Signer of the Declaration of Independence from Rhode Island (1707–1785) who served a total of four terms as governor of the state. Rare ALS, signed “Step Hopkins,” one page, 6.25 x 7.75, September 1754, Newport, [Rhode Island]. A warm letter in which widower Hopkins courts his future wife, “Mrs. Anne Smith,” in full: "While I am here employed in the drudgery of following Vice and Grand through the lurking places of Craft and design, You are peacefully Pursuing the Paths of Peace and Contemplating the Laws and designs of Heaven; go on ever in those happy Courses and enjoy that as happyness that is attendant thereon; Your prayers will endeavour to Preserve me from the Snares incident to the Station I am placed in. Mine shall attend you in your Journey which I hope may be very agreeable as your returne will be to him who with truth Subscribes himself." Addressed on the reverse in Hopkins’s own hand. Professionally inlaid into a slightly larger sheet and in fine condition, with a tiny pinhole of paper loss, wax seal remnant in left margin, and scattered light soiling.
Penned the year before his first term as governor of Rhode Island, Hopkins had returned only months earlier from the historic Albany Congress, which approved Benjamin Franklin's plan to unify the colonies under a president appointed by the crown. Although ultimately rejected, the Albany Plan of Union formed the basis for the Articles of Confederation of 1777. Hopkins is known for his very shaky signature on the Declaration; in this instance, twenty years earlier, his hand was far steadier. Scarce in any format, Hopkins is especially rare in autograph letters. Pre-certified PSA/DNA.
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