Frederic Williams Hopkins (September 15, 1806 – January 21, 1874) was a Vermont lawyer and militia officer who served as Adjutant General of the Vermont Militia.
Early life Frederic Williams Hopkins was born in Pittsford, Vermont on September 15, 1806. He graduated from Middlebury College in 1828, studied law, and became an attorney in Rutland.Middlebury College, Catalogue of the Graduates of Middlebury College, 1853, page 79
Legal career He was a long time Rutland Justice of the Peace, and served as Rutland County's Register of Probate from 1832 to 1836 and 1838 to 1839. Hopkins served as Clerk of the Rutland County Courts from 1839 to 1868, and was an organizer of the Rutland Union School District in 1855. He was also an organizer of Rutland's first volunteer fire department.H. P. Smith and W. S. Rann, editors, History of Rutland County, Vermont, 1886, pages 144, 272, 379-380, 403, 414Vermont General Assembly, Journal of the Vermont House of Representatives, 1846, page 21
Military career Active in the militia during a period between wars when interest was on the wane, he served as Vermont's Adjutant and Inspector General from 1837 to 1852.Vermont. Adjutant General Office, Annual Report, 1955, page 2
In the 1830s and 1840s Hopkins was part of a group of individuals interested in reorganizing and revitalizing the state militias, which had become increasingly dormant in the years following the War of 1812. This group, including Franklin Pierce, Alden Partridge, Alonzo Jackman, and Truman B. Ransom, held seminars to discuss tactics, strategy and recruiting, and carry out maneuvers and drills in an effort to improve unit readiness.Army and Navy Chronicle, Vermont Military Convention, Volume VIII, 1839, page 191Vermont General Assembly, Journal of the Vermont House of Representatives, 1839, page 182
He spoke the eulogy at the memorial service for Truman B. Ransom, the President of Norwich University and a militia officer who was killed in the Mexican–American War while leading his regiment at Chapultepec in 1848.James Davie Butler, Frederic Williams Hopkins, Discourses at Norwich, Vermont, During the Obsequies of Truman B. Ransom, Colonel of the New-England Regiment, February Twenty-second, 1848: A Sermon, by Rev. James Davie Butler, II. A Eulogy, by General Frederic W. Hopkins, 1848, title pageMichael Van Wagenen, Remembering the Forgotten War: The Enduring Legacies of the U.S.-Mexican War, 2012, page 33
Later life Hopkins was praised when he left his sick bed during an extended illness to supervise the removal of records from the Rutland County Court House during a fire on April 3, 1868.Rutland County Historical Society, The Early Homes of Rutland , 1984, page 49Dawn D. Hance, The History of Rutland, Vermont, 1761-1861, 1991, page 207
Death and burial Hopkins died in Rutland on January 23, 1874.Vermont, Vital Records, 1720-1908, Death record for Frederick W Hopkins He was originally interred in Rutland's West Street Cemetery, and his grave there was one of several that were vandalized in 1891.Rutland Herald, Cemetery Desecrated, Work of a Lawless Gang on West Street , September 29, 1891. Reprinted by Rutland County Historical Society.
His remains were later moved to Rutland's Evergreen Cemetery.Find A Grave, Entry for Frederic Williams Hopkins, 2006
Family Hopkins was the son of Hiram Hopkins (1777–1847) and Rachel Spotten Hopkins (1773–1839).Middlebury College, Catalogue, page 84
He was married twice. His first wife was Julian Ann Hooker (1810–1842)Vermont, Vital Records, 1720–1908, marriage record for Fredrick W. Hopkins and Julian Ann Hooker, Shoreham, Vermont, November 30, 1836 and his second was Ann Eliza Lawrence (1816–1897).1850 United States Federal Census for Fredk. W. Hopkins1860 United States Federal Census for F. W. Hopkins1870 United States Federal Census for F. W. Hopkins
His children included: Sarah Hooker Hopkins Woodbury Martha Vinal Hopkins Anna Larose Lawrence Hopkins Burnham Genevieve (Jennie) Andrews Hopkins Enos Grace Elizabeth Hopkins Gregory William F. Hopkins.Middlebury College, Catalogue of Officers and Graduates, 1917, page 84
References
External resources Frederic Williams Hopkins at Find A Grave