Thomas Mifflin

Thomas Mifflin
1st Governor of Pennsylvania
In office December 21, 1790 – December 17, 1799
Preceded by	Himself, as President of Pennsylvania
Succeeded by	Thomas McKean
7th President of Pennsylvania
In office 1788–1790
Preceded by	Benjamin Franklin
Succeeded by	Himself, as Governor of Pennsylvania
Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
In office 1785–1787
Preceded by	John Bayard
Succeeded by	Richard Peters
President of the Continental Congress
In office November 3, 1783 – June 3, 1784
Preceded by	Elias Boudinot
Succeeded by	Richard Henry Lee
Continental Congressman
In office 1782–1784
In office 1774–1775
Personal details
Born	(1744-01-10)January 10, 1744 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Died	January 20, 1800(1800-01-20) (aged 56) Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Political party	Federalist
Spouse(s)	Sarah Morris
Residence	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Alma mater	University of Pennsylvania
Profession	Merchant, soldier, politician
Religion	Lutheran
Signature

Thomas Mifflin (January 10, 1744 – January 20, 1800) was an American merchant and politician from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was a major general in the Continental Army and the 1st and 3rd Quartermaster General during the American Revolution, a member of the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly, a Continental Congressman from Pennsylvania, President of the Continental Congress, and a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787. Several of these activities qualify him to be counted among the Founding Fathers. He served as Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, President of the Pennsylvania Supreme Executive Council and the first Governor of Pennsylvania.

Early life

Thomas Mifflin was born January 10, 1744 in

Links to related articles Signatories of the United States Constitution Convention President George Washington New Hampshire John Langdon Nicholas Gilman Massachusetts Nathaniel Gorham Rufus King Connecticut William Samuel Johnson Roger Sherman New York Alexander Hamilton New Jersey William Livingston David Brearley William Paterson Jonathan Dayton Pennsylvania Benjamin Franklin Thomas Mifflin Robert Morris George Clymer Thomas Fitzsimons Jared Ingersoll James Wilson Gouverneur Morris Delaware George Read Gunning Bedford, Jr. John Dickinson Richard Bassett Jacob Broom Maryland James McHenry Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer Daniel Carroll Virginia John Blair James Madison North Carolina William Blount Richard Dobbs Spaight Hugh Williamson South Carolina John Rutledge Charles Cotesworth Pinckney Charles Pinckney Pierce Butler Georgia William Few Abraham Baldwin Convention Secretary William Jackson Presidents of the Continental Congress First Continental Congress Peyton Randolph Henry Middleton Second Continental Congress Peyton Randolph John Hancock Henry Laurens John Jay Samuel Huntington Confederation Congress Samuel Huntington Thomas McKean John Hanson Elias Boudinot Thomas Mifflin Richard Henry Lee John Hancock* (David Ramsay Nathaniel Gorham) Nathaniel Gorham Arthur St. Clair Cyrus Griffin *Hancock did not attend during his 2nd term; Ramsay and Gorham served as chairmen in his absence Governors and Presidents of Pennsylvania Presidents (1777–1790) Wharton Bryan Reed Moore Dickinson Franklin Mifflin Governors (since 1790) Mifflin McKean Snyder Findlay Hiester Shulze G. Wolf Ritner Porter Shunk Johnston Bigler Pollock Packer Curtin Geary Hartranft Hoyt Pattison Beaver Pattison Hastings Stone Pennypacker Stuart Tener Brumbaugh Sproul Pinchot Fisher Pinchot Earle James Martin Bell Duff Fine Leader Lawrence Scranton Shafer Shapp Thornburgh Casey Ridge Schweiker Rendell Corbett T. Wolf (Elect) Speakers of the unicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly (1776–1790) John Jacobs John Bayard Frederick Muhlenberg George Gray John Bayard Thomas Mifflin Gerardus Wynkoop Richard Peters

• Brief biography and portrait at the University of Pennsylvania
• Biography and portrait at Quartermasters-General
• Thomas Mifflin at Find a Grave

External links

• Taffe, Stephen R. (2003). The Philadelphia Campaign 1777–1778. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas.  
• Boatner, Mark M. III (1974). Encyclopedia of the American Revolution. New York: David Mckay Company, Inc.  
• Thomas Mifflin at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Risch, Erna (1981). Supplying Washington's Army. Washington, D.C.: United States Army Center of Military History. 
• Rowe, G. S. (1978). Thomas Mifflin: The Shaping of an American Republican. Boulder: University of Colorado Press. 
• Tinckom, Harry M. (1950). The Republicans and Federalists in Pennsylvania. Harrisburg: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. pp. 113–134. 
• Rossum, Kenneth R. (1952). Thomas Mifflin and the Politics of the American Revolution. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. 

References

Footnotes

• Mifflin County, Pennsylvania
• Governor Mifflin School District
• Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania
• Mifflintown, Pennsylvania
• Mifflinville, Pennsylvania
• Mifflin Cross Roads, Pennsylvania
• Mifflin Township, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania
• Upper Mifflin Township, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania
• Fort Mifflin, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania
• Several townships in Ohio^[8]
• West Mifflin, Pennsylvania
• Mifflin Hall (the main building at the US Army Quartermaster Center and School at Fort Lee, Virginia Decommissioned July 30, 2010)^[9]
• Mifflin Hall (the U.S. Army Sustainment Center of Excellence Headquarters at Fort Lee, Virginia)
• Mifflin Hall (dormitory at the Pennsylvania State University University Park Campus)^[10]
• Thomas Mifflin School, School District of Philadelphia
• Mifflin Avenue, in Scranton, Pennsylvania
• Mifflin Street, Madison WI
• Mifflin Street, Philadelphia PA
• Dunder Mifflin, the fictional paper distribution company, is a parody of the large number of entities named after Mifflin.

Entities named after Mifflin

Mifflin died in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, January 23, 1800.^[6] He is buried in front of Trinity Lutheran Church in Lancaster. A Commonwealth of Pennsylvania historical marker at the church commemorates both Thomas Wharton and Mifflin, the first and last Presidents of Pennsylvania under the 1776 State Constitution. The marker, dedicated in 1975, is located on Duke Street in Lancaster.^[7] It reads:

Death and legacy

Mifflin was a delegate to the United States Constitutional Convention in 1787, as well as a signer of the Constitution.^[1] 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. He was unanimously reelected to the Presidency on November 11, 1789.^[5] 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. Mifflin decreed that no less than six towns in Pennsylvania bear his name.

Prior to Independence, Thomas Mifflin was a member of the Treaty of Paris, which finally took place on January 14, 1784.^[4]

Political career

In Congress, there was debate regarding whether a national army was more efficient or if 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—by then, as a major general—but Congress continued to ask his advice even after accepting his resignation.

Early in the aide-de-camp and, on August 14, 1775 Washington appointed him to become the army's first Quartermaster General under order of Congress.^[3] He was good at the job, but preferred to be on the front lines. His leadership in battle gained him promotions to colonel and then brigadier general. He asked to be relieved of the job of Quartermaster General, but was persuaded to resume those duties because Congress was having difficulty finding a replacement.

American Revolution

. American Philosophical Society He was a member of the [1]