44). 

Of  Stephen  Hopkins,  Arnold  says  :  "  Very  f<'w,  of  any  state,  exerted  so  wide 
an  influence  upon  the  destinies  of  the  country.  I'ranklin  was  perhaps  the 
only  person  who  ecjualled  him  in  this  respect."  (Arnold's  ■' Rhode  Island," 
11.514). 


STATESMANSHir  OF  THE  ALBANY  GONOKESS.  185 

discussion  of  public  to[)ics  in  the  newspiipers,  in 
pamphlets,  juid  in  their  correspondence.  Both  were 
distinguished  by  a  constant  tendency  to  expansion, 
and  in  any  given  year  their  position  was  sure  to  he 
one  of  broader  outlook  and  more  comprehensive 
intelligence,  than  in  the  previous  year.  Both  were 
far  in  advance  of  the  majority  of  their  contempo- 
raries in  perceiving  the  ultimate  issues  of  the  politi- 
cal tendencies  then  in  progress.'  Both  of  them  were 
from  this  time  forward  the  closest  of  friends,  and 
constant  correspondents. "2  Both  met  once  more  in 
the  Continental  Congress,  and  together  signed  the 
Declaration  of  Independence.  Franklin  alone,  how- 
ever, survived  to  witness  the  adoption  of  the  Con- 
stitution in  1787. 

It  is  from  the  mouth  of  a  [)o!itical  opponent,  (the 

1  Franklin,  says  William  CuUen  Bryant,  "  saw  further  into  the  true  prov- 
ince and  office  of  a  free  government,  anrl  tlie  duties  of  its  legislators,  than 
any  man  of  his  time.")  "Address  on  the  KiSth  anniversary  of  the  birth  of 
Benjamin  Franklin,"  New  York,  1874,  quoted  inBigelow's  "  Franklin,"  I.  12). 
See  also  pages  180;  18.3;  18S-80,  note;  19i-9(3;  of  this  work. 

2  Probably  one  of  the  last  letters  of  Hopkins  to  Franklin  is  that  of  Jlay  11, 
1784,  now  in  possession  of  Mr.  Henry  T.  Drowno,  of  New  York.  It  is  signed, 
"  Your  affectionate  old  friend,  Stephen  Hopkins." 


186  STIOrilEN    HOPKINS. 

one  siuninoj  himselt'  "  Philoletlies ") ,'  that  wo  are 
informed  of  Stephen  Hopkins's  desire  that  the  Rhode 
Island  General  Assembly  should  give  its  approval 
to  the  [)lan.  Yet  even  if  we  iiad  not  this  testimony 
we  should  still  have  important  evidenee  as  to  his 
true  sentiments.  It  was  just  ten  years  later-  that 
he  wrote  : 

"Altliou^li  each  of  the  colonies  Iiath  a  legislature  within  itself, 
to  take  care  of  its  interests,  and  provide  for  its  peace  and  inter- 
nal government,  yet  there  are  many  things  of  a  more  general 
nature,  quite  out  of  the  reach  of  these  particular  legislatures, 
which  it  is  necessary  should  be  regulated,  ordered  and  gov- 
erned."^ 

And  this,  let  it  be  remembered,  was  not  merely  an 
abstraction  of  his.  It  was  a  conclusion  which  he 
bad   had  an   opportunity    of    forming    by    personal 

1  "A  short  reply  to  Jlr.  Stephen  Hopkins's  vindication,"  175.5.  (Reprinted 
in  R.  I.  Historical  Tract,  IX.  47-65).  The  authorship  of  this  .auonvmous 
pamphlet  still  remains  unsolved.  The  peculiar  form  of  this  name  is  such  as  to 
attract  notice.  Instead  ot  "  Philolethes,"  one  would  naturally  expect  "Phil- 
ftlethos,"  and  it  is  not  impossible  that  this  hitter  form  is  the  one  intended  by 
the  writer.  Whether  the  writer  or  the  printer  was  responsible,  iloes  not 
appear. 

2  1765. 

.'i    "  The  riglits  of  colonies  e.\anuned,"  p.  Hi. 


