Page "Francis Hopkinson" Paragraph 3

After his return, Francis Hopkinson operated a dry goods business in Philadelphia and married Ann Borden on September 1, 1768.

They would have five children.

Hopkinson obtained a public appointment as a customs collector for New Castle, Delaware on May 1, 1772.

He moved to Bordentown, New Jersey in 1774, became an assemblyman for the state's Royal Provincial Council, and was admitted to the New Jersey bar on May 8, 1775.

He resigned his crown-appointed positions in 1776 and, on June 22, went on to represent New Jersey in the Second Continental Congress where he signed the Declaration of Independence.

He departed the Congress on November 30, 1776 to serve on the Navy Board at Philadelphia.

As part of the fledgling nation's government, he was treasurer of the Continental Loan Office in 1778 ; appointed judge of the Admiralty Court of Pennsylvania in 1779 and reappointed in 1780 and 1787 ; and helped ratify the Constitution during the constitutional convention in 1787.

On September 24, 1789, he was nominated by President George Washington to the newly created position of judge of the United States District Court for the District of Pennsylvania.

He was confirmed by the United States Senate, and received his commission, on September 26, 1789.