Jacob Shallus or Shalus (1750–April 18, 1796) was the engrosser or penman of the original copy of the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the nation ...

. The handwritten document that Shallus engrossed is on display at the

National Archives Building The National Archives Building, known informally as Archives I, is the headquarters of the United States National Archives and Records Administration. It is located north of the National Mall at 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, Northwest, Washington, D ...

in Washington.

Early life

Shallus was the son of German immigrants, Valentine Schallus and Frederica Catherina. His brother Thomas Shallus was a mapmaker. He was born a year after his father Valentine immigrated to Pennsylvania and was a volunteer in the Revolutionary War. During the war Shallus fought in Canada and became a

quartermaster Quartermaster is a military term, the meaning of which depends on the country and service. In land armies, a quartermaster is generally a relatively senior soldier who supervises stores or barracks and distributes supplies and provisions. In m ...

of Pennsylvania's 1st Battalion. Shallus also assisted in the outfitting of a

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

ing vessel, the ''Retrieve''.

Career

At the time of the Constitutional Convention in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

, Shallus served as Assistant Clerk to the

Pennsylvania General Assembly The Pennsylvania General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The legislature convenes in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. In colonial times (1682–1776), the legislature was known as the Pennsylvani ...

, which met at the Pennsylvania State House (today known as

Independence Hall Independence Hall is a historic civic building in Philadelphia, where both the United States Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were debated and adopted by America's Founding Fathers. The structure forms the centerp ...

). The convention's desire for speedy drafting and Shallus' convenience to the convention's meeting may have influenced his choice as engrosser. Shallus' name appears nowhere on the document itself, but an investigation into the identity of the Penman in 1937 for the 150th anniversary of the Constitution revealed the identity of the transcriber. Shallus was paid $30 for his engrossing work, a sum recorded as for "clerks employed to

transcribe Transcription refers to the process of converting sounds (voice, music etc.) into letters or musical notes, or producing a copy of something in another medium, including: Genetics * Transcription (biology), the copying of DNA into RNA, the fir ...

& engross." The effort consisted of copying the Constitution on four sheets of

parchment Parchment is a writing material made from specially prepared untanned skins of animals—primarily sheep, calves, and goats. It has been used as a writing medium for over two millennia. Vellum is a finer quality parchment made from the skins of ...

made from treated animal skin (either calf, goat, or sheep; in 1987 the supervising conservator at the National Archives said, "We don't know which") and measuring 28 3/4 inches by 23 5/8 inches, probably with a

goose A goose ( : geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera ''Anser'' (the grey geese and white geese) and '' Branta'' (the black geese). Some other birds, mostly related to the she ...

quill A quill is a writing tool made from a moulted flight feather (preferably a primary wing-feather) of a large bird. Quills were used for writing with ink before the invention of the dip pen, the metal-Nib (pen), nibbed pen, the fountain pen, and, ...

and with ink made of iron filings in oak gall that was black when applied but that has now turned brownish.Irvin Molotsky, "The Constitution: It's 200 Years Old, and It Certainly Has Been Around," ''New York Times'' (September 17, 1987), p. 15, quoting Norvell Jones, supervising conservator at the National Archives, and Kenneth E. Harris, a director of preservation at the National Archives. Shallus engrossed the entire document except for the list of states at the end of the document, which are in Alexander Hamilton's handwriting. Shallus is also credited as Assistant Secretary in the 1790 re-authoring of the

State Constitution of Pennsylvania The Constitution of Pennsylvania is the supreme law within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. All acts of the General Assembly, the governor, and each governmental agency are subordinate to it. Since 1776, Pennsylvania's Constitution has undergone ...

Personal life

Shallus married Elizabeth Melchor, sister to Col. Isaac Melcher, Barrack-Master-General of the Revolutionary Army. Her obituary from the ''Democratic Press'' (Pennsylvania), Aug. 3, 1818, p. 3 notes that she was "one of those patriotic Ladies of Philadelphia who first associated together and supplied the suffering soldiers with shirts, stockings, &c. in that eventful period of the revolution, which tried and apalled iceven men's souls."

References

External links

''Prologue'' Winter 2002, Vol. 34, No. 4, Travels of the Charters of Freedom
National Park Service Document

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shallus, Jacob 1750 births 1796 deaths American calligraphers People from Philadelphia Drafting of the United States Constitution People of colonial Pennsylvania American people of German descent People of Pennsylvania in the American Revolution

Early life

Career

Personal life

See also

References

External links