STATESMAXSHir  OF  THE  ALBANY  CONGRESS.  187 

observation,  in   liis  nttenclunce  upon  successive  con- 
gresses, so  early  as  1746.^ 

The  congress  at  Albany  adjourned  July  11,  1754. 
The  Rhode  Island  General  Asseniljly  was  not  at  that 
time   in    session;    but  one  of   the  earliest   matters 
brouo-ht  before  the  attention  of  that  body,  on  its  re- 
assembling  at  Newport,  in   August,  was   the   report 
of  the  two  commissioners,  dated  August  20,  1754, 
and  signed  by  them  both  ;  —  Stephen   Hopkins  and 
Martin  Howard,  Jr.-     This  simply  stated  the  facts 
in  the  case,  presented  a  copy  of  the  proceedings  of 
the  congress,  with  the  "Representation"  reported  by 
the  committee,  and  the  plan  of  union  itself;  submit- 
ting the  whole,  as  they  say,  "  to  the  consideration  of 
this  Honorable  Assembly."      This  would   certainly 
appear  to  be  the  very  least  that  they  could  do.    The 
General  Assembly  therefore  "  accepted  "  the  report ; 

1  That  he  was  a  supporter  of  the  plan  also  seems  probable  from  the  state- 
ment  of  one  of  his  colleagues,  Smith  of  New  York,  that  •'  the  eastern  colonies 
were  most  ardent  for  the  union,  except  Connecticut."  "Each  colony," 
Smith  adds,  "  took  a  copy  under  a  promise  to  exert  their  influence  upon  their 
constituents."  (Smith's  "New  York,"  11.  2-25).  Stephen  Hopkins  is  the  only 
one  who  went  so  far,  however,  as  to  publish  a  pamphlet  in  its  behalf, 

2  R.  I.  Col.  Records,  V.  .39.'?-94. 


188  STErnp:N  iiorKiNS. 

"reserving  to  themt^elves  a  farther  consideration, 
whether  they  will  accede  to  the  general  plan  pro- 
posed." '  Yet  in  various  written  and  spoken  charges 
of  the  time,  Mr.    Hopkins   is   denounced  as   having 

'•  presented  to  the  General  Assembly,  a  number  of  sheets  in 
folio,  in  which  were  contained  a  variety  of  matters,  and  the  plan 
of  nuion  artfully  tack'd  to  the  rest,  which  being  read  in  the 
Lower  House,  the  report  was  received,  and,  in  consequence  all 
their  doings,  &c."' 

It  is  sufficient  to  say  that  these  assertions  are 
entirely  at  variance  with  the  official  records,  cited 
above. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  lanofuaijc  of  the  above 
charge  shows  evidence  of  excitement.  That  such  a 
plan  of  union  should  be  brought  into  Rhode  Island 
did  in  fact,  produce  no  little  excitement.  Almost 
its  ver}^  first  provision  was  that  there  should  be  "a 
president-general,  to  I)e  appointed  and  supported  by 
the  croivn.'"'^       And    this  in   a   charter  colony^  like 

1    R.  I.  Col.  Records,  v.  394.  2    R.  I.  Hist.  Tract,  TX.  58. 

3  Printed  in  Franklin's  "  Works,"  III.  V. 

4  This  feature  certainly  goes  far  to  explain  the  popular  excitement  against 
the  plan.  Those  could  easily  condemn  it  on  this  ground  who  had  not  looked 
beyond  this  to  observe  the  very  democratical  .system  of  representation  embod- 


STATESMANSIIU*    OF    THK    ALBANY    CONGRESS.    189 

Rhode  Ishiiid  !  A  lettei-'  was  soiit  to  the  General 
Assembly,  early  in  1755,  by  Governor  Greene,  in 
which  the  subjoct  was  nr^od  upon  tlio  immediate 
attention  of  that  body.  Among  other  things,  he 
pronounced  it  "  a  scheme  which  if  carried  into  exe- 
cution, will  virtually  deprive  this  government,  at 
least,  of  some  of  its  most  valuable  privileges  ;"  and 
he  su2:2'osted  that  instructions  l)e  sent  to  the  agent 
of  the  colony,  "that  he  exert  himself  to  the  utmost, 
in  order  to  prevent  the  said  plan  of  union"  "being 
carried  or  passed  into  an  act  of  the  parliament  of 
Great  Britain."^  At  this  session  therefore  it  was  voted 
that  a  "  letter  to  l)e  sent  to  the  agent "  should  direct 
him  : 

"  To  be  upon  his  watch;  and  if  any  thing  shall  be  moved  in 
parliament  respecting  the  plan  lor  an  union  of  his  Majesty's 
northern  colonies  projected  at  Albany,  which  may  have  a  ten- 
dency to   infringe  on  onr  charter  privileges,  that  he  use  his 

icd  ill  if.  But  what  otliir  metliod  of  clioosiiif;  a  cliief  executive  otiicer  was 
open  to  them?  Certainly  not  that  of  election  by  the  colonies  themselves.  The 
time  was  not  ripe  for  .'>o  radical  a  measure  of  iudeiicndonce;  and  this  Franklin 
and  nopkins  knew  very  well. 

