Samuel Hopkins (congressman)
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Samuel Hopkins (April 9, 1753 - September 16, 1819) was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky.
Born in Albemarle County, Virginia, Hopkins was educated by private tutors. He served in the Revolutionary War for a while on the staff of General Washington and later as lieutenant colonel and colonel of the Tenth Virginia Regiment. He moved to Kentucky in 1796 and settled on the Ohio River in 1797 at a point then called Red Banks. He studied law. He was admitted to the bar and practiced. He was appointed chief justice of the first court of criminal common law and chancery jurisdiction in 1799 and served until his resignation in 1801. He served as member of the State house of representatives in 1800, 1801, and 1803-1806. He served in the State senate 1809-1813. He was appointed in 1812 commander in chief, with title of major general, of the western frontier (Illinois and Indiana Territory).
Hopkins was elected as a Republican to the Thirteenth Congress (March 4, 1813-March 3, 1815). He was not a candidate for renomination in 1814. He retired to his country estate, "Spring Garden," near Henderson, Kentucky, and died there September 16, 1819. He was interred in the family burying ground at "Spring Garden.".
