24 Facts About Francis Hopkinson

Francis Hopkinson was an American Founding Father, lawyer, jurist, author, and composer.

Francis Hopkinson designed Continental paper money and two early versions of flags, one for the United States and one for the United States Navy.

Francis Hopkinson received an Artium Baccalaureus degree in 1757 from the College of Philadelphia and an Artium Magister degree in 1760 from the same institution.

Francis Hopkinson was the first native American composer of a secular song in 1759.

Francis Hopkinson was secretary of a commission of the Provincial Council of Pennsylvania which made a treaty between the province and certain Indian tribes in 1761.

Francis Hopkinson entered private practice in Philadelphia from 1761 to 1766.

Francis Hopkinson was collector of customs in Salem, Province of New Jersey in 1763.

Francis Hopkinson was collector of customs for New Castle, Delaware Colony from 1772 to 1773.

Francis Hopkinson resumed private practice in Bordentown, New Jersey from 1773 to 1774.

Francis Hopkinson was a member of the New Jersey Provincial Council from 1774 to 1776.

Francis Hopkinson was a member of the Executive Council of New Jersey in 1775.

Francis Hopkinson was elected an associate justice of that court in 1776 but declined the office.

Francis Hopkinson was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, representing New Jersey.

Francis Hopkinson was treasurer for the Continental Loan Office in Philadelphia from 1778 to 1781.

Francis Hopkinson was judge of the Admiralty Court of Pennsylvania from 1779 to 1789.

Francis Hopkinson was a member of the Pennsylvania Convention which ratified the United States Constitution.

Francis Hopkinson was the father of Joseph Hopkinson, who was a member of the United States House of Representatives and became a federal judge.

Francis Hopkinson was interred in Christ Church Burial Ground in Philadelphia.

Francis Hopkinson wrote popular airs and political satires in the form of poems and pamphlets.

Francis Hopkinson began to play the harpsichord at age seventeen and, during the 1750s, hand-copied arias, songs, and instrumental pieces by many European composers.

Francis Hopkinson is credited as being the first American-born composer to commit a composition to paper with his 1759 composition "My Days Have Been So Wondrous Free".

Francis Hopkinson designed the Great Seal of New Jersey with assistance from Pierre Eugene du Simitiere in 1776.

Francis Hopkinson was thus chosen as a consultant to design the Great Seal of the United States.

Francis Hopkinson is recognized as a designer of the Flag of the United States, and the journals of the Continental Congress support this.