Francis Hopkinson (1737-1791)
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Title/Occupation | Signer of the Declaration of Independence (for NJ). Customs collector, New Castle, 1772 |
|---|---|---|
| Address | ||
| Artist | Robert Edge Pine | |
| Date painted | ||
| Credit | U. Penn Archives | |
| Married | Ann Borden (1768) | |
| Parents | Thomas Hopkinson | |
| Children | (5) including Joseph | |
| Link | ||
Wikipedia | ||
 Painting at Portrait Gallery Hopkinson may or may not have lived in New Castle. He did become customs collector of the port of New Castle in 1772. That does not prove he resided here. Earlier, in 1763, while still living in Phladelphia, he was customs collector for Salem, New Jersey. We can get an idea of how busy New Castle, Salem and Philadelphia were during the pre-revolutionary period since the "American Board of Customs Commissioners" kept records for 41 ports in North America from 1768 to 1773. The records included imports, exports, numbers and type of ships. New Castle was an active port in 1772 though its activity was dwarfed by Philadelphia. But it was active. In 1772, as an example it shipped more shingles in coastwise trade than any of the other 41 North American ports. Hopinson was not the only Signer with actual or desired customs experience. According to Cooper George Read attempted to get the position in New Castle in 1766 but did not succeed. Cooper states that Thomas McKean was appointed in 1771, with no mention of Hopkinson. 
Evidence that suggests Hopkinson lived in New Castle is contained in a poem he wrote in 1772, titled To T[homas] M[cKean], Esq. in which he
describes his trip to court in Chester leaving Newcastle early in the morning with his brother-in-law, the attorney.In addition to being a lawyer and politician, he composed songs, the "first national anthem" , poems and political propaganda ballads such as "The Battle of the Kegs" ReferencesArchive.org "The miscellaneous essays and occasional writings of Francis Hopkinson, Esq. (1792) Vol III""Life and Works of Francis Hopkinson", George E. Hastings, 1926 | ||
Jim Meek
nc-chap.org 2014, 2015
nc-chap.org 2014, 2015