William Warner Hoppin (September 1, 1807 – April 19, 1890) was the 24th Governor of Rhode Island from 1854 to 1857.

Early life

Hoppin was a native of Providence, Rhode Island. He graduated from the Hopkins School in 1824 and then went to Yale University and Yale Law School. He practiced law in Providence.

Political career

He was elected to the

Providence City Council The Providence City Council is the fifteen-member legislative body of the city of Providence, Rhode Island. The two major responsibilities of the council are enacting ordinances necessary to ensure the welfare and good order of the city and ad ...

in 1838 and served for four years. He later became active as a Whig, and in 1847 he was elected to Providence's Board of Aldermen, where he served for five years. In 1853 he was elected to the

Rhode Island State Senate The Rhode Island Senate is the upper house of the Rhode Island General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, the lower house being the Rhode Island House of Representatives. It is composed of 38 Senators, each of w ...

, where he served until 1854. He was elected Governor as a Whig and served three one year terms, 2 May 1854 to 26 May 1857. Hoppin was a member of the

Know Nothing The Know Nothing party was a nativist political party and movement in the United States in the mid-1850s. The party was officially known as the "Native American Party" prior to 1855 and thereafter, it was simply known as the "American Party". ...

or American Party, an anti-Catholic organization which was very influential in Rhode Island during Hoppin's term of office. Hoppin won the Governorship by heading both the Whig and Know-Nothing tickets. In 1854, Governor Hoppin helped spread rumor of an armed Catholic conspiracy in Rhode Island. In response to this imagined threat, Hoppin provided uniforms and weapons to form the "Guards of Liberty," a military unit whose members consisted solely of native-born white Protestants. He became a Republican when the party was founded in the 1850s, and he was a Delegate to the

1856 Republican National Convention The 1856 Republican National Convention was a presidential nominating convention that met from June 17 to June 19 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was the first national nominating convention of the Republican Party, which had been founded tw ...

, and campaigned for

John C. Fremont John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

. He participated in the Peace Conference of 1861, which attempted to prevent the start of the American Civil War When the war began he was a staunch supporter of the Union cause, campaigning for Abraham Lincoln in 1860 and 1864, and

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

in 1868 and 1872. During the war, Hoppin was active in efforts to raise troops for Rhode Island's regiments and other activities in support of the Union Army. In 1866 Hoppin was returned to the Rhode Island Senate, and served until 1867. In 1875, he was elected to one term in the Rhode Island House of Representatives. William Warner Hoppin

Hoppin was appointed a federal Registrar in Bankruptcy in 1867, and served until 1872. He was a hereditary member of the Rhode Island

Society of the Cincinnati The Society of the Cincinnati is a fraternal, hereditary society founded in 1783 to commemorate the American Revolutionary War that saw the creation of the United States. Membership is largely restricted to descendants of military officers wh ...

and served as its vice president. He was also a 3rd Class Companion (i.e. honorary member) of the Massachusetts Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States in recognition of his support for the Union during the Civil War.

Death and burial

Governor Hoppin died in Providence on April 19, 1890, and was buried in Providence's Swan Point Cemetery.

Early life

Political career

Death and burial

References

Further reading