1     Printed  in  U.  I.  Hist.  Tract,  IX.  00-01,  wlici-c  it  is  cited  by  "  IMiilolethcs." 

1!     K.  I.  Hist.  Tract,  IX.  01. 


190  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

Utmost  endeavors  to  get  it  put  off  until  such  time  as  the  govern- 
ment is  furnislied  with  a  copy,  and  have  opportunity  of  making 
answer  thereunto." ' 

It  was  after  the  subject  had  thus  been  pretty  well 
turned  over  and  canvassed,  that  Mr.  Hopkins  him- 
self entered  the  field  with  a  pamphlet,'^  dated  March 
29,  17o5.3  This  pamphlet  has  none  of  the  elevated 
qualities  of  style  observed  in  his  historical  writings'* 
and  discussions  of  the  rights  of  colonies,-''  subse- 
quently published,  nor  has  it  anything  In  common 
with  his  electioneering  pamphlets,  issued  within  the 
next  few  3'ears.^  Its  interest  lies  in  its  lucid,  busi- 
ness-like statement  of  facts,  carefull}^  sifting  from 
them  the  erroneous  and  unwarranted  assertions  then 
current.  He  ingeniously  refrained  from  a  single 
syllable  of  direct  argument  in  favor  of  the  plan  ;"  but 

1  R.  I.  Col.  Records,  V.  4J4. 

2  "A  true  representation  of  the  plan  formed  at  Albany,  for  unitin»-  all  the 
British  northern  colonies,  in  order  to  their  common  safety  and  defence."  By 
Stephen  Hoplvins.  Providence,  IMarch  20,  1705.  lieprinted  in  R.  I.  Hist.  Tract, 
IX.  1-4G. 

.3  The  month  and  day  as  well  as  the  year,  are  occasionally  given  in  imprints 
of  pamphlets  belonging  to  this  period. 

4    See  page  I'M.  5     See  Chapter  VHI. 

()    See  Chapter  VII. 

7  R.  I.  Hist.  Tract,  IX.  40-40.  His  opponent  somewhat  unreasonably  finds 
fBuH  with  this.     (R.  I.  Hist.  Tract,  IX.  65). 


STATESMANSHIP    OF    THK    ALBANY    CONGRKSS.     191 

by  printing-  the  instriicticnis  of  tlio  home  government 
to  the  colonial  assemblies/  the  instructions  of  some 
of  these  assemblies  to  their  respective  commissioners, 2 
the  proceedings  of  the  congress  in  relation  to  the 
"plan  of  union," ^  and  the  text  of  the  plan  itself,''  he 
effectually  confuted  the  misrepresentations  which 
had  been  made  I)y  his  oi)ponents. 

This  [)amphlct  was  followed  l)y  another,  in  reply 
to  it,  and  issued  over  the  signature  of  "  Philolethes,"^ 
which  is  a  wonderfully  good  s[)ecimen  of  the  pamph- 
let literature  of  that  day,  repeating  mis-statements 
which  had  already  been  exposed,  and  even  reckless 
in  its  misrepresentations.  It  appears  to  have  over- 
shot its  mark,  fen-  though  it  was  issued  just  in  time^ 
to  bring  an  intUience  to  bear  on  the  election  in  May, 
Stephen  Hopkins  was  then  found  to  be  elected  gov- 
ernor ;  with  an  assembly  prepared  for  the  most  part 
to  listen  to  whatever  measures  he  mio^ht  brino-  to 
their  attention.     Yet  although  at  the  October  session 

1  R.I.  Hist.  Tract,  IX.  S-13. 

2  Ibid.,  IX.  3-8.  ;{    Ibid.,  IX.  15-31. 
4     Ibid.,  IX.32-3y. 

6    Tlie  full  title  has  already  been  given,     .^ee  page  187,  note. 
6     It  is  dated,  "Ai)ril   10.  175.J." 


