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Charles Thomsonb. 29 Nov 1729, Maghera, County Londonderry, Ireland |
| Title: | Secretary of the Congress |
| Term: | 5 Sep 1774 - 26 Oct 1774 |
| Chronology: | 5 Sep 1774, elected secretary by the Congress |
| 26 Oct 1774, Congress dissolved | |
| Term: | 10 May 1775 - 2 Mar 1789 |
| Chronology: | 10 May 1775, elected secretary by the Congress |
| 29 Oct 1777, following the resolution on granting a leave of absence to the President of Congress, the Congress assigned the duties of President to Secretary until new election [1; p. 846] | |
| 1 Nov 1777, ceased to exercise the functions of president with the election of a new President of the Congress [1, p. 854] | |
| 2 Mar 1789, Congress dissolved |
| Biography: | |
Brought to North America by father, who died just in sight of land (1739); attended seminary in New London, Pennsylvania; became a prosperous Philadelphia merchant; opposed British policies; helped secure Pennsylvania's approval for the meeting of the First Continental Congress in 1774; conservatives blocked his election as a delegate to the Congress; was elected secretary of the First and Second Continental Congresses; kept careful records of all proceedings and full notes of the debates; exercised the duties of President at four meetings of the Congress after the departure of John Hancock and before the election of Henry Laurens (29 Oct 1777 - 1 Nov 1777); wrote "An Enquiry into the Causes of the Alienation of the Delaware and Shawanese Indians from the British Interest" (1759), translated the Septuagint and the New Testament (1808), and published "A Synopsis of the Four Evangelists" (1815). |
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| Sources and notes: | |
| [1] | "Journals Of The Continental Congress 1774 - 1789", ed. by Worthington Chauncey Ford, Volume IX. 1777, October 3 - December 31 (Washington Government Printing Office, 1907). |
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