Hopkinson, Francis

HOPKINSON, FRANCIS. (1737–1791). Signer, writer, artist. Pennsylvania. His father, an English lawyer, immigrated to Philadelphia in 1731 and became a member of the governor's council as well as of numerous civic and social organizations. Francis was the first graduate (1757) of the College of Philadelphia (later the University of Pennsylvania). He studied law under Benjamin Chew and was admitted to the bar in 1761, but for the next twelve years he tried a variety of careers. In 1763 he was named customs collector in Salem, New Jersey. In 1766–1767 he made an unsuccessful trip to England for political preferment. After becoming a shopkeeper, he was named customs collector at New Castle, Delaware (about forty miles below Philadelphia). Returning to the law, he set up practice at Bordentown, New Jersey, and was an immediate success. In 1774 he was named to the governor's council, but in that year he published an allegorical political satire, A Pretty Story, in which he expressed his ardent Whig convictions. Another similar type of story, called A Prophecy, anticipated the Declaration of Independence. Elected to Congress from New Jersey in June 1776, he was one of the Signers. A few months after adoption of the Flag Resolution of 14 June 1777, he was appointed one of three commissioners of the Continental Navy Board. As chairman and secretary he served capably for almost two years before Congress elected him treasurer of loans. A year later, while still holding the latter post, he became judge of the Pennsylvania Admiralty Court. Ten years later in 1789, the court was dissolved and Hopkinson became judge of the U.S. district court of eastern Pennsylvania for the last two years of his short but memorable life.

Hopkinson designed, or had a part in designing, seals of the American Philosophical Society, the State of New Jersey, and what became the University of Pennsylvania. On 25 May 1780 he wrote the Board of Admiralty that he was pleased they liked his design for their seal; he also requested recognition for this work and a number of other "devices." At the top of the list he claimed to have created the Stars and Stripes, later valuing this work at £9 cash or £540 paper money. Congress decided on 23 August 1781 that too many others had worked on design of the flag for Hopkinson to deserve credit for being its originator. Meanwhile, a serious quarrel had resulted in his resignation as treasurer of loans.

Among his wartime writings were A Letter to Lord Howe, A Letter Written by a Foreigner, and An Answer to General Burgoyne (all in 1777). A Letter to Joseph Galloway and his famous Battle of the Kegs appeared in 1778. In 1781 he wrote words and music of a cantata, The Temple of Minerva, celebrating the French alliance. In his later years he invented a ship's log and a shaded candlestick, among other things. He continued to write, producing political essays, general social criticism, satire, and verse. Among his musical compositions was a collection, Seven Songs for the Harpsichord or Forte Piano (1788). His son Joseph followed in his footsteps as a politician, jurist, and composer; Joseph wrote Hail Columbia.

SEE ALSO Battle of the Kegs; Burgoyne's Proclamation at Bouquet River.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Hastings, George E. The Life and Works of Francis Hopkinson. New York: Russell and Russell, 1968.

Silverman, Kenneth. A Cultural History of the American Revolution. New York: Columbia University Press, 1987.

Sonneck, Oscar G. T. Francis Hopkinson, the First American Poet-Composer, 1737–1791. New York: Da Capo, 1967.

                              revised by Harry M. Ward