Career
In 1791, Caleb Hopkins moved from his hometown, Pittsford, Rutland county, Vermont, to what is now Monroe County, New York, and built the first log dwelling in the present town of Penfield. In 1800, he moved to the town of Northfield and built a house about a half a mile south of the present village of Pittsford. The Hopkins Homestead is identified by a historic marker at 3151 Clover Street.
He became a prominent businessman in Pittsford as a farmer and in mercantile pursuits.
In 1808, he was appointed supervisor of the town of Boyle (which later became Pittsford). In 1809, President James Madison appointed him United States collector of customs for the port of Genesee (now Rochester, New York), a post he held until May 1817.
In 1814, the town of Smallwood was divided into Brighton and Pittsford, and Colonel Hopkins named the latter in honor of his birthplace in Vermont. In 1804, Hopkins was commissioned as a lieutenant of the militia, and was promoted to major in 1807.
He was involved in several battles and skirmishes and once was wounded in the shoulder.
