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A Biographical Report On Thomas Fitzsimons

A Biographical Report on Thomas Fitzsimons


Thomas Fitzsimons, or Fitzsimmons as his last name was sometimes spelled,
was born during 1741 and died on August 26, 1811. Originally from Ireland, as
young man he immigrated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to start a career as a
merchant. On November 23, 1761, he married Catharine Meade. A few months later,
with his brother-in-law, he formed an extensive mercantile and commercial
business which traded chiefly with the West India Islands. In 1782 Fitzsimons
was elected to the congress created by the Articles of Confederation.

In 1787, Fitzsimons served as a member to the Constitutional Convention,
where he took an active role. While there he argued for a strong national
government, stiff restrictions on voting qualifications and office-holding,
against slavery, giving Congress the power to tax imports and exports, and
granting the House of Representatives and the Senate equal power in making
treaties. He was elected, in 1789, to the first national House of
Representatives for the state of Pennsylvania. Fitzsimons is counted among the
ranks of Alexander Hamilton's Federalists. Fitzsimons was a congress man until
his defeat in 1794, after which he returned to private life.