Like many emigrants hitting the shores of America, Thomas FitzSimons’s name often received creative spellings. Though he capitalized the “s” in the middle of his name—as it appears on the Constitution—others often spelled his name as Fitzsimons and Fitzsimmons. But as a proud son of Ireland, FitzSimon proudly kept the old family spelling. Born in [...]
Thomas Mifflin’s story is one of tragedies of the American founding. Born on January 10, 1744, into a wealth Philadelphia family, Mifflin would play an important role in the Revolution, increase his wealth, and die in disgrace. Mifflin attended what would become known as the University of Pennsylvania and, like many wealthy sons of America, [...]
If you look at the bottom left-hand corner of the United States Constitution, next to the official signatures, you’ll discover a fortieth signature—a signature of a signer who wasn’t a signer. It reads: “Attest William Jackson Secretary.” Jackson was born in 1759 on the boarder lands of England and Scotland. After the death of his [...]
Most of the Founding Fathers were men of means—the cream of their colonies—wealthy and privileged. This included the famous and the not so famous. Only a handful were men of meager means, and William Paterson was among them. But he wouldn’t stay there. The son of a shop keeper, some say a door-to-door salesman, Paterson [...]
David Brearley, the New Jersey delegate to the Constitutional Convention, made one of the most goofy proposals during the convention. But he also sat on the one of the most influential committees during the convention. Born in 1745, in Spring Grove, New Jersey, Brearley was one of five children. His father was a landowner, but [...]
John Adams called him the “bastard brat of a Scotch peddler.” New York Governor Dewitt Clinton called him one of “the two great pests of the World.” Abigail Adams said “the very devil” was in him. Others called him “a man of insatiable ambition and not to be trusted,” a “turbulent and intriguing spirit,” and [...]
Tip O’Neill was a burly Irishman . . . and a powerful political figure in the 1980s. Though he served as Speaker of the House of Representatives, O’Neill’s political philosophy was “All politics is local.” It’s highly doubtful that O’Neill had Oliver Ellsworth in mind when he developed his philosophy, but he could have. Ellsworth [...]
George Washington was an extraordinary man. Perhaps none, certainly few, in American history have exhibited such ambitious personal humility and patriotic spirit as Washington. He is rightly deemed the “Father of his country,” leading American forces to victory and independence over Great Britain, shepherding the Constitution through a contentious convention in the summer of 1787, [...]
Caleb Strong—now that’s a name you don’t come across very often in history books. But whether you’ve heard of him or not, he played a significant role in the early history of the United States. Born in Northampton, Massachusetts in 1745, Strong, like so many Massachusetts men, graduated from Harvard College and began the practice [...]
Every now and again in our history, a candidate for high office emerges who is an “also ran”—one who runs and runs but never crosses the finish line. In the late 1800s and early 1900s it was William Jennings Bryan, who ran for the presidency three times . . . and lost. In the 1950s [...]
