David Thomas (June 11, 1762November 27, 1831) was an American politician. He served three full terms and one partial term in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

(1801-1808), and three years as New York State Treasurer (1808-1810, 1812-1813).

Life

Thomas was born and educated in

Pelham, Massachusetts Pelham is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,280 at the 2020 census. Its ZIP Code is shared with Amherst. Pelham is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. History P ...

and was a veteran of the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

. In 1777 he joined a militia unit which traveled from Massachusetts to defend

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...

from the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

. In 1781 he joined the Fifth Massachusetts Regiment as a

corporal Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non- ...

, and later became a sergeant in the Third Massachusetts Regiment. He moved to

Salem, New York Salem is a town in eastern Washington County, New York, United States. It is part of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town population was 2,702 at the 2000 census. The town of Salem contains a hamlet also named Salem, formerly ...

in 1784, where he owned and operated a

tavern A tavern is a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and (mostly historically) where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern t ...

for several years. He was commissioned a captain in the

New York State Militia The New York Guard (NYG) is the state defense force of New York State, also called The New York State Military Reserve. Originally called the New York State Militia it can trace its lineage back to the American Revolution and the War of 1812. Th ...

in 1786 and rose to the rank of

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

of the northern division of the militia in 1805. He was a member of the New York State Assembly from

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

and Clinton Counties in 1794, and from Washington County from 1798 to 1800. He was

town supervisor The administrative divisions of New York are the various units of government that provide local services in the State of New York. The state is divided into boroughs, counties, cities, townships called "towns", and villages. (The only borou ...

of Salem from 1797 to 1800, and a justice of the peace from 1798 to 1801, in 1804 and 1811. Thomas was elected as a

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...

to the

7th 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube (algebra), cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion ...

8th 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...

, 9th and

10th 10 (ten) is the even natural number following 9 and preceding 11. Ten is the base of the decimal numeral system, by far the most common system of denoting numbers in both spoken and written language. It is the first double-digit number. The re ...

Congresses, and served from March 4, 1801 to May 1, 1808, when he resigned. He was New York State Treasurer from February 5, 1808 to February 8, 1810, and again from February 18, 1812 to February 10, 1813. Thomas later moved to

Providence, Rhode island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...

, where he died on November 27, 1831. He was buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Salem, New York.

Sources

Political Graveyard''The New York Civil List'' compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (pages 35 and 309; Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858) (Google Books)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, David 1762 births 1831 deaths People from Pelham, Massachusetts Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) People from Salem, New York Members of the New York State Assembly New York State Treasurers