The following information was assembled from numerous sources and cannot be used directly as proof of Qualifying Service or Lineage.
It is considered a research aid and is intended to assist in locating sources that can be used as proof.
State of Service: PA/DE
Qualifying Service: Patriotic Service / Civil Service
Thomas McKean was born on 19 March 1734 in Chester County, Pennsylvania, to Irish immigrants of Scottish descent.
He became a lawyer in the 1750s. Delaware, at that time, was technically a part of Pennsylvania but had its own General Assembly. Thomas had homes in Philadelphia and in Delaware and was politically active in both.
His first public office was as Attorney General for Sussex County, Delaware. He became a judge of the Court of Common Pleas in 1765 and was sent to the Stamp Act Congress from Delaware to coordinate resistance with the other colonies against the Stamp Act. From 1762 to 1776, he was a member of the General Assembly in Delaware and served as its Speaker of the House in 1772.
Thomas was chosen as a member of Delaware's delegation to the First and Second Continental Congresses. He was a prominent advocate of independence from Great Britain and voted for the Declaration of Independence on 2 July 1776. He helped write the Articles of Confederation and served as the President of Congress for a few months in 1781, during which time Lord Charles Cornwallis surrendered his army at Yorktown, the event that eventually brought the Revolutionary War to an end.
During the war, Thomas participated in the defense of New York City. He also attended Delaware's convention to write its own state constitution. He wrote virtually the entire constitution in one night, and when it was ratified on 20 September 1776, it became the first state constitution to be adopted after the colonies declared their independence. He then served as President of Delaware for a short time when the then-current president, John McKinly, was captured by the British.
He was elected Pennsylvania's Chief Justice from 1777 to 1799. In this position, he became one of the most prominent shapers of the American legal system, some scholars believe even more so than the long-serving Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court, John Marshall. Thomas served at the Pennsylvania Convention, which ratified the US Constitution and adopted a state constitution for Pennsylvania.
Thomas was then elected governor of Pennsylvania for three terms from 1799 to 1808. He led the way in preparing Philadelphia's defenses during the War of 1812 at 80 years old. He finally passed away at the age of 83. His grave is at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia.
Author: COL Ernest Loran Sutton MC
Thomas McKean was one of the most politically active of the Founding Fathers, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, a colonial in the Pennsylvania Militia, delegate to the First and Second Continental Congress from Delaware and later president, signer of the Articles of Confederation, President of Delaware, and lastly Governor of Pennsylvania. Born in Chester County, Pennsylvania on March 19, 1734, he later trained as a lawyer.
In spite of his primary residence in Philadelphia, McKean remained an effective leader for American independence in both Delaware and Pennsylvania. He was one of Delaware's delegates to the First Continental Congress in 1774 and the Second Continental Congress in 1775 and 1776. When Congress he voted for a resolution of independence in June 1776.
After he cast his vote, he left Congress to serve as colonel in command of the Fourth Battalion of the Pennsylvania Associators, a militia unit created by Benjamin Franklin in 1747. His unit joined Washington's defense of New York City at Perth Amboy, New Jersey. Being away, he was not available when most of the signers placed their signatures on the Declaration of Independence on August 2, 1776. Since his signature did not appear on the printed copy that was authenticated on January 17, 1777, it is assumed that he signed after that date, possibly as late as 1781.
He returned to Congress in October 1777 by the 1777/78 Delaware General Assembly. He then served continuously until February 1, 1783. McKean helped draft the Articles of Confederation and voted for their adoption on March 1, 1781. He was elected as President of Congress in July 1781 and served until November 4, 1781. The President of Congress was a mostly ceremonial position with no real authority, but the office did require McKean to handle a good deal of correspondence and sign official documents. During his time in office, Lord Cornwallis's British army surrendered at Yorktown, effectively ending the war.
During and after the war, he was elected as Pennsylvania’s Chief Justice from 1777 to 1799. Then was elected for three terms from 1799 to 1808 as Governor of Pennsylvania.
His first wife was Mary Borden who bore six children before her death in 1773. His second was wife was Sarah Armitage who bore four children. In Philadelphia he died at the age of 80 years on June 24, 1817, and is buried in the Laurel Hill Cemetery.
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