Thomas Bee (1739 – February 18, 1812) was a delegate to the

Second Continental Congress The Second Continental Congress was a late-18th-century meeting of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that united in support of the American Revolutionary War. The Congress was creating a new country it first named "United Colonies" and in 1 ...

Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina The lieutenant governor of South Carolina is the second-in-command to the governor of South Carolina. Beyond overseeing the Office on Aging and the responsibility to act or serve as governor in the event of the office's vacancy, the duties of th ...

and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina.

Education and career

Born in 1739 in Martigny, Province of South Carolina,

British America British America comprised the colonial territories of the English Empire, which became the British Empire after the 1707 union of the Kingdom of England with the Kingdom of Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, in the Americas from 16 ...

, Bee attended the University of Oxford and

read law Reading law was the method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship under the ...

in 1761. He entered private practice in Charleston from 1761 to 1762, and subsequently engaged in private practice from 1765 to 1769, 1769 to 1772, and 1782 to 1786, also engaging in planting. He was a member of the South Carolina Commons House of Assembly from 1762 to 1765, and from 1772 to 1776. He was a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

in 1775. He was a member of the Council of Safety in 1775 and 1776. He was a member of the

South Carolina General Assembly The South Carolina General Assembly, also called the South Carolina Legislature, is the state legislature of the U.S. state of South Carolina. The legislature is bicameral and consists of the lower South Carolina House of Representatives and t ...

from 1776 to 1778. He was a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1778 to 1779, 1781 to 1782, and 1786 to 1788, serving as Speaker in January and February 1779. He was a commissioner for stamping and issuing paper bills of credit in Charleston in 1769. He was

in 1780. He was a delegate to the

(

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislative bodies, with some executive function, for thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America, and the newly declared United States just before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War. ...

) from 1780 to 1781. In 1781, Bee was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society. He was a member of the

South Carolina Senate The South Carolina Senate is the upper house of the South Carolina General Assembly, the lower house being the South Carolina House of Representatives. It consists of 46 senators elected from single member districts for four-year terms at the sa ...

from 1788 to 1790.

Federal judicial service

Bee was nominated by President

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 th ...

on June 11, 1790, to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina vacated by Judge

William Drayton Sr. William Drayton Sr. (March 21, 1732 – May 18, 1790) was chief justice of the British American Province of East Florida and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina. Education and c ...

He was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 14, 1790, and received his commission the same day. He published reports of the district court in 1810. His service terminated on February 18, 1812, due to his death in

Pendleton Pendleton may refer to: Places ;United Kingdom *Pendleton, Lancashire, England *Pendleton, Greater Manchester, England ;United States *Pendleton, Indiana * Pendleton, Missouri *Pendleton, New York *Pendleton, Oregon *Pendleton, South Carolina *Pe ...

, South Carolina. He was interred in Woodstock Cemetery in Goose Creek, South Carolina. Bee was nominated by President John Adams to be Chief Judge of the United States Circuit Court for the Fifth Circuit on February 21, 1801, and was confirmed by the Senate on February 24, 1801, but he declined the appointment.

Family

Bee was the father of

Barnard E. Bee Sr. Barnard Elliot Bee Sr. (1787–1853) was an American attorney and politician. A native of South Carolina, he, with his family, was an early settler of the Republic of Texas. He became a political leader there, serving in several political-appoi ...

, who took part in the Texas Revolution and who was a political figure in the

Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas ( es, República de Tejas) was a sovereign state in North America that existed from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846, that bordered Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande in 1840 (another breakaway republic from Mex ...

, and the great grandfather of

Carlos Bee Carlos Bee (July 8, 1867 – April 20, 1932) was an attorney and politician, serving as U.S. Representative from Texas. He was a son of Hamilton P. Bee and a great-grandson of Thomas Bee, a politician and judge in South Carolina in the Revolutio ...

, a United States representative from Texas. Two of Barnard's sons became known as Confederate generals during the American Civil War: Barnard Elliott Bee Jr. and

Hamilton P. Bee Hamilton Prioleau Bee (July 22, 1822 – October 3, 1897) was an American politician in early Texas; he was secretary of the Texas Senate in 1846. He served nearly 10 years as representative to the state house beginning in 1849, and for one term a ...

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bee, Thomas 1739 births 1812 deaths 18th-century American politicians 18th-century American judges Bee family Continental Congressmen from South Carolina Judges of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina Lawyers from Charleston, South Carolina Lieutenant Governors of South Carolina Members of the South Carolina House of Representatives Politicians from Charleston, South Carolina South Carolina colonial people South Carolina state senators United States federal judges appointed by George Washington United States federal judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law