Thomas McKean (137)

Thomas McKean (19 March 1734–24 June 1817) was a politician and jurist and a member of the American Philosophical Society, elected in 1768. Born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, he was placed in the care of Presbyterian minister and APS member Francis Alison and enrolled in Alison’s New London Academy. Having passed the Delaware bar in 1754, McKean extended his practice into Pennsylvania and New Jersey and received barrister certification from London’s Middle Temple. A proponent of public education, he supported several regional academies and was a trustee of the University of Pennsylvania. He began his political career in Delaware, serving as deputy prothonotary, recorder of wills, customs collector, justice of the peace, and deputy attorney general. He also served in the state assembly almost continuously between 1762 and 1779, twice as speaker. An active, early, and radical proponent of American independence, he represented Delaware in the Stamp Act Congress and organized resistance to the Townshend Duties. After moving to Philadelphia in 1773, he became colonel of a Pennsylvania militia battalion and served on the committees of correspondence. He was also a delegate to the First and Second Continental Congresses. There, he prevented Benjamin Franklin’s removal as envoy to France, briefly served as congressional president, and signed the Articles of Confederation. He later signed the Declaration of Independence and attended Delaware’s constitutional convention. He was appointed Chief Justice of Pennsylvania in 1777, holding the position for 22 years alongside offices in Delaware, including acting state president. McKean was an enthusiastic promoter of the federal Constitution and was instrumental in ratifying a more conservative state constitution for Pennsylvania in 1789-1790. He was elected Governor of Pennsylvania in 1799, but his nepotism and increasing conservatism almost earned him impeachment before the end of his third and final term. (PI, ANB, DNB, DAB)