Thomas Willing

Thomas Willing (painting by Charles Willson Peale )

Thomas Willing (born December 19, 1731 in Philadelphia , Province of Pennsylvania , †  January 19, 1821 there ) was an American politician . In 1775 and 1776 he was a delegate for Pennsylvania to the Continental Congress .

Career

Thomas Willing attended schools in Bath ( England ) and then studied law at the Inner Temple in London . In 1749 he returned to Philadelphia, where he worked in commerce. He also began a political career in Pennsylvania, which was then still colonial. In the 1750s he became a member of the Philadelphia City Council. In 1759 he became a city judge and in 1761 an appeal judge. In 1763 he succeeded Henry Harrison as mayor of his hometown. From 1767 to 1777 he was a judge on the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania . In the meantime he was also a member of the colonial House of Representatives of Pennsylvania.

In the 1770s, he was reluctant to join the revolutionary movement. In 1774 he was a member of the Committee of Correspondence and in 1775 the Security Committee of his homeland. In 1775 and 1776 he represented Pennsylvania in the Continental Congress, where he voted against the adoption of the United States' Declaration of Independence . But later he supported the American cause and donated 5,000 pounds to their benefit. Between 1781 and 1791 Willing was President of the Bank of North America ; from 1791 to 1807 he headed the First Bank of the United States . In November 1807 he had to resign from this office for health reasons. After that he worked in trade for some time. He died in Philadelphia on January 19, 1821.

Web links

• Thomas Willing in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Thomas Willing in the database of Find a Grave (English)