Richard Thomas (303)

Richard Thomas (30 October 1744–19 January 1832) was a military officer, politician, and a member of the American Philosophical Society, elected in 1771. Born into a Quaker family in West Whiteland Township in Chester County, Thomas spent his childhood studying under private tutors. His studying paid off, because in 1769, he accompanied fellow APS members Joel Bailey and Owen Biddle in observing the transit of Venus from a lighthouse near Cape-Henlopen, Delaware, on behalf of the American Philosophical Society. During the Revolutionary War, Thomas fought in a campaign in New Jersey designed to protect Philadelphia, and attained the rank of Colonel (1776), but not before the Uwchaln Friend’s Meeting, his local Quaker chapter, disowned him from the faith for partaking in warfare. After the war, he entered politics, serving as an assemblyman (1786), then State Senator (1790), and served as a member of Congress (1794,1796,1798). He died at 88 years of age, with Friends Western Burial Ground serving as his final resting place.