The Fighting Judge
If you ride up I 79 from Pittsburgh to Erie, Pennsylvania the third to last exit is for a town named McKean, a small borough of some 300 residents. After many rides through the place, I decided to find out who this unassuming town was named for. Well, some quick research took me into the world of a first patriot, and founder, who helped frame two states, a nation, and even a system of law. And he was not averse to some combat along the way.
Son of a Tavernkeeper
Thomas McKean was born, some twenty miles west of Wilmington, Delaware in New London, Pennsylvania on 19 March 1734. The connection is important in that in many ways, McKean’s future was woven into both Pennsylvania and the future state of Delaware, then known as the lower counties of the keystone state. His parents were William McKean, a tavern-keeper, and Letitia Finney. They had immigrated to Pennsylvania from Ballymoney, County Antrim, Ireland, when they were youngsters, so McKean was another first patriot son of Ireland.
Reading the Law
The younger McKean would not become a tavernkeeper. Instead, he received an excellent education, beginning at the New London Academy and later at New Castle, Delaware he read the law under David Finney, a cousin. His “dual-jurisdiction” career began when he was admitted to the bar in 1755 in both The Lower Counties (Delaware) and Pennsylvania. A year later he was appointed deputy attorney general for Sussex County. Political life quickly mixed with law, and McKean served several terms in the General Assembly of the Lower Counties in the 1760s and 1770s, including a stint as Speaker. His intellectual bona fides were certified when, in 1768, the talented jurist was elected to the American Philosophical Society. Not to be idle during this same period, he also served as a judge of the Court of Common Pleas and in 1771 was appointed Customs Collector in New Castle. An impressive resume and the road to rebellion had not reached its apex. But things were heating up.
The Lower Counties Splinter
Politically, the Lower Counties were divided into an Anglican pro- British faction, the Court Party, and a Scots-Irish patriot faction, the Country Party. The majority of counties were Court Party. New Castle was Scots-Irish and patriot and McKean soon emerged its leader. He first gained political renown outside of Delaware when he represented the Lower Counties at the Stamp Act Congress of 1765 and helped draft the petition to Parliament and called out the opposition, Timothy Ruggles on the open floor, almost engaging in a duel.
Revolutionary Politico
When the First Continental Congress was called in 1774, McKean, along with Caesar Rodney and George Read, represented Delaware. He would return in the same capacity for the Second Continental Congress in 1775 and 1776. It was in the latter where he advocated passionately for independence. When he and Read split the Delaware vote, Caesar Rodney was not present., McKean called for Rodney’s return and the famous midnight ride of Caesar Rodney resulted in Delaware going 2-1 for independence. The Declaration was approved.
Following the Drum
The ink was not dry on the Declaration when McKean suddenly left Philadelphia to assume command as colonel of the Fourth Battalion of the Pennsylvania Associators, a militia unit. The battalion took part in the desperate campaign to defend New York City in the summer and autumn of 1776. It was then given the role of defending Perth Amboy, New Jersey. Because of his active military service, McKean missed signing the Declaration of Independence on August 2, 1776, and his signature was not on the printed copy that was authenticated on January 17, 1777. But he did sign the “death warrant” sometime later and some believe he was the “last signer.”.
Wartime Politico
Curiously, the Delaware Assembly elected neither Rodney nor McKean to Congress in October 1776. The firebrands had made some enemies and many were still wobbly on full independence. But the British victory at Brandywine in September 1777 hit too close to home for comfort, and the two ardent patriots were returned in October. Despite being pursued relentlessly by the British and Loyalists, McKean served in Congress for the rest of the war. He helped draft the Articles of Confederation and was elected President of the Confederation Congress and served from July through November 1781.
First Son of Delaware
McKean was active in Lower County politics throughout the run-up to war and beyond. He was often active at the national and local levels. He spearheaded the movement to make the Lower Counties a separate state and in August 1776, the assembly chose him to attend a convention aimed at writing a new state constitution. McKean left his command and rode to Dover, Delaware like a hellion, and in one night, produced the first draft of a Delaware Constitution which the assembly adopted in September. This was the first state constitution to be drafted after the Declaration of Independence. He stayed active in the Delaware Assembly throughout the mid and late 1770s even as he served in the Congress. The British occupied Philadelphia and controlled the Delaware River from October 1777 through June of 1778. During this period both he and his family were at risk of capture by the British, and he was forced to change his residence some five times.
Keystone Judge
While still active in Delaware politics, McKean had the unusual situation of being appointed a judge in Pennsylvania, serving as Chief Justice from1777 until 1799. McKean was a leading proponent of a judiciary, with the power to overturn a state law, if needed, as unconstitutional He was a very aggressive jurist and established judicial review, the power of a court to strike down laws before John Marshal established it for the US Supreme Court. His influential 22 years on the bench established precedents adopted by all the state courts in the nation.
During this time, he served in the convention of Pennsylvania, helping ratify the new Constitution of the United States. Interesting, since he helped draft the Articles of Confederation, which were overturned. In the Pennsylvania State Constitutional Convention of 1789-90, he argued for a strong executive and sided with the Federalists until 1796, when he became an outspoken Democratic-Republican. He was dissatisfied with Federalist policies. As supreme justice of Pennsylvania, he sided with suppressing the Whiskey Rebellion.
Chief Executive
McKean’s life on the bench ended when he was elected Governor of Pennsylvania in 1799. In his first term, he entered office as a partisan zealot, ousting Federalists from positions – the spoils system. By his third term, he was at odds with his party and allied with the Federalists to fend off a challenge from a fellow Republican. He then ousted the republican officeholders and replaced them with Federalists. McKean’s combative nature, championing a strong state executive, and willingness to turn on his opposition led the Pennsylvania House of Representatives to impeach him in 1807, but he remained in office until his term expired.
The Man
McKean was over six feet tall. He dressed fashionably in a cocked hat and gold-knobbed cane. . He had a quick temper, a thin face, with a hawk-like nose and flaming eyes. He could be aloof and antagonistic and was by all accounts, a solitary man. Only socializing on public occasions. But he was indisputably brilliant and tireless.
In his correspondence the not-so-liked himself John Adams paid him tribute, describing McKean as “one of the three men in the Continental Congress who appeared to me to see more clearly to the end of the business than any others in the body.”
The Family Man
The brilliant, active, but often acerbic McKean did find time to have a family life. He married Mary Borden in 1763 and had six children with her: Joseph, Robert, Elizabeth, Letitia, Mary, and Anne. Mary died in 1773 and a year later McKean married Sarah Armitage. He set up his new household in Philadelphia and they had four children, Sarah, Thomas, Sophia, and Maria. McKean and both his wives were members of the Presbyterian Church.
Retirement and Legacy
He spent his retirement in Philadelphia, writing, discussing political affairs, and enjoying the considerable wealth he had earned through investments and real estate. In 1790 he co-published "Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States." McKean was a plank holder in the politically controversial (too aristocratic) Society of the Cincinnati in 1785 and even its vice-president. He had many accolades. He received an LLD from Princeton in 1781, from Dartmouth in 1782, and the University of Pennsylvania in 1785. When a second war with Britain threatened in 1812 the eighty-something, McKean led a Philadelphia citizens group to organize a strong defense during the War of 1812.
McKean died in Philadelphia and was buried in the First Presbyterian Church Cemetery there. In 1843, his body was moved to Laurel Hill Cemetery. McKean was a man of the law who worked tirelessly, often multi-tasking, for his community, his state(s), and his nation – in war and peace. This son of Irish immigrants set precedence for the future laws and governance of the United States and governance of all the states that would join the union.
