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Dromo's Den
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Up] [Dromo's Den] Francis Hopkinson Biography Hopkinson,
Frances (1737-91) An American politician, jurist, and miscellaneous writer, born
in Philadelphia, Pa. He is best remembered for his Battle of the Kegs
(1778), a humorous ballad based on an incident in the Revolutionary War. He was
educated at the College of Philadelphia, admitted to the bar in 1761, and a few
years later he spent a year in England, where his cousin was then Bishop of
Worcester. Returning to Philadelphia, he practiced law, was active in learned
societies, declared his republican sympathies, and, having removed to New
Jersey, was made delegate to the Continental Congress (1776). He took part in
drafting the Articles of Confederation and signed the Declaration of
Independence. He held various offices under the Federal government, was Judge of
Admiralty for Pennsylvania (1779-89), suffered an impeachment which failed, and
was district judge there (1790-91). Hopkinson was a man of exceptionally varied
accomplishments. He composed music for his facile songs, painted, was a
dilettante in popular science, a humorist, and a political pamphleteer. His
works were collected in three volumes (Philadelphia, 1792). Besides the Battle of the Kegs, his most popular production was a short prose
allegory of the relations between the Colonies and the mother country, entitled A
Pretty Story (1774). He was father of Joseph Hopkinson (q.v.). Consult A. R.
Marble, Heralds of American Literature (Chicago, 1907). The New International
Encyclopaedia, Vol. XI
(New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1920)
452-453.
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