192  STEPHEN  iioriviNS. 

in  1755,  the  members  of  this  hotly  readily  appointed^ 
His  Honor  tlic  Governor  one  of  the  commissioners 
to  another  of  those  colonial  cong'resses,  it  was  per- 
haps because  they  believed  that  no  "plan  of  union  " 
was  to  be,  or  was  likely  to  be,  called  up  for  action 
at  its  sessions. 

For  llhoilc  Island  was  not  the  only  colon}'  which 
turned  the  cold  shoulder  to  Franklin's  plan.  That 
plan  was  not  approved  by  a  single  one-  of  the  colon- 
ial assemldies  Ix^fore  Avhich  it  was  brought;  and 
when  the  matter  came  in  due  course  to  the  attention 
of  [)arliament  in  September  or  October,  1751,  that 
very  home  government  which  had  been  so  strenuous 
ill  urging  upon  the  colonists  the  idea  of  "  union  and 
confederation,"  suddenly  found  that  the  colonists 
were  takiu""  the  re(U)mmciid:ition   not  only  too  liter- 

1  K.  1.  <  ol.  liecord;-,  A'.  4(i4.  This  coii.s^ress  ai>i(ears  to  liave  been  Ir-UI  at 
Albany  in  Dfccmber.  Sc(>  letter  of  Stephen  Hopkins  to  Mrs.  Anne  Smith, 
dated  "  December  ."ith,  17o.j."  in  the  possession  of  Miss  Ruth  H.  Sniitli. 

'Z  The  General  ( 'ourt  of  Massachusetts  IJay  liad  specifically  instructed  its 
delegates  on  the  matter  of  entering  into  "  articles  of  union  and  confedera- 
tion;"' and  this  was  the  only  government  which  did  give  these  instructions. 
(.Sparks's  "  \^'(lrks  of  IJenjamiu  Franklin,"  III.:.':!).  I!ut  a  15oston  town- 
meeting  lield  ;ifter  the  adjournment  of  the  congress  vigorously  denounced  the 
plan.  ("  Collections  of  the  Arassachu<etls  Uistoriciil  Society,"  IM  series,  I\'. 
bb). 


STATESMANSHIP  OF  THE  ALBANY  CONGRESS.  193 

ally  but  too  liberally.     No  action  was  ever  taken  on 
it  in  England.^ 

Yet  there  is  no  contribution  to  constructive  states- 
manship preceding  the  year  177G,  Avliich  had  a  pro- 
founder  efTect  on  the  subsequent  growth  and  devel- 
opment of  the  idea  of  American  nationality.  Even 
in  the  amended  form  in  which  it  was  "  approved"  by 
the  congress,  it  was,  says  a  recent  writer,  "in 
advance  of  the  Articles  [of  Confederation]  in  its 
national  spirit,  and  served  as  the  prototype  of  the 
constitution  itself."  ~  There  was  to  be  a  central 
authority, 2  self-sustaining,"*  and  obligatory  upon  the 
component  members  of  the  government.  The  sep- 
arate colonies  Vv'ere  not  to  be  represented^  equally, 
but    in    proportion    to    population  ;    and  it  was  the 

1  "  The  Board  of  ti-aile,"  says  Franklin,  "  dkl  not  api)rove  of  it,  nor  recom- 
mend it  for  the  approbation  of  H is  :jlajesty."    (IJigelow's  "  Franklhi,"  I.  309). 

2  "The  articles  of  confederation  vs.  the  constitution,"  by  L.  Bradford 
I'rince,  (since  Cliief-justice  of  New  Slexico),  p.  19. 

3  Franklin's  "  Works,"  III.  37.     The  ill-considered  departure  from  this 
principle,  in  the  .\rticles  of  confederation,  is  noteworthy. 

•I    But  not  self-perpetuating. 

