The 39 Days of the Brave: - George Clymer Day 26

[First Coast Tea Party]

Constitution Signer

 

GEORGE CLYMER

 

George Clymer was an American merchant and he acted as one of the first two treasurers of the Continental Congress.   Later as a Pennsylvania Representative, he was a signatory of both the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution.

Clymer was born on 16 March 1739 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Orphaned when only a year old, he was raised by his aunt and uncle under whose tutelage he was apprenticed and received a good education in business.

 

Clymer was motivated during the Revolutionary War, in part, by the impact British economic policies had on his own business.  Early to adopt the Revolutionary cause, he attended meetings and served on the Pennsylvania Council of Safety.  Clymer’s business ventures during and after the war, increased his wealth substantially.

 

He was twice elected to the Continental Congress (1776-77 and 1780-82).  In his first term, Clymer acted as one of the first two Continental treasurers, even personally underwriting the war by exchanging all his own specie for Continental currency.  He was reelected in 1784 to the Pennsylvania Legislature from which he represented Pennsylvania to the Constitutional Convention in 1787.

 

George Clymer was elected to the first US Congress in 1789.  When Congress passed a bill imposing a duty on spirits distilled in the US in 1791, Clymer was placed as head of the excise department in the state of Pennsylvania. 

 

Clymer was the first president of the Philadelphia Bank, the first president of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and vice-president of the Philadelphia Agricultural Society.  He held these posts until his death on 24 January, 1813 at Morrisville, Pennsylvaniaeath: 9 September 1806, New York. associate justice of the Supreme Courth (1793-1806)rsey.  ral court system. 

http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_founding_fat...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Clymer

http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/signers/clymer.htm

[amanda choate]

A couple of things..

Thanks for putting the citations on the page. Looks like a bad day for this, people's attention otherwise diverted. Mr. Clymer's involvement during the Whiskey Rebellion is a fascinating tale. He went to Pittsburgh and trying to be incognito, attempted to pass himself off as Alexander Hamilton. Not exactly a low profile way to go. Of course he was the tax man so perhaps it was better.

Mr. Clymer certainly lived a unique life.