The Hopkins Family

Stephen Hopkins was one of the most adventurous of the passengers aboard the Mayflower. He traveled with his second wife, Elizabeth (Fisher) Hopkins, and children Constanta, Giles and Damaris. Elizabeth was pregnant during the voyage and gave birth to a son Oceanus while at sea. Two indentured servants accompanied the family, Edward Doty and Edward Leister.

Stephen was baptized at All Saints Church, at Upper Clatford, Hampshire, England, on the last of April, 1581, the son of John and Elizabeth (Williams) Hopkins. He died at Plymouth, between 6 June and 17 July 1644. Stephen married 1) before 13 May 1604, Mary Kent; he married 2) at St. Mary Matfellon, Whitechapel, Middlesex, 19 February 1617/18, Elizabeth Fisher.

This was not Stephen’s first voyage to the New World. In 1609 he signed on as a minister’s clerk, aboard the Sea Venture at Plymouth, England, the flagship of a fleet of seven headed to Jamestown, along with Jamestown’s Governor Sir Thomas Gates and the Rev. Richard Buck. Stephen left his wife Mary and three children behind and would be gone seven years. After a hurricane which sent their damaged ship to Bermuda, they spent many months repairing it so they could continue to Jamestown. During this time, Stephen argued that the Governor had no authority over them while they were on land. He was found guilty of “Mutinie and Rebellion” and sentenced to death. He was so penitent, asking the court to consider the plight of his wife and children, that he was pardoned. The group eventually made their way to Jamestown and spent the next few years rebuilding the colony. When Stephen returned to England by 1616, he learned that his first wife had died.

Stephen Hopkins was a signer of the Mayflower Compact, signed at Provincetown, 11 November 1620. In the 1623 land division, he received six acres. The cattle division of 1627 lists he and his wife Elizabeth, with children Gyles, Caleb, Deborah, and daughter Constance and her husband Nicholas Snow.

Stephen’s experiences in Jamestown made him valuable to the Plymouth settlement. He helped determine a suitable place to settle, and his dealings with the Native Americans were especially helpful. When Samoset and Squanto began their visits to Plymouth in 1621, they were housed in Stephen Hopkins’ home. It was also Hopkins who was chosen by Governor Carver to go with Edward Winslow and first approach Massasoit. 

Stephen went on to serve as an Assistant of the Governor for many years, however he sometimes found himself on the other side of the law. In 1636, in his office as Assistant, he was fined £5.40s for breaking the King’s peace in dangerously wounding John Tisdale. At least three times he was fined for allowing men to drink excessively at his house, and several times fined for charging excessive prices for liquor and goods.