Thomas Hopkinson (1)

Election date: 1743 (Elected to the original American Philosophical Society.)
APS Office(s): First president of the original APS (1743-1744)

Thomas Hopkinson (6 April 1709–5 November 1751) was a judge, lawyer, merchant, natural philosopher, and elected official, and a founding member of the original American Philosophical Society. Born and educated in London, he immigrated to Pennsylvania around 1731. There, he became a member of Benjamin Franklin’s Junto and a prominent public figure. Hopkinson was among the original directors of the Library Company, a founder and trustee of the Academy of Philadelphia, and a participant with Franklin in some of the first electrical experiments conducted in Philadelphia. In addition to running a thriving merchant business with APS member William Coleman, Hopkinson held a number of political and judicial appointments, including clerk of the Orphans’ Court, master of the rolls and recorder of Philadelphia, member of the Philadelphia Common Council, judge of the Vice-Admiralty Court, prothonotary of Philadelphia County, justice of the peace, and member of the Provincial Council. In the latter capacity, he attended the 1748 signing of the Treaty of Lancaster and served on the Pennsylvania delegation to the Pennsylvania-Maryland border negotiations. Concerned about Spanish incursions into the Delaware Bay, he supported the Defense Association of 1747. His son Francis Hopkinson and son-in-law John Morgan were APS members. (PI)

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