| Biography: |
| Educated at the Jesuit School at Bohemia Manor, Maryland, and at St. Omer's College, France; as a Roman Catholic, he was legally prevented from holding public office in Maryland; once these laws were repealed in 1776, he was elected to the Council of the State of Maryland (1777-1781); elected a delegate from Maryland to the Continental Congress (1781-1783) and was one of the signers of the Articles of Confederation; elected the Chairman of Congress (3 Nov 1783) pending the installation of President Thomas Mifflin, who eventually assumed the chair on 13 Dec 1783; was appointed a delegate to the convention that framed the Federal Constitution (1787); represented Western Shore in the Senate of the Maryland General Assembly (1781-1790); served as President of the Senate of Maryland in 1783, 1786, 1787, 1788, 1789; was elected to the U.S. Congress (served: 4 Mar 1789 - 3 Mar 1791) and took active part in fixing the seat of government for the United States; appointed a commissioner to locate the District of Columbia and the Federal City and served until 25 Jul 1795, when he resigned.
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| Biographical sources: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (2005), p. 791. |
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| [1] |
Journals of the Continental Congress, 25:799. |
| [2] |
"The Continental Congress at Princeton", by Varnum Lansing Collins (Princeton: The University library, 1908), 237-243. |
| [3] |
Journals of the Continental Congress, 25:810. |
