Stephen Hopkins (1707-1785) was born on March 7, 1707, in Providence, Rhode Island, and spent his early years in Scituate, Rhode Island, earning his living as a self-educated farmer and surveyor. Hopkins entered politics in Scituate in 1731 and during the next decade he held the following elective or appointive offices in Scituate and Providence: moderator of the first town meeting, justice of the peace, town clerk, president of the town council, justice and clerk of the Providence County court of common pleas, legislator, and speaker of the house. In 1742, Hopkins moved to Providence and engaged in surveying and mercantile pursuits with his brother, Esek (1718-1802), while also continuing his public service. Hopkins served as Chief Justice of the Superior Court from 1751 to 1754, and again in 1768, and served as delegate to the Colonial Congress, which met in Albany, New York, in 1754. In 1754, Hopkins began his first of four terms as governor of the colony of Rhode Island, leaving the office in 1768. Hopkins also served as a Rhode Island delegate to the Continental Congress from 1774 through September 1776 and was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence in July 1776. Hopkins withdrew from public service in 1780 and died five years later on July 13, 1785, in Providence.