Thomas Mifflin (January 10, 1744January 20, 1800) was an American merchant, soldier, and politician from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, who is regarded as a

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for his roles during and after the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

. Mifflin signed the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally includi ...

, was the first

governor of Pennsylvania The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

, serving from 1790 to 1799, and was also the state's last president, succeeding

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

in 1788. Born in Philadelphia, Mifflin became a merchant following his graduation from the College of Philadelphia. After serving in the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly and the

First Continental Congress The First Continental Congress was a meeting of delegates of twelve of the Thirteen Colonies held from September 5 to October 26, 1774, at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia at the beginning of the American Revolution. The meeting was organized b ...

, where he signed the

Continental Association The Continental Association, also known as the Articles of Association or simply the Association, was an agreement among the Thirteen Colonies, American colonies, adopted by the First Continental Congress, which met inside Carpenters' Hall in Phi ...

, he joined the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

in 1775. During the Revolutionary War, Mifflin was an aide to General

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

and was appointed the army's Quartermaster General, rising to the rank of major general. He returned to Congress in 1782 and was elected president of the Congress the following year. He served as speaker of the

Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

from 1785 to 1787 and as president of Pennsylvania's Supreme Executive Council from 1788 to 1790. Mifflin was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1787 and signed the

. He then presided over the committee that wrote Pennsylvania's state constitution, becoming the state's first governor after the constitution's ratification in 1790. Mifflin left office as governor in 1799 and died the following year.

Early life and family

Mifflin was born January 10, 1744, in Philadelphia, in the

Province of Pennsylvania The Province of Pennsylvania, also known as the Pennsylvania Colony, was a British North American colony founded by William Penn, who received the land through a grant from Charles II of England in 1681. The name Pennsylvania was derived from ...

. He was the son of John Mifflin and Elizabeth Bagnall. His great-grandfather John Mifflin Jr. (1662–1714) was born in Warminster,

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

, England and settled in the Province of Pennsylvania. In 1760, Mifflin graduated from the College of Philadelphia (now the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

) and joined the mercantile business of William Biddle. After returning from a trip to Europe in 1765, he established a commercial business partnership with his brother, George Mifflin. He married a second cousin, Sarah Morris, on March 4, 1767. Their daughte
Emily Mifflin
married Joseph Hopkinson, the son of Francis Hopkinson. After Sarah's death in 1790, Emily became her father's hostess and a family source references a total of four daughters in the family, "all beautiful women." A source indicates that Sarah "had no children of her own." Excerpt at

Military service

The Death of General Mercer at the Battle of Princeton January 3 1777

Early in the Revolutionary War, Mifflin left the Continental Congress to serve in the Continental Army. He was commissioned as a major, then became an ''aide-de-camp'' of George Washington. On August 14, 1775, Washington appointed him to become the army's first quartermaster general, under order of Congress. Although it has been said that he was good at the job despite preferring to be on the front lines, questions were raised regarding his failure to properly supply Washington and the troops at Valley Forge, alleging that he had instead warehoused and sold supplies intended for Valley Forge to the highest bidder. Reportedly, after Washington confronted him about this, Mifflin asked to be relieved as quartermaster general but was persuaded to resume those duties because Congress was having difficulty finding a replacement. Mifflin's leadership in the Battle of Trenton and the Battle of Princeton led to a promotion to major general. In Congress, there was debate regarding whether a national army was more efficient or whether the individual states should maintain their own forces. As a result of this debate the Congressional Board of War was created, on which Mifflin served from 1777 to 1778. He then rejoined the army but took little active role, following criticism of his service as quartermaster general. He was accused of embezzlement and welcomed an inquiry; however, one never took place. He resigned his commission, but Congress continued to ask his advice even after accepting his resignation.

