Frederic Williams Hopkins (September 15, 1806 – January 21, 1874) was a

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

lawyer and militia officer who served as Adjutant General of the Vermont Militia.

Early life

Frederic Williams Hopkins was born in

Pittsford, Vermont Pittsford is a town in Rutland County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 2,862. Named for William Pitt, it has two picket forts used in the American Revolutionary War. History Pittsford was first settled as ...

on September 15, 1806. He graduated from

Middlebury College Middlebury College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont, United States. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists, Middlebury w ...

in 1828, studied law, and became an attorney in

Rutland Rutland is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Leicestershire to the north and west, Lincolnshire to the north-east, and Northamptonshire to the south-west. Oakham is the largest town and county town. Rutland has a ...

Legal career

He was a long time Rutland Justice of the Peace, and served as Rutland County's Register of

Probate In common law jurisdictions, probate is the judicial process whereby a will is "proved" in a court of law and accepted as a valid public document that is the true last testament of the deceased; or whereby, in the absence of a legal will, the e ...

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 A volunteer fire department (VFD) is a fire department of volunteers who perform fire suppression and other related emergency services for a local jurisdiction. Volunteer and retained (on-call) firefighters are expected to be on call to respo ...

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. 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 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

. This group, including

Franklin Pierce Franklin Pierce (November 23, 1804October 8, 1869) was the 14th president of the United States, serving from 1853 to 1857. A northern Democratic Party (United States), Democrat who believed that the Abolitionism in the United States, abolitio ...

Alden Partridge Alden Partridge (February 12, 1785 – January 17, 1854) was an American author, legislator, officer, surveyor, an early superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York and a controversial pioneer in U.S. milita ...

Alonzo Jackman Alonzo Jackman (March 20, 1809 – February 24, 1879) was a Vermont educator and military officer. He is prominent for developing and implementing a system for receiving and training troops for the Union Army during the American Civil War, and f ...

, and

Truman B. Ransom Truman Bishop Ransom (September 20, 1802 – September 13, 1847) was a Vermont educator and military officer who served as President of Norwich University and commander of a regiment in the Mexican–American War. He was killed at the Battle o ...

, held seminars to discuss tactics, strategy and recruiting, and carry out maneuvers and drills in an effort to improve unit readiness. He spoke the eulogy at the memorial service for

, the President of Norwich University and a militia officer who was killed in the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...

while leading his regiment at

Chapultepec Chapultepec, more commonly called the "Bosque de Chapultepec" (Chapultepec Forest) in Mexico City, is one of the largest Nature Value Area´s in Mexico, measuring in total just over . Centered on a rock formation called Chapultepec Hill, one of ...

in 1848.

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.

Death and burial

Hopkins died in Rutland on January 23, 1874. He was originally interred in Rutland's West Street Cemetery, and his grave there was one of several that were vandalized in 1891. His remains were later moved to Rutland's Evergreen Cemetery.

Family

Hopkins was the son of Hiram Hopkins (1777–1847) and Rachel Spotten Hopkins (1773–1839). He was married twice. His first wife was Julian Ann Hooker (1810–1842) and his second was Ann Eliza Lawrence (1816–1897). 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
a

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hopkins, Frederic Williams 1806 births 1874 deaths People from Pittsford, Vermont People from Rutland (city), Vermont Middlebury College alumni Vermont lawyers Vermont state court judges American militia generals Burials at Evergreen Cemetery (Rutland, Vermont) 19th-century Vermont state court judges 19th-century American lawyers