Biographical Sketch of Hon. Thomas McKEAN, LL. D. (1893); Chester County, PA Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by John Morris . *********************************************************************** USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: Printing this file within by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter information is included. Any other use, including copying files to other sites requires permission from the submitters PRIOR to uploading to any other sites. We encourage links to the state and county table of contents. http://www.usgwarchives.net/ *********************************************************************** Source: "Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Chester County, Pennsylvania, comprising a historical sketch of the county", by Samuel T. Wiley and edited by Winfield Scott Garner, Gresham Publishing Company, Philadelphia, PA, 1893, page 208. "HON. THOMAS McKEAN, LL. D., governor of Pennsylvania for three successive terms, and a signer of the immortal Declaration of Independence, was a son of William and Letitia (Finney) McKean, and was born in New London township, Chester county, Pennsylvania, March 19, 1734. He received his education at Rev. Francis Alison's academy, and then removed to New Castle, Delaware, where he practiced law and was variously employed in public positions until 1773. He then removed to Philadelphia, where he died June 24, 1817, aged eighty-three years. "Thomas McKean was a member of the Colonial Congress of 1765, and of the Conti- nental Congress during its entire existence. In 1777 he was commissioned chief justice of Pennsylvania, although serving at that time as speaker of the assem- bly, president of the State of Delaware, and a member of Congress. In 1799, Mr. McKean was elected governor of Pennsylvania, and served as such until 1808. He wrote the first constitution of Delaware, and was a member of the convention that framed the Pennsylvania constitution of 1790. A distinguished patriot and an eminent jurist, it was his proud distinction to have solidified the Delaware delegation in favor of separation from England, and thus secured the passage of the Declaration of Independence by the unanimous act of the thirteen colonies."