A lawyer, and a talented writer of music, poetry, and satire, Francis Hopkinson was the first scholar and graduate of the College of Philadelphia, which was chartered by his father and Benjamin Franklin. After studying law with Benjamin Chew, later Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, he continued his education in England for two years. He signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776 as a delegate to the Continental Congress, and actively promoted the new Federal Constitution after the war. Hopkinson served as a Judge of Admiralty in Pennsylvania and was appointed a Federal District Judge for his home state by George Washington in 1790. He claimed credit for designing the American flag, but this is uncertain.