Political career

General George Washington Resigning his Commission

Prior to American independence, Mifflin was a member of the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly (1772–1776). He served two terms in the Continental Congress (1774–1775 and 1782–1784), including seven months (November 1783 to June 1784) as that body's presiding officer. Mifflin's most important duty as president was to accept on behalf of Congress the resignation of General George Washington on December 23, 1783. After the war, the importance of Congress declined so precipitously that Mifflin found it difficult to convince the states to send enough delegates to Congress to ratify the Treaty of Paris, which finally took place on January 14, 1784, at the Maryland State House in Annapolis. He also appointed

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

as a minister to France on May 7, 1784, and he appointed his former aide, Colonel Josiah Harmar, to be the commander of the

First American Regiment The First American Regiment (also known as Harmar's Regiment, The United States Regiment, The Regiment of Infantry, 1st Sub-legion, 1st Regiment of Infantry and 1st Infantry Regiment) was the first peacetime regular army infantry unit authorized ...

. Mifflin later served as a delegate to the United States Constitutional Convention in 1787. He was a signatory to the Continental Association and the Constitution. He served in the house of Pennsylvania General Assembly (1785–1788). He was a member of the Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and on November 5, 1788, he was elected president of the Council, replacing

. He was unanimously reelected to the presidency on November 11, 1789. He presided over the committee that wrote Pennsylvania's 1790 state constitution. That document did away with the Executive Council, replacing it with a single governor. On December 21, 1790, Mifflin became the last president of Pennsylvania and the first governor of the Commonwealth. He held the latter office until December 17, 1799, when he was succeeded by Thomas McKean. The Whiskey Rebellion and the 1793 Philadelphia yellow fever epidemic happened during his term in office. Fries Rebellion also started during his term. He then returned to the state legislature, where he served until his death the following month.

Personal life

Although Mifflin's family had been

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...

for four generations, he was expelled from the Religious Society of Friends when he joined the Continental Army, because his involvement with the military contradicted that faith's pacifistic doctrines. Citing Mifflin became a member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

in 1768 and served for two years as its secretary. He served from 1773 to 1791 as a trustee of the College and Academy of Philadelphia (now the

), including two years as treasurer (1773–1775).

Death and legacy

Mifflin died in

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Lancaster ( ) is a city in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 58,039 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, eighth-most populous ci ...

, on January 23, 1800. He is interred at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Lancaster. A Commonwealth of Pennsylvania historical marker outside Holy Trinity, dedicated in 1975, commemorates Thomas Wharton and Mifflin, the first and last Presidents of Pennsylvania under the Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776. It reads:

Namesakes

Counties, cities, and townships

* Mifflin Township, Franklin County, Ohio * Mifflin Street, Madison, Wisconsin * Mifflin Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Schools and government buildings

* Governor Mifflin School District ** Governor Mifflin High School * Mifflin Hall ( dormitory at the

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

University Park Campus) * Mifflin Hall (main building at the U.S. Army Quartermaster Center and School at Fort Gregg-Adams (formerly Fort Lee), Virginia). * Thomas Mifflin School,

School District of Philadelphia The School District of Philadelphia (SDP) is the school district that includes all school district-operated State schools, public schools in Philadelphia. Established in 1818, it is the largest school district in Pennsylvania and the eighth-lar ...

Pop Culture

*Fictional company Dunder Mifflin in The Office TV show.

Footnotes

References

* * * * *

External links

Brief biography and portrait
at the University of Pennsylvania

at Quartermasters-General {{DEFAULTSORT:Mifflin, Thomas 1744 births 1800 deaths American Lutherans Continental Army generals Continental Army officers from Pennsylvania Continental Army staff officers Continental Congressmen from Pennsylvania Governors of Pennsylvania Members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Members of the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly Politicians from Lancaster, Pennsylvania Politicians from Philadelphia Merchants from colonial Pennsylvania 18th-century American merchants Quartermasters Quartermasters General of the United States Army Signers of the Continental Association Signers of the United States Constitution Speakers of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives University of Pennsylvania alumni Businesspeople from Lancaster, Pennsylvania Aides-de-camp of George Washington Founding Fathers of the United States People disowned by the Quakers Members of the American Philosophical Society