Thomas Hopkins (settler)

Thomas Hopkins
Born	baptized 7 April 1616 Yeovilton, Somerset, England
Died	1684 Oyster Bay, New York
Education	signed name with a mark
Occupation	Commissioner, Deputy
Children	William, Thomas, unknown son who married and had two children
Parent(s)	William Hopkins and Joane Arnold
Relatives	Nephew of William Arnold First cousin of Governor Benedict Arnold Great grandfather of Governor Stephen Hopkins

Thomas Hopkins (1616–1684) was an early settler of Providence Plantations and the great grandfather of Stephen Hopkins who was many times colonial governor of Rhode Island and a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Hopkins was baptized in Yeovilton, county Somerset, England on 7 April 1616, the son of William Hopkins and Joane (Arnold) Hopkins. His mother was the sister of early Providence settler William Arnold and the daughter of Nicholas and Alice (Gully) Arnold of Northover and Ilchester in Somerset. Hopkins' mother died when he was five years old, after which he and his sister Frances were probably taken into the family of their Uncle William Arnold, and most writers on his early history agree that he sailed to New England at age 19 with his uncle's family in 1635. On the same ship was his first cousin Benedict Arnold, also aged 19, the future governor of the Rhode Island colony.

The Arnolds first settled in Hingham in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, but they remained there less than a year. They joined Roger Williams in April 1636 and were among the first settlers of Providence Plantations. Soon after, they were the first English settlers on the Pawtuxet River, the southern edge of Williams's Providence purchase. Hopkins was not yet of age when they settled here, but when he reached his majority he was one of 39 signers of an agreement in 1640 to form a government in Providence, signing his name with a mark.

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