The 39 Days of the Brave: - Thomas Fitzsimons Day 12

[First Coast Tea Party]

THOMAS FITZSIMONS

 

Thomas Fitzsimons was a business leader and legislator. He served as a delegate to the Continental Congress and was a signer of the US Constitution.

Fitzsimons was born in 1741 in Ireland. His family immigrated to America (cir.1760) and settled in Philadelphia where Fitzsimons pursued a mercantile career.  A year later, he married the daughter of prominent merchant, Robert Meade, and soon formed a business with his brother-in-law, primarily engaged in the West India trade. Their business would successfully operate for over 41 years.

 

Economically hit by Britain’s Stamp Act of 1765, Fitzsimons adopted his role in the Revolutionary War and became active in the Irish merchant community. When Pennsylvania began mobilizing and organizing a militia, Fitzsimons commanded a company of local volunteers.  He sat on several boards and continued to be involved in politics.  Later in the war, Pennsylvania’s government asked him to head a board to oversee the newly formed Pennsylvania Navy. 

 

Fitzsimons entered active politics as a delegate to the Continental Congress and he was one of only two Catholic signers of the US Constitution. After the constitution was established, Fitzsimons served in the First, Second and Third Continental Congresses until he was unsuccessful in seeking reelection in 1794.

 

One of the founders of the Bank of North America, he also helped organize and held a directorship in the Insurance Company of North America.  Not unlike the financial affairs of his associate and fellow-signer, Robert Morris, his affluence took a disastrous turn in 1805.  While he did recoup some of his wealth, his reputation suffered and he died on 26 August 1811 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

 

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

http://pabook.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/bios/Fitzsimmons__Thomas.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Fitzsimonseath: 9 September 1806, New York. associate justice of the Supreme Courth (1793-1806)rsey.  ral court system.