Talk:Thomas McKean

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Contents 1 Impeached and removed 2 Tenure in Congress 3 Studied at the Middle Temple 4 Images

[edit] Impeached and removed

The Independence National Historical Park has an outstanding collection of portraits in the 2nd National Bank Building on Chestnut Street in Philadelphia, next to Independence Hall. Included is the famous Charles Willson Peale portrait of Thomas McKean at the top of this article. Unfortunately, the label of the portrait states that McKean was "impeached and forced out of the office of Governor of Pennsylvania." As this article states correctly, he was impeached, but never forced out of office. It is also unfortunate that the few words written about this outstanding patriot, in the one location where most people will read it, dwells on a peculiar incident at the end of his career and not on his unimaginably long list of accomplishments.

[edit] Tenure in Congress

There are several sources which state that McKean served in Congress continuously from September 3, 1774 until February 1, 1783, and that he was the only person to have done so. While the beginning and end dates may very well be accurate, it is certain that there was a period from late 1776, (probably October 1776) until late 1777 or early 1778 (probably October 1777) when he did not serve. The pro reconciliation 1st Delaware General Assembly, elected in October 1776, refused to appoint him to Congress, although they eventually elected him Speaker of the House of Assembly. A year later, with northern Delaware swarming with British troopers, the 2nd General Assembly, had a different appreciation for the situation and returned him to Congress. This information seems to have originated from an otherwise excellent biography written by the Rev. Charles A. Goodrich in his 1856 work, Lives of the Signers to the Declaration of Independence. Its material is copied many times on many websites.

[edit] Studied at the Middle Temple

There are several sources which state McKean studied law at the Middle Temple in London from 1758-1762. This is theoretically possible as he held no other office during those years, but seems unlikely for someone with his limited means and passionate dislike for all things English. It seems more likely that some writer in the past confused McKean with John Dickinson who did study law at the Middle Temple from 1753-1756.

he studied law with his cousin David Finney, and then under the eminent Francis Allison Lila (talk) 19:05, 4 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Images

This is a great page, so congrats to those who have been dedicated editors! A quick suggestion, though... someone who is knowledgeable should go in and put the "thumb" tag on all the images and add a quick description of what they are - I'm not sure why one portrait applies to one section versus any other, for example. I'd do it myself, but I don't know Thomas McKean... I don't even know how I found myself here, really. =) -Midnightdreary 04:36, 31 May 2007 (UTC)