Thomas McKean
Thomas McKean, a native of Chester County, Pennsylvania, was born on March 19, 1731. He was the son of William McKean, who immigrated from Ireland at an early age. He was a gentleman of profound erudition and science. McKean studied law under David Kinney of Newcastle, Delaware.In 1762, McKean was a member of the Delaware Assembly from Newcastle County for eleven years. He then moved to Philadelphia and was elected to the Assembly for six years. In 1765, he was a member from Delaware to the Congress of New York.
He was a prominent member of the Congress of 1774. Afterward, he commanded a Philadelphia regiment and marched to the aid of General Washington. During his absence, his Delaware constituents had elected him to a convention to form a Constitution. Understanding the feelings and wants of the people-well versed in law and republicanism-a ready writer, he performed the labor in a few hours that has required a large number of men nearly a year to accomplish in more modern times. How changed are men and things since the glorious era of 1776?
In 1777, McKean was a Judge in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, and when he returned, he was appointed Judge of the Common Pleas, Quarter Sessions, and Orphans' Court of Newcastle County. The Stamp Act was then in entire life but not full force in Delaware. Judge McKean was the first judicial officer who put a veto on stamped paper-directing the officers of the courts over which he presided not to use it, as had been ordered by the hirelings of the crown. He set them in defiance and was supported by the nation's people. That circumstance, trifling as it may now seem to superficial readers, was significant with consequences. One of the entering wedges to the Revolution made an awful opening in the monarchical mass that was ultimately split into atoms and annihilated by the wedges and malls of the hard-fisted sons of America.
His duties upon the Bench of the Supreme Court commenced in 1777 and were highly demanding. He discharged the essential tasks of Chief Justice up to 1799 when he was elected Governor of the Keystone state and contributed mainly to adding new strength and beauty to the arch of our Union. For nine successive years, he directed the destinies of the land of Pennsylvania.
In 1808, he retired from public life. He had devoted forty-six years to the faithful service of his country and had earned an imperishable fame. He stood approved at the bar of his country-his conscience and his God. McKean died June 24, 1817.