Francis Hopkinson (October 2,[Note 1] 1737 – May 9, 1791) was an American Founding Father, lawyer, jurist, author, and composer.
[6] He was secretary of a commission of the Provincial Council of Pennsylvania which made a treaty between the province and certain Indian tribes in 1761.
[5] Hopkinson spent from May 1766 to August 1767 in England in hopes of becoming commissioner of customs for North America.
[7]: 133 Although unsuccessful, he spent time with the future Prime Minister Lord North, Hopkinson's cousin James Johnson, and the painter Benjamin West.
[5] Hopkinson wrote popular airs and political satires (jeux d'esprit) in the form of poems and pamphlets.
Some were widely circulated and powerfully assisted in arousing and fostering the spirit of political independence that issued in the American Revolution.
Hopkinson began to play the harpsichord at age seventeen and, during the 1750s, hand-copied arias, songs, and instrumental pieces by many European composers.
In the 1780s, Hopkinson modified a glass harmonica to be played with a keyboard and invented the Bellarmonic, an instrument that utilized the tones of metal balls.
[13] At his alma mater, University of Pennsylvania, one of the buildings in the Fisher-Hassenfeld College House is named after him.
Hopkinson designed the Great Seal of New Jersey with assistance from Pierre Eugene du Simitiere in 1776.
The constellation comprising 13 smaller stars symbolizes the national motto, "E pluribus unum."
The reverse of the seal, designed by Barton, contains an unfinished pyramid below a radiant eye.
[28] Hopkinson is recognized as a designer of the Flag of the United States, and the journals of the Continental Congress support this.
[29] On May 25, 1780, Hopkinson wrote a letter to the Continental Board of Admiralty mentioning several patriotic designs he had completed during the previous three years.
[30] One was his Board of Admiralty seal, which contained a shield of seven red and six white stripes on a blue field.
Others included the Treasury Board seal, "7 devices for the Continental Currency," and "the Flag of the United States of America.
"[31] Hopkinson noted that he had not asked for any compensation for the designs but was seeking a reward: "a Quarter Cask of the public Wine."
The Board cited several reasons for its action, including the fact that Hopkinson "was not the only person consulted on those exhibitions of Fancy [that were incidental to the Board (among them, the U.S. flag, the Navy flag, the Admiralty seal, and the Great Seal with a reverse)[34]], and therefore cannot claim the sole merit of them and not entitled in this respect to the full sum charged.
[41] This is bolstered by his original sketch for the Great Seal that featured a U.S. flag with six-pointed asterisks for stars.
[7]: 449 and 450 He was the father of Joseph Hopkinson, who was a member of the United States House of Representatives and also became a federal judge.
[6] Hopkinson's sister Mary (1742–1785) was married to Dr. John Morgan, second chief physician and director general of the Continental Army.