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Thomas Mifflin (January 10, 1744January 20, 1800) was an American merchant, soldier, and politician from
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, who is regarded as a Founding Father of the United States for his roles during and after the
American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...
. Mifflin was the first governor of Pennsylvania, 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 who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading int ...
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 from 12 of the 13 British colonies that became the United States. It met from September 5 to October 26, 1774, at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, after the British Nav ...
, 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 American colonies adopted by the First Continental Congress on October 20, 1774. It called for a trade boycott against B ...
, he joined the
Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...
in 1775. During the Revolutionary War, Mifflin was an aide to General
George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...
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
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 natio ...
. 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 after receiving a land grant from Charles II of England in 1681. The name Pennsylvania ("Penn's Woods") refers to Wi ...
. He was the son of John Mifflin and Elizabeth Bagnall. His great-grandfather John Mifflin Jr. (1661–1714) was born in
Warminster Warminster () is an ancient market town with a nearby garrison, and civil parish in south west Wiltshire, England, on the western edge of Salisbury Plain. The parish had a population of about 17,000 in 2011. The 11th-century Minster Church o ...
,
Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
, 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 (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest- ...
) 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 Joseph Hopkinson (November 12, 1770January 15, 1842) was a United States representative from Pennsylvania and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Education and career Bor ...
, the son of
Francis Hopkinson Francis Hopkinson (October 2,Hopkinson was born on September 21, 1737, according to the then-used Julian calendar (old style). In 1752, however, Great Britain and all its colonies adopted the Gregorian calendar (new style) which moved Hopkinso ...
. 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

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 The Battle of Trenton was a small but pivotal American Revolutionary War battle on the morning of December 26, 1776, in Trenton, New Jersey. After General George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River north of Trenton the previous night, ...
and the
Battle of Princeton The Battle of Princeton was a battle of the American Revolutionary War, fought near Princeton, New Jersey on January 3, 1777, and ending in a small victory for the Colonials. General Lord Cornwallis had left 1,400 British troops under the comman ...
led to a promotion to
major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...
. 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

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 (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...
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. 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
Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading int ...
. 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. 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 a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...
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), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
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
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest- ...
), including two years as treasurer (1773–1775).


Death and legacy

Mifflin died in
Lancaster, Pennsylvania Lancaster, ( ; pdc, Lengeschder) is a city in and the county seat of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It is one of the oldest inland cities in the United States. With a population at the 2020 census of 58,039, it ranks 11th in population amon ...
, 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


Schools and government buildings

*
Governor Mifflin School District The Governor Mifflin School District is located in southern Berks County in southeastern Pennsylvania in the United States. Schools The district comprises 6 schools, located throughout the district. Governor Mifflin Senior High School servin ...
* Mifflin Hall (
dormitory A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or universi ...
at the
Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State becam ...
University Park Campus) * Mifflin Hall (main building at the U.S. Army
Quartermaster Center and School The Quartermaster School (QMS) is a subordinate command of the United States Army's Combined Arms Support Command and is located at Fort Lee, Virginia. Shoulder Sleeve Insignia Description On a buff lozenge shaped field with rounded points ...
at Fort Lee, Virginia). *
Thomas Mifflin School Thomas Mifflin School is a historic school located in the East Falls neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is part of the School District of Philadelphia. The building was designed by Irwin T. Catharine and built in 1936. It is a -story, ...
, School District of Philadelphia


Footnotes


References

* * * * *


External links


Brief biography and portrait
at the University of Pennsylvania

at Quartermasters-General {{DEFAULTSORT:Mifflin, Thomas 1744 births 1800 deaths American people of English descent American Lutherans Burials in Pennsylvania Colonial American merchants Continental Army generals Continental Army officers from Pennsylvania Continental Army staff officers Continental Congressmen from Pennsylvania 18th-century American politicians Governors of Pennsylvania Members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Members of the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly Politicians from Lancaster, Pennsylvania Politicians from Philadelphia People of colonial Pennsylvania 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