William Warner Hoppin (September 1, 1807 – April 19, 1890) was the 24th

Governor of Rhode Island The governor of Rhode Island is the head of government of the U.S. state of Rhode Island and serves as commander-in-chief of the state's Army National Guard and Air National Guard. The current governor is Democrat Dan McKee. In their capac ...

from 1854 to 1857.

Early life

Hoppin was a native of

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...

. He graduated from the

Hopkins School Hopkins School is a private, college-preparatory, coeducational, day school for grades 7–12 located in New Haven, Connecticut. In 1660, Edward Hopkins, seven-time governor of the Connecticut Colony, bequeathed a portion of his estate to found s ...

in 1824 and then went to

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...

and

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by '' U.S. News & World ...

. 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 Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

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 two ...

, 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 The Peace Conference of 1861 was a meeting of 131 leading American politicians in February 1861, at the Willard's Hotel in Washington, D.C., on the eve of the American Civil War. The purpose of the conference was to avoid, if possible, the seces ...

, which attempted to prevent the start of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

When the war began he was a staunch supporter of the Union cause, campaigning for

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation throu ...

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 A ...

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 During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

. 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 The Rhode Island House of Representatives is the lower house of the Rhode Island General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, the upper house being the Rhode Island Senate. It is composed of 75 members, elected ...

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 The Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS), or simply the Loyal Legion is a United States patriotic order, organized April 15, 1865, by three veteran officers of the Army. The original membership was composed of members ...

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 Swan Point Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Established in 1846 on a 60-acre (0.24 km2) plot of land, it has approximately 40,000 interments. History The cemetery was first organ ...

Early life

Political career

Death and burial

References

Further reading