By Michael Kemezis

Edward Hopkins (1600–1657) was an influential figure in the early history of the Connecticut Colony, serving multiple terms as colonial governor. Hopkins played a role in both the colony’s founding and relationships with Indigenous people and neighboring European settlements.

Immigration to Connecticut

Born in England in 1600, Hopkins immigrated to America in 1637. After a brief stay in both Boston and New Haven, he proceeded to move to Hartford. Considered one of the original colonial founders and proprietors of Hartford, Hopkins was a member of the Colonial Assembly of 1638 and became the magistrate and first secretary of the colony in 1639. Hopkins may have helped prepare the Fundamental Orders, the original governing document of the colony. He was married to Ann Yale, connecting him indirectly to the Yale family and Ann’s stepfather, Theophilus Eaton.

In 1640, Hopkins was elected the second governor of Connecticut Colony and served seven separate one-year terms between 1640 and 1654. Due to a provision in the colony’s charter that stipulated that one person could not serve back-to-back terms as governor, Hopkins and John Haynes (Connecticut’s first governor) frequently traded off the position. During six of the years he was not in highest office, Hopkins served as deputy governor. Additionally, Hopkins is considered the first lawyer to try a case in court in Connecticut in 1639.

The Pequot War and the Treaty of Hartford (1638)

Copy of the first page of the Treaty of Hartford (1638) – Yale Indian Papers Project. Used through Public Domain.

Hopkins played a key role in drafting the Treaty of Hartford signed on September 21,1638 that concluded the Pequot War. Along with John Haynes and Massachusetts Bay Governor, John Winthrop, Hopkins negotiated and signed the three-way treaty between the English, the Mohegan, and the Narragansett—all allies in the war efforts against the Pequot.

Through the treaty, the signers attempted to eradicate the Pequots by dividing the surviving community members among the Mohegan and Narragansett. The document also forbade them from identifying as Pequots or living in their former territory. Hopkins, as a signor of the treaty and soon-to-be governor, was instrumental in establishing and enforcing the terms set out in the document. The treaty also empowered the English to arbitrate disputes between the Mohegan and Narragansett tribes.

Several years later, from 1643 to 1651, Hopkins represented Connecticut in the New England Confederation (also known as the United Colonies of New England), a body that formed to coordinate collective English defense against the Dutch and Indigenous tribes and communities in the region. He served as president of the Federation when it met in Hartford in 1644 and 1650.

The Dutch and the Treaty of Hartford (1650)

In 1650, as colonial governor, Hopkins negotiated another treaty—also called the Treaty of Hartford—with the Dutch Director-General of New Netherland Peter Stuyvesant. This treaty addressed the increasing pressures from English colonists on New Netherland’s borders by establishing clear boundaries between the English and Dutch colonies in Connecticut and Long Island. The agreement defined the western boundary line of the Connecticut Colony at 50 Dutch miles west of the mouth of the Connecticut River. It also divided Long Island in two, with the eastern section of the island as part of Connecticut.

Return to England

Hartford Founders Monument in the Ancient Burying Ground. Edward Hopkins’ name is inscribed on the north side of the monument. – By Cliff, Wikimedia Commons. Used through a CC BY 2.0 license.

Despite his active involvement in Connecticut, Hopkins maintained connections with England and returned to Britain when he was appointed a commissioner of the navy by Prime Minister Oliver Cromwell in 1652. He was later appointed admiralty commissioner and serve as a member of parliament from 1656 to 1657. Even though he was living and working in England, Hopkins was re-elected as Governor of Connecticut in 1654. He did not return to serve his term as governor, however, and Deputy Governor Thomas Welles took the position in his place.

Hopkins’ Legacy

Edward Hopkins died in London in March 1657 and left a substantial estate, including one enslaved individual. His funds supported Harvard College (now Harvard University) and grammar schools in Hartford, New Haven (now the Hopkins Grammar School), and Cambridge, Massachusetts. Land purchased with his estate’s funds also established the town of Hopkinton, Massachusetts, named in his honor.

In total, Hopkins was elected governor seven times (1640, 1644, 1646, 1648, 1650, 1652, and 1654), serving in office six times after not returning to the colony from England after his 1654 election. Additionally, he served as deputy governor six times (1643, 1645, 1649, 1651, and 1653), secretary of the colony twice (1639 and 1640), and chief magistrate to the General Court (1639).

Michael Kemezis is the director of digital humanities at CT Humanities.