5     As  printed  in  Franklin's  "  Works,"  III.  40. 

17 


194  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

general  government  which  had  the  power  to  lay 
taxes, ^  and  to  raise  and  paj"  soldiers.-  Every  one 
of  these  features  re-appeared  in  the  constitution^  of 
the  United  States,  thirty-three  years  later  ;  and  after 
a  most  disastrous  trial  had  been  made  of  an  opposite 
method. 4  Franklin  was  in  advance  of  his  time,  it  is 
true;  but  he  had  examined  and  forecast,  says  jMr. 
Sparks,  "with  an  almost  prophetic  sagacity,  the 
habits,  wants,  temper,  and  other  characteristics  of 
the  people."^ 

Yet  while  the  statesmanship  of  the  Albany  con- 
gress is  Franklin's  beyond  a  question,  some  part  of 
the  credit  of  it  must  be  considered  as  justly  due  to 
that  man  who  had  the  clearness  of  vision  and  en- 
lightened forecast,  to  see  farther  than  those  around 
him  in  his  narrow  colony  ;  and  who  not  only  upheld 

1  As  priiiffd  in  Kiiuiklin'.s  "  Works,"  HI.  50-51. 

2  Ibid.,  HI.  41). 

3  Compare  Art.  2,  Sect.  2  and  :>>;    Art.  1,  Sect.  2,  No.  3;   Art.  1,  Sect.  8,  No. 
1;  Art.  1,  Scct.-S,  Nos.  12-1(). 

4  111  the  Articles  of  confederation.     Compare  Art.!),  10;    Art.  5;  Art.  9, 
1st  and  fltli  paragraplis. 

5  Sparks's  "  Works  of  lU'iijamin  Franklin,"  HI.  57. 


STATESMANSHIP    OF    THE  ALBANY    CONGRESS.    195 

the  plan  of  union  in  the  congress, ^  but  advocated  it 
against  overwiielming  odds,  among  a  people  bitterly 
opposed  both  to  it,  and  to  the  principle  on  which  it 
rested.^  And  this  was  not  all.  It  was  "the  proper 
reception  of"  the  principles  developed  by  the  leaders 
of  the  Albany  congress,  says  Chancellor  Kent,  "in 
the  minds  of  their  countrymen,"  which  "prepared 
the  way  for  their  future  independence  and  our 
present  greatness."^  It  was  the  reception  of  these 
l)rinciples  by  the  people  of  Khode  Island,  pressed 
upon  their  attention  with  the  most  persistent  indus- 
try, and  with  the  aid  of  every  agency  of  tongue,  pen, 
type,  or  personal  influence,  during  the  next  twenty 
years,  which  prepared  the  least  interested  of  the 
thirteen  colonies  to  take  a  spirited  and  distinguished 
part  in  the  contest  which  followed.       The  history  of 

1  Whether  Hopkins  was  one  of  tliose  who,  as  Franklin  says,  "had  form'd 
plans  of  the  same  kind,"  (Bigelow's  "  Franklin,"  I.  308),  does  not  appear.  He 
was,  however,  a  member  of  the  special  committee  of  seven  appointed  "  to 
prepare  and  receive  plans  or  schemes  for  the  union  of  the  colonies,  and  to 
digest  them  into  one  general  plan."  ("  Uecord  of  proceedings,"  June  24,  l~o4); 
a  committee  which  is  pronounced  by  Frothiugham  "  a  rare  combination  of 
character,  intellect,  learning,  and  experience  in  public  atlairs."  ("Iliseof 
the  republic,"  p.  HO).  a    See  pages  170-<'.». 

.3    Kent's  "  Commenjarics  on  American  law,"  Ed.  1^7:>,  I.  204. 


19(3  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

no  other  colony,  perhaps,  presents  such  an  instance 
of  a  public  man  deliberately  setting  himself  to  shape 
public  opinion,  and  to  develop  a  public  sentiment 
which  should  sustain  and  heartily  approve  the 
measures  to  be  undertaken.  "  Every  statesman," 
savs  Mr.  Lecky,  "  who  is  worth}'  of  the  name,  will 
carefully  calculate  the  effect  of  his  measures  u[)on 
opinion,"  and  "will  esteem  the  creation  of  a  sound, 
healthy,  and  loyal  public  spirit  one  of  the  highest 
objects  of  legislation."  1 

The  creation  of  such  a  public  spirit  is  what  most 
strikingly  characterizes  Stephen  Hopkins:  and  it  is 
npon  this  ground  that  a  statesmanship  of  the  most 
enlightened  character  may  justly  be  ascribed  to  him. 

1     Lecky's  "  Leaders  ol  public  opinion  in  Ireland,"  p.  viii.