The Ely miner., 1930-06-27


E@SS on April %. 179S." The
AS& unveiling was done by @
little girl, Martha Hop
se7zzzzssxsS kinSOn, who thus hOnoreG
the memory of her great-great-grand
father, man whose name is known
10 comparatively few Americans. Yet
Francis Hopkinson and Joseph Hop.
kinson offer an example of famous
father-wOrthy son" scarcely paralleled
In all American history.
1t is eminently fitting that their
names should be recalled as Inde-
pendence day approaches for they con.
tributed materially to the foundation
of our republic and the establishment
of the national tradition-the father
as Signer of the Declaration of In
dependence and, according TO some his
torians, as the designer of our flag,
and the son as the author of a pa
triotic song which frequently has
shared honOrs with the "The Star
Spangled Banner" and America" as
a national anthem. Both, however, had
other claims to distinction.
Francis HopkinsOn was born in
Philadelphia in 1877, the son of an
Englishman who served several years
as a judge of the admiralty and a
member of the provincial council. Hop
kinson was the first scholar entered
at the University of Pennsylvania
(then the college Of Phiadelphia) and
with re frSf 70
studied law and was admitted to the
bar in 1851. After serving as secretary
to a conference between the provincial
authorities and the chiefs of several
Indian nations, and as librarian
and secretary of the Philadelphia IL
brary, he went to England in 1766 and
became an intimate friend of Lord
North, Benjamin West, John Penn and
other notables.
Upon his return to this country he
resumed his law practice, kept store
for awhile and became a member of
two societies which united in 1769
TO become the famous American Phil
osophical society. In 1772 he was ap.
pointed inspector of the customs at
New Castle but was removed because
of his radical ideas. He next moved
10 Bordentown, n. j., and was a men,
Der Of the provincial council of that
colony from 1774 to 1776 In the lat
ter year he was elected TO the Con.
tinental congress from New Jersey
and became one of Americas i'm
mortals when he voted for the Decla-
ration of Independence and later
signed IT.
Historians now seem to agree gen.
orally that the Betsy Ross legend of
the origin of the flag can be accepted
only with reservations. She may have
made the first flag, so far as the actual
cutting and sewing of 1t was con-
cerned, but she was not the designer
The evidence as to who actually was
is at best incomplete, but such evid.
ence as exists points strongly to Fran
els Hopkinson. 1t is known that he
was greatly interested i'm the heraldic
art, especially as it applied to seals,
flags and coins. 1t is known that in
June, 1777, he was chairman of the
navy board, acting under the marine
committee of the Continental con-
gress, and that the famous flag reso.
luton" Of June IA, 1777, establishing
the design of the national flag, was
presented to congress among the bust.
ness of the marine committee.
But the strongest evidence is con-
tanned in the words of Hopkinson him.
self which are on record. On May %
1850, he wrote to the board Of ad-
miralty saying, ut is with great pleas
ure that / understand my last Device
of Seal for the Board of Admiralty
has met with your Honours, Approba.
tion." This seal, which was adopted
May 4, 1880, had 13 red and white
stripes. In later letter he asked for
compensation for his services, itemiz-
ing list of designs that he presum.
ably had prepared. Among these was
''the flag of the United States of Amer.
ica" and "a great seal for the United
States of America, with a reverse"
Later he specified the amount OF
money due him as S2,700, but he seems
collecting it. He had enemies on the
treasury board and after his bill had
once been allowed, vouchers were de-
manded and the bill went back and
forth from Hopkinson to the board OF
admiralty, the board of .treasurers
the auditor general, the commission
eT of accounts and congress. Finally
the treasury board denied paymen,
because it is within knowledge Of one
of the members of the board that with
respect TO the charges of the works
incidental to the treasury the said
Francis Hopkinson was not the only
person consulted on those exhibitions
of fancy and therefore cannot claim
the sole merit of them and is not Ell
titled in this respect to the full sun
charged" Historians who support the
theory that he was the designer OF