John Hoskins was a Quaker from Burlington County, New Jersey. Born around the year 1728, he married Mary Raper, daughter of Joshua and Sara Raper in 1750; the couple had eleven children. His daughter Sarah married minister Thomas Scattergood (1748-1814) and his daughter Mary married twice, first to Samuel Newbold (1771-), and then to minister Isaac Bonsall (1765-). His daughter Abigail married educator John Griscom (1774). Hoskins himself was a member of Burlington Monthly Meeting, where he served as an elder. Hoskins died in his home in Burlington on March 27, 1814, after an illness of four days.