Show faw famous ous 2 1141 ea 0 0 rak ga at 02 6 t by ELMO SCOTT WATSON 1 there was unveiled on the wall of a R modest brick house in n philadelphia a bronze tablet which tells the passerby passer by that hall columbia was composed here by joseph hopkinson on april 22 1798 the unveiling was done by a little girl martha hopkinson who thus honored the memory of her great great grand father a man whose name Is known to comparatively few americans americana yet francis hopkinson and joseph hopkinson offer an example of famous father worthy son scarcely paralleled in all american history it Is eminently fitting that their names should be recalled as independence day approaches for they contributed materially to the foundation of our republic and the establishment of the national tradition francis hopkinson was born in philadelphia in 1737 the son of an englishman who served several years as a judge of the admiralty and a member of the provincial council hopkinson was the first scholar entered at the university of pennsylvania then the college of philadelphia and was wa graduated with its ita first class ho he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1761 after serving as secretary to a conference between the provincial authorities and the chiefs of several nations and as librarian and secretary of the philadelphia library he went to england in 1760 and became an intimate friend of lord north benjamin west end and john penn upon his return to this country lie he resumed his law practice kept store for awhile and became a member of two societies which united la 1700 1769 to become the famous american philosophical society in 1772 lie he was appointed inspector of the customs at new castle but was removed because of his bis radical ideas he next moved to bordentown Borden town N J and was a member of the provincial council of that colony from 1774 to 1778 1776 in the latter year he be was elected to the continental tin congress from new jersey and became one of americas immortals when he be signed the declaration of independence historians now seem to agree generally that the betsy rose rosa legend of the origin of the flag bag can be accepted only with reservations she may have made the first flag so far as the actual cutting and sewing of it was concerned but she was not the designer the evidence as to who actually was Is at best incomplete but such evidence as exists points strongly to francis hopkinson it is known that he was greatly interested in the heraldic art especially as it applied to seals flags and coins it to Is known know that in june 1777 he be as chairman of the navy board acting under the marine committee of the continental con gresa cress and that the famous nag flag roso lotion of june 14 1777 establishing the th design of the national flag was presented to congress among the busl boat sees beis of the marine committee but the strongest evidence to Is contained in the words word of hopkinson him elf which are on record on may 25 23 1780 he ha wrote to the board of admiralty Int ralty saying it Is with great pleasure that I 1 understand my last device of a seal beal for the board of admiralty has met with your honours hondours Ho approbation this seal which was adopted may 4 1780 had bad 13 red and white stripes in a later letter he be asked tor for compensation for his services items ing a list of designs that he presumably had bad prepared among these was the flag of the united states of america and a great seal for the united states of america Amer feiL with a reverse re verBe but even though it may not be possible to establish his right to that dla dis he be showed his versatility in ather ways which entitle him to re ra remembrance an ag early as 1774 hopkinson bad won a name tor for himself by publishing an allegory in which be c recounted the wrongs of the colonies and this Is said ald to have done much to fan the spirit of revolution in all who read it throughout the revolution he be continued to use hit big gifts as a writer in a series of satires directed at the tb british which were published in the newspapers of the day load lead attracted widespread attention am km some of them even being attributed to benjamin franklin the most famous of all of hop kin kirsons sons writings was the cattle battle of the kegs based on an incident which took place during the alie british occupation of philadelphia A certain david bushnell had invented a turtle shaped one man submarine which he proposed to use in attaching bombs and time fuses to ta the bottoms of british vessels in the delaware river tests of this submarine however were mere not very successful so the ingenious bushnell nell next conceived the idea of loading a number of kegs with powder and putting them in the river to float down and explode against the ships when they touched them most of them blew up when they struck ice cakes in the river but one did actually destroy a british boat tills was enough however to throw the british into a panic and they began bombarding every floating object in tile the river both hot the guns on the ships and soldiers on the wharves keeping up an incessant fire for hours when hopkinson heard beard of this incident he was so amused that he wrote a poem called the battle of the kegs it immediately became the most popular soldier song of the war and soldiers sang it to a variation of the tune of yankee doodle during the remainder of the conflict it reads as follows why ure sure thought they the devira devil to pay monget folks above the th water the kegs tie said tho strongly made mad of 0 rebel staves and hoops airs could not oppose the powerful foes the conquering british troops sirs airs front from morn to night these men of might displayed amazing courage and when the sun bun was fairly flown down returned to sup their porridge A hundred men with each a pen or more upon my word sirs airs it Is most true would be too few their valor to record airs such teata feats did they perform that day upon those wicked kegs sirs airs that years to come if they get home make their boasts and brags sirs airs in hopkinson published a group of seven songs which he be dedicated to his excellency george washington whether or not tills had anything to do with his appointment as united states district judge in pennsylvania Is a matter for conjecture at any rate aate in 1790 washington named him for that position lie ile did not live e long to enjoy the new honor however for he died of a stroke of apoplexy on may 9 1791 his son joseph hopkinson born in philadelphia november 12 1770 followed closely in his fathers footsteps graduated from the university of pennsylvania in 1780 1786 he also studied law and began practice in easton pa in 1791 but he soon returned to philadelphia and rapidly rose to a position of prominence at the bar he was elected to congress in 1814 and at the close of his term moved to bordentown Borden town where he be remained until IS 1822 he then resumed the practice of law and in am 1828 president john quincy volncy adams appointed him judge of the united states court tor for the eastern district of pennsylvania the same game office held field by his grandfather thomas hopkinson under the british crown hopkinson died in philadelphia january 15 1842 in addition to his bis distinction as a jurist hopkinson was for many years president of the philadelphia academy of fine arts which lie he helped found and vice president of the american philosophical society which hie father had bad helped establish ile he was a writer of wide renown on legal educational cat ional and ethical subjects but he be Is best remembered for the patriotic song which lie wrote in conflicting Connic ting stories are told as to the tha reason tor for hopkinson writing nail hall columbia according to one version he wrote it in honor of president john adams because of adams protest t the shameful attempt of f the tha french government to exact bribes from american ministers sent to france to make a treaty which would smooth out the difficulties between that country and the united states another version Is that it was written in order to set get up an Atner american atherlean lean spirit which should be independent ot of and above the interests passions pas slona and filiey of both belligerents in the threatened war between france and great britain whatever the motive back of it it seems pretty definitely established viat fiat philadelphia theaters went to hot kinson and tried ith its his help to put words to a piece of music called the tha presidents march which aich wits was an ar of an old german folk foik song fox had bad been unable to find word that would adequately express the national feeling but hopkinson and hi his wife wrote such a song and mrs hopkinson played it on the clavichord cl av ichord fox sang the song in ID the theater advertising ver it as the new federal song bong and it gained instant popularity it was wa not known as mall kiall columbia however until it was first siang sang in a new york theater some time later but tor for the next nest 18 16 years until francis scott keys star spangled banner banmer swept the country it was regard ed ad as ai the only national one gong of UN the new republic a 1180 1 western Now union |