This rare and curious all-access pass and provides further history of the Hopkinson family but also intertwines with the Peale family. Alexander Hamilton Hopkinson (1804 - 1827), one of the many sons of Joseph Hopkinson (1770 - 1842), had been provided with this card reading "For 1826, The Franklin Institute of the State of Pennsylvania For the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts, Admit to Lectures A.H. Hopkinson, Not Transferable, John Richardson Treasurer." The engraving imagery on the card shows Franklin himself in the clouds, with a thoughtful expression and a thumb under his chin, referencing the "Thumb Portrait" (from the classic David Martin, Charles Willson Peale reproduced portrait with the modest chair swaped for the ornate one of the original). With this being the case, as "Benjamin" Franklin Peale (1795 - 1870, son of Charles Willson Peale 1741 - 1827) was among the founders of The Franklin Institute in 1824, we can presume that "Benjamin" Franklin Peale himself made the engraving for this card, or it may have been a collaborative effort among members of the Peale family. At the Institute, Peale taught natural history, mechanics, and chemistry. The Hopkinson family was deeply integrated into nearly every Institute, Academy, Company and College in Philadelphia. In comparing the handwriting on the card to the script from his letters, it would appear evident that the "A.H. Hopkinson:" was not written in his own hand. But, based on his letters, we know that he was an active member of the US Navy during the 1820's until his untimely death in 1827. And, through his letters, we know that he was in Washington D.C. in late 1825 and did not return to sea until early 1827. From the Francis Hopkinson Family Archives