APS Members Bibliography

Arthur St. Clair (393)

Election date: 1780

Arthur St. Clair (23 March 1737–31 August 1818) was a public officeholder, soldier, and a member of the American Philosophical Society, elected in 1780. He was born in Scotland and likely studied at the University of Edinburgh before apprenticing a physician in 1756. The next year, he gave up his medical studies and by 1760 St. Clair was a lieutenant. In 1762, however, he married into wealth and resigned his commission, settling in Pennsylvania’s Ligonier Valley. He held minor public offices there before 1775 when he served as secretary to an embassy from the Continental Congress, then, returning to military service, he raised a regiment and became a colonel. He protected an American retreat in Canada (1776), fought in Trenton (1776), and Princeton (1777), and earned the rank of Major General. He controversially withdrew from a siege at Fort Ticonderoga, was subsequently suspended by Congress, and only served as an aide-de-camp under General George Washington for the rest of the war. Now in peacetime, St. Clair took up the federalist mantle and plotted in the Newburgh Conspiracy of 1783, using threat of military recourse to promote a stronger federal government. He served on Pennsylvania's Council of Censors (1783), became a delegate to Congress (1785), and then served as its President (1787), overseeing the passing of the Northwest Ordinance and reluctantly becoming governor of the new territory. St. Clair’s time as governor was marked by persistent mishandling of treaties and subsequent conflicts with Native tribes and a fruitless effort to push his Federalist policies onto a territory clamoring for self-governance and statehood. In 1801, President John Adams and the Senate reappointed him for a three-year term in the Senate. During this time, he fought to delay statehood of the Northwestern territory despite popular support, leading President Thomas Jefferson to dismiss him in 1802. Politically and financially in ruin, he lost his property not long after and retired to a log house in Chestnut Ridge, Pennsylvania. He died following a carriage accident. (ANB)

Member(s): Arthur St. Clair

393.001

A narrative of the manner in which the campaign against the Indians, in the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety-one, was conducted, under the command of Major General St. Clair : together with his observations on the statements of the Secretary of War and the quarter master general, relative thereto, and the reports of the committee appointed to inquire into the causes of the failure thereof.

Creator(s):

St Clair, Arthur, 1734-1818 (Author)

Publication:

Philadelphia: Printed by Jane Aitken, no. 71 North Third Street, 1812.

Subjects:

Women in the printing and publishing trades. | St. Clair's Campaign, 1791.

Record Source:

AAS

References:

Sabin 75020 | Shaw-Shoemaker 26682 | Howes S24

APS Subjects:

War | Indian | Native American | Western Americana

Editions:

1x 1812 (Philadelphia)

Editions Note:

One edition.

Holding Note: Presented by John Vaughan, November 1814. View Holding

Member(s): Arthur St. Clair

393.002

An oration, delivered at Marietta, July 4, 1788, by the Hon. James M. Varnum, Esq. one of the judges of the Western Territory : the speech of His Excellency Arthur St. Clair, Esquire, upon the proclamation of the commission appointing him governor of said territory : and the proceedings of the inhabitants of the city of Marietta.

Creator(s):

Varnum, James M (James Mitchell), 1748-1789 James Mitchell (Author) | St Clair, Arthur, 1734-1818 (Contributor)

Publication:

Newport (Rhode-Island): Printed by Peter Edes, [1788]

Subjects:

Northwest, Old -- History -- 1775-1865.

Record Source:

ESTC

References:

Sabin 98639 | Evans 21538

APS Subjects:

Western Americana

Editions:

1x 1788 (Newport (Rhode-Island))

Editions Note:

One edition.

Holding Note: APS does not own this text. Help the APS acquire this item.

Member(s): Arthur St. Clair

393.003

Letter from Arthur St. Clair, governor of the North-Western Territory, on the subject of a division of the said territory; and the petition of George Tevebaugh and others, inhabitants of Knox County, in the North-Western Territory. Read the 14th. March 1800. Ordered to lie on the table. Printed by order of the House of Representatives.

Creator(s):

St Clair, Arthur, 1734-1818 (Author)

Publication:

Philadelphia: Printed by Zachariah Poulson, Junior, no. 106, Chesnut-Street, 1800.

Subjects:

Northwest, Old -- History -- 1775-1865.

Record Source:

ESTC

References:

Sabin 75019 | Evans 38753 | Streeter III: 1323

APS Subjects:

Politics | Western Americana

Editions:

1x 1800 (Philadelphia)

Editions Note:

One edition.

Holding Note: APS does not own this text. Help the APS acquire this item.

Member(s): Arthur St. Clair

393.004

Proceedings of a general court martial, held at White Plains, in the state of New-York, by order of His Excellency General Washington, commander in chief of the army of the United States of America, for the trial of Major General St. Clair, August 25, 1778. Major General Lincoln, president.

Creator(s):

St Clair, Arthur, 1734-1818 (Author)

Publication:

Philadelphia: Printed by Hall and Sellers, in Market-Street, [1778]

Subjects:

Trials (Military offenses) -- United States. | United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783.

Record Source:

ESTC

References:

Sabin 75021 | Evans 16141

APS Subjects:

Politics | War | Western Americana

Editions:

1x 1778 (Philadelphia), 1x 1881 (New York)

Editions Note:

Two editions: one in 1778 (Philadelphia) and one in 1881 (New York).

Holding Note: APS holds three copies: one copy of the 1778 editions which was presented by J. P. Norris, and two copies of the 1881 reprint by the New-York Historical Society [ 1 , 2 ].

Member(s): Arthur St. Clair

393.005

Remarks on a report of a committee of the Senate, on a memorial of General Arthur St. Clair.

Creator(s):

St Clair, Arthur, 1734-1818 (Author)

Publication:

[United States: s.n.], [between 1809–1811]

Subjects:

United States. Congress (10th, 1st session : 1807-1808). Senate. Report of the Committee to whom was referred the petition of General Arthur St. Clair. | United States -- Claims. | United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783 -- Claims. | St. Clair, Arthur, 1734-1818 -- Claims vs. United States.

Record Source:

AAS

References:

Shaw-Shoemaker 18562

APS Subjects:

Politics | Western Americana

Editions:

1x 1809–1811 ([United States])

Editions Note:

One edition.

Holding Note: APS does not own this text. Help the APS acquire this item.