Thomas McKean

A black and white image of a man with a beard wearing glasses and a beanie, looking slightly downward.
Portrait of an 18th-century man with white hair, wearing a black coat and white cravat, standing in front of a bookshelf.

BORN - March 19, 1734, at New London Township, Chester County, PA.  Parents (Scotts-Irish ancestry) - William McKean (b1705-d1769) and Letitia Finney McKean (b1709-d1742).  Four Children – Robert McKean (b1732-d1767), Thomas McKean (b1734-d1817), Dorothea McKean Thompson (b1737-d1776), William McKean (b1738-d1811).   

DIED – June 24, 1817 (age 83) in Philadelphia, Pa.  Religion - Presbyterian.  Buried – First buried at the First Presbyterian Church Cemetery on Market Street in Philadelphia, PA.  His remains was reburied in the family vault at Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, PA in 1843.   

APPEARANCE - The picture above is the portrait of Thomas McKean (age 63) painted by Charles Willson Peale in 1797.  Over six feet tall, always wore a large cocked hat and carried a gold-headed cane.  Was a man of quick temper and vigorous personality, "with a thin face, hawk's nose and hot eyes." John Adams described him as "one of the three men in the Continental Congress who appeared to me to see more clearly to the end of the business than any others in the body." 

FAMILY – Married - Mary Borden (b1744-d1773) in 1763.  Six Children – Joseph Borden McKean (b1764-d1826), Robert McKean (b1766-d1802), Elizabeth McKean Pettit (b1767-d1811), Letitia McKean Buchanan (b1769-d1845), Mary McKean (b1771-d1781, age 10), Anne McKean Buchanan (b1773-d1804).  Wife Mary died in 1773.  Married - Sarah Armitage (b1750-d1820) in 1774.  Five Children – Unnamed McKean (b1775-___), Sarah Maria Theresa McKean Martinez (b1777-d1841), Thomas McKean, Jr. (b1779-d1852), Sophia Dorothea McKean (b1783-d1819), Maria Louisa McKean (b1785-d1787, age 2).  When Thomas McKean died in 1817, he left 34 grandchildren. 

OCCUPATION – LAWYER, LEGISLATOR, GOVERNOR OF DE AND PA, JUDGE, SOLDIER.   Home schooled and attended the New London Academy.  Practiced law in Delaware and nearby Philadelphia.  Member of the Continental Congress representing Delaware from 1774 to 1776, and 1777 to 1783.  President of Congress in 1781.  Governor of Delaware in 1777.  Chief Justice of Pennsylvania from 1777 to 1799.  Governor of Pennsylvania from 1799 to 1808.   

AT SIGNING – Age 42 at signing.  Signed sometime after August 2, when he arrived back in Philadelphia.  He is believed to be the last to sign the Declaration, sometime after January 18, 1777, due to the demands on his time during the war.    

AFTER SIGNING – Continued to serve in Congress in Philadelphia, on and off, until 1783.  Served in the Pennsylvania Militia in the defense of NJ and NY City and was nearly killed in action.  He wrote his wife – “About twenty cannon balls flew close to me sometimes on one side and sometimes on the other and some just over my head.” 

HISTORIC SITES

Gravesite – Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, PA.  Located at 3822 Ridge Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19132, on the bank of the Schuylkill River, Phone 215-228-8200, Website www.thelaurelhillcemetery.org.   

Philadelphia Home – Was located on the northeast corner of 3rd and Pine Streets, Philadelphia.

New Castle Church – New Castle Presbyterian Church, New Castle, DE (1707).  Located at 25 East 2nd Street, New Castle, DE 19720, Phone 302-328-3279, Website www.newcastlepreschurch.org.  Thomas McKean attended the church when in New Castle.  

Philadelphia Church – Old Pine Street First Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, PA (1768).  Located at 412, corner of Pine and 4th Streets, Philadelphia, PA 19106, Phone 215-925-8051, Website www.oldpine.org.  Thomas McKean attended the church when in Philadelphia and he was initially buried there.

A white marble gravestone in a cemetery with an American flag at its corner and several other headstones in the background.

Gravesite of Thomas McKean, Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, PA. 

Located at 3822 Ridge Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19132, on the bank of the Shuylkill River, Phone 215-228-8200, Website www.thelaurelhillcemetery.org

The text on the top of the vault reads – “McKean Family Vault, Beneath this marble are the remains of Thomas McKean one of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence.  President of Congress in 1781.  Chief Justice and Governor of the State of Pennsylvania.  Born March 19, 1734.  Died June 24, 1817.  And the Descendants of His Family.”