McKean, Thomas, 1734-1817

<ul><b>RACES</b>
<li> 11/05/1805 PA Governor Won 53.14% (+6.28%)</li>
<li> 11/02/1802 PA Governor General Election Won 73.65% (+47.44%)</li>
<li> 11/05/1799 PA Governor General Election Won 53.29% (+6.58%)</li>
<li> 11/06/1792 PA Presidential Elector Won 5.22% (-1.08%)</li>
<li> 11/12/1787 Constitutional Convention Delegates Won 17.03% (-0.80%)</li>
<li> 12/31/1781 DE Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li> 07/10/1781 US President of the Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li> 12/31/1780 DE Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li> 12/31/1779 DE Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li> 12/31/1778 DE Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li> 10/01/1778 DE House - New Castle Won 14.29% (+0.00%)</li>
<li> 12/31/1777 DE Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li> 09/22/1777 President of Delaware - Acting Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li> 02/12/1777 President of Delaware Lost 0.00% (-82.61%)</li>
<li> 10/01/1776 DE House - New Castle Won 10.00% (+0.00%)</li>
<li> 12/31/1775 DE Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li> 12/31/1774 DE Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li> 09/01/1774 DE Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li> 10/06/1765 Delegate to the Stamp Act Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
</ul>

<ul><b>SPECULATIVE, DID NOT RUN</b>
<li> 10/01/1782 DE House - New Castle Won 0.00% (+0.00%)</li>
</ul>

THOMAS MC KEAN was born in New London Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. He studied law under his cousin in Delaware and was admitted to the Bar there in 1754, after which he continued his legal training at Middle Temple in London, England. In 1756 he became Deputy Attorney General for Sussex County, Delaware. After serving as clerk of the Delaware Assembly, he won election as an assemblyman in 1762, returning annually until 1779 and serving as Speaker for a number of years. He was in fact Speaker when the then-President of Delaware (what is now governor) was captured during the war of independence, and McKean succeeded him as Acting President until the Speaker of the Senate—who was the rightful successor to the position—could take over. McKean’s national service included participation as Delaware’s delegate to the 1765 Stamp Act Congress. He also represented Delaware in the Continental Congress from 1774 to 1783—serving as President in 1781—and was among the signers of the Declaration of Independence. He went on to serve as Colonel of a Pennsylvania Militia regiment during the war of independence. At that time, the boundary dividing Pennsylvania and Delaware was not as closely drawn as it is now and it was permissible to hold public office in both states. Consequently, the same year that McKean served as President (i.e., governor) of Delaware, the new government of Pennsylvania commissioned him Chief Justice of the state, a position that he held until 1799. Although he supported the Articles of Confederation, he later became a staunch Federalist. He was a delegate to the state convention that ratified the U.S. Constitution in 1787 and to the Pennsylvania Convention of 1789-90, where he supported the concept of a strong executive branch. However, he broke with Federalists over foreign policy and by 1796 had become an outspoken Republican, winning election as governor three years later. The state’s support of Jefferson for President in 1800 helped the Republican party gain a hold over the state and was instrumental in McKean winning reelection in 1802. However, McKean appointed some Federalists to office and defended Federalist judges against impeachment charges by the state legislature, leading to a break with fellow Republicans and forcing him into a coalition with Federalists. Still, he won a third term in office, during which he endured an unsuccessful effort to impeach him. After leaving office, McKean engaged in writing about and discussing political affairs.

<p>Thomas McKean (March 19, 1734 – June 24, 1817) was an American lawyer, politician, and a Founding Father of the United States from New Castle, in New Castle County, Delaware and Philadelphia. During the American Revolution he was a delegate to the Continental Congress where he signed the Continental Association, United States Declaration of Independence, and the Articles of Confederation. McKean served as a President of Congress. He was at various times a member of the Federalist and Democratic-Republican parties. McKean served as President of Delaware, Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, and Governor of Pennsylvania. He is also known for holding copious public positions.</p>

<p>Thomas McKean (pronounced mc-CUNE) was born in Pennsylvania in 1734 to William McKean and Letitia Finney. His father was a tavern-keeper in New London, and both his parents were Irish-born Protestants who came to Pennsylvania as children from Ballymoney, County Antrim, Ireland.</p>

<p>Mary Borden was his first wife. They married in 1763, and lived at 22 The Strand in New Castle, Delaware. They had six children: Joseph, Robert, Elizabeth, Letitia, Mary, and Mary. Mary Borden McKean died in 1773 and is buried at Immanuel Episcopal Church in New Castle. Letitia McKean married Dr. George Buchanananananan and was the mother of CS Admiral Franklin Buchanan.</p>

<p>Thomas McKean might just represent an ideal study of how far political engagement can be carried by one man. One can scarcely believe the number of concurrent offices and duties this man performed during the course of his long career. He served three states* and many more cities and county governments, often performing duties in two or more jurisdictions, even while engaged in federal office.</p>

<p>Born in New London, Pennsylvania, he studied law with his cousin David Finney, and then under the eminent Francis Allison. As a student he served as the clerk of the prothonotory Court of Common Pleas for the county of New Castle, Delaware. He was admitted to the bar in Delaware before the age of 21. In 1756 he was commissioned to his first political office, that of deputy Attorney General to county Sussex, in Pennsylvania. The following year he was admitted to the Bar of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, and at the same time appointed clerk of the Assembly of Delaware. In 1762 the Assembly appointed him a colleague, along with Caesar Rodney, charged with revising and printing the laws of the province of Delaware. Later that year he was elected a delegate to the Assembly, and was re-elected for seventeen years despite a six year residence outside the commonwealth, in Philadelphia. At the behest of the Assembly he served as a trustee of the provincial loan office from 1764 to 1772. In 1775 he was the delegate for Delaware at the Stamp Act Congress in New York. In 1771 he was appointed collector of customs and commissioner of revenue at New Castle. In 1772 to was chosen Speaker of the Assembly of Delaware. Beginning in 1774 he attended the Continental Congress where he served on the national council throughout the Revolutionary War. He also served on the committee to draw up the Articles of Confederation, was commissioned a colonel in the New Jersey militia, and served as President of the newly independent Delaware. In 1777, still serving in the Congress under the articles of Confederation, he was appointed Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, an office that he held for nearly twenty years. He was elected President of Congress in 1781. In 1787 he attended the ratifying convention for the new Federal Constitution in Pennsylvania. In 1789 he played a role in amending the constitution of Pennsylvania. He was elected Governor of Pennsylvania on the Federalist ticket in 1799. Political enemies tried to impeach him, but were unable to prove any wrong-doing. He filled that office by popular re-election for nine years, retiring in 1812. He died on June 24, 1817 at the age of 83.</p>