Charles Pettit

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Charles Pettit (painting by Charles Willson Peale )

Charles Pettit (born 1736 in Hunterdon County , Province of New Jersey , †  September 3, 1806 in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania ) was an American politician . Between 1785 and 1787 he was a delegate for Pennsylvania in the Continental Congress .

Career

Charles Pettit, the son of a wealthy Philadelphia merchant, received a classical education. He initially worked in the iron trade. After studying law and being admitted to the bar in 1770, he began to work in this profession from 1773. From 1767 he was also politically active at the local level in what was then colonial New Jersey. Between 1772 and 1774 he was the private secretary of the colonial governor William Franklin . He joined the revolutionary movement and gave up his post as Franklin's private secretary. Soon afterwards he took over this post again. This time he served under the first governor of the state of New Jersey , William Livingston . In 1776 he was practically Secretary of State of New Jersey , albeit with a different title . Between 1778 and 1781 he served as a staff officer in the Continental Army during the War of Independence . As a colonel, he held the post of Assistant Quartermaster-General . According to other sources, he was a staff officer under General Nathanael Greene during this period .

After the war, Charles Pettit moved to Philadelphia, where he became a successful importer. Here, too, he held a number of local offices. In 1783 and 1784 he was a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and from 1785 to 1787 he represented that state in the Continental Congress. From 1786 he was also a curator of the University of Pennsylvania . He later became a member of the Democratic Republican Party founded by Thomas Jefferson . After the new federal constitution came into force, he ran unsuccessfully for Congress . He later worked in the insurance industry. He was a first director and then president of the Insurance Company of North America . Charles Pettit died in Philadelphia on September 3, 1806.

Web links

  • Charles Pettit in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
personal data
SURNAME Pettit, Charles
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician
DATE OF BIRTH 1736
PLACE OF BIRTH Hunterdon County , New Jersey Province
DATE OF DEATH September 3, 1806
Place of death Philadelphia , Pennsylvania