- March 6, 1809, 217 years ago — Death of Thomas Heyward Jr..
- March 6, 1724, 302 years ago — Birth of Henry Laurens, President of the Continental Congress.
- March 7, 1707, 319 years ago — Birth of Stephen Hopkins, signer of the Declaration of Independence.
- March 7, 1699, 327 years ago — Birth of Susanna Boylston Adams, mother of John Adams.
John Dickinson
DICKINSON, John, statesman, born in Maryland, 8 Nov., 1732; died in Wilmington, Del., 14 Feb., 1808.
He studied law in Philadelphia and at the Middle Temple, London, and began practice in Philadelphia. He was elected to the Pennsylvania assembly in 1764, and became a leader in the opposition to British taxation. His “Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania,” published in 1767–68, had great influence in arousing resistance to the Townshend Acts.
He was a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1774–76, and wrote most of the petitions and addresses issued by that body. Though he opposed the Declaration of Independence as premature, he afterward supported the war and served as a militia officer.
He was president of Delaware in 1781–82, and of Pennsylvania in 1782–85. He was a member of the convention that framed the Federal Constitution, which he signed. He was a man of scholarly tastes, moderate views, and great influence in shaping the early institutions of the republic.
Source:
Wilson, James Grant, and John Fiske, eds. Appleton’s Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1887. Patriot Echoes Archive
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