Jesse Burgess Thomas (1777May 2, 1853) was an American lawyer, judge and politician who served as a delegate from the

Indiana Territory The Indiana Territory, officially the Territory of Indiana, was created by a United States Congress, congressional act that President of the United States, President John Adams signed into law on May 7, 1800, to form an Historic regions of the U ...

to the tenth Congress and later served as president of the Constitutional Convention which led to

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

being admitted to the Union. He became one of Illinois' first two

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

s, and is best known as the author of the

Missouri Compromise The Missouri Compromise was a federal legislation of the United States that balanced desires of northern states to prevent expansion of slavery in the country with those of southern states to expand it. It admitted Missouri as a Slave states an ...

of 1820. After his retirement from the U.S. Senate in 1829 he lived the rest of his life in Ohio.

Early and family life

Thomas was probably born in Shepherdstown,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

(now

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

), in part according to his 1850 census entry, although Appleton's Cyclopedia stated he was born somewhat east on what became the

National Road The National Road (also known as the Cumberland Road) was the first major improved highway in the United States built by the Federal Government of the United States, federal government. Built between 1811 and 1837, the road connected the Pot ...

Hagerstown, Maryland Hagerstown is a city in Washington County, Maryland, United States and the county seat of Washington County. The population of Hagerstown city proper at the 2020 census was 43,527, and the population of the Hagerstown metropolitan area (exten ...

(as was his slightly elder brother) and that he was descended from Lord Baltimore. His family moved to Kentucky when Jesse was an infant. He married Rebecca McKenzie (1776-1851) of New York, but they had no children who survived.

Career

Thomas studied law with his elder brother Richard Symmes Thomas (1772-1828) in

Bracken County, Kentucky Bracken County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2010 census, the population was 8,488. Its county seat is Brooksville. The county was formed in 1796. Bracken County is included in the Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-I ...

along the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

, then moved to nearby

Mason County, Kentucky Mason County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. Its county seat is Maysville. The county was created from Bourbon County, Virginia in 1788 and named for George Mason, a Virginia delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention kn ...

, where he served as the county clerk until 1803. He then moved north of the

to Lawrenceburg in

, where he continued to practice law and became the territorial deputy attorney general in 1805. In the same year, he began serving as a delegate to the Territorial House of Representatives, and fellow delegates chose him as their speaker from 1805 to 1808. When Benjamin Parke resigned as the territorial delegate to Congress, Thomas was appointed to fill the vacancy from October 22, 1808 until March 3, 1809 when Thomas moved westward to the new

Illinois Territory The Territory of Illinois was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 1, 1809, until December 3, 1818, when the southern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Illinois. Its ...

as discussed below.

Jonathan Jennings Jonathan Jennings (March 27, 1784 – July 26, 1834) was the first governor of Indiana and a nine-term congressman from Indiana. Born in either Hunterdon County, New Jersey, or Rockbridge County, Virginia, he studied law before migrating to the ...

succeeded him as Indiana's territorial delegate and would later become the new state of

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

's first U.S. representative and later Indiana's

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

. Thomas moved westward to Kaskaskia, Illinois on the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

(which made it flood-prone and ultimately transformed it into an island), then

Cahokia The Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site ( 11 MS 2) is the site of a pre-Columbian Native American city (which existed 1050–1350 CE) directly across the Mississippi River from modern St. Louis, Missouri. This historic park lies in south- ...

and later Edwardsville in

Madison County, Illinois Madison County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is a part of the Metro East in southern Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 264,776, making it the eighth-most populous county in Illinois and the most popu ...

, where Thomas would later train his nephew, somewhat confusingly named

Jesse B. Thomas, Jr. Jesse Burgess Thomas Jr. (July 31, 1806 – February 21, 1850) was born in Lebanon, Ohio; an Illinois politician, he served as the Illinois Attorney General from 1835 to 1836 and later on the state Supreme Court. After studying law at Transylvani ...

, who would have a distinguished career as an Illinois lawyer and judge. When Illinois became a territory in 1809, President

James Madison James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for hi ...

(with the consent of the U.S. Senate) appointed Thomas judge of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

court for the northwestern judicial district. Thomas exercised those duties from 1809 until 1818. Voters from St. Clair County (the oldest county in Illinois and with Cahokia as its major town) elected Thomas as

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 Illinois State Constitutional Convention in 1818. Fellow delegates elected him to preside over the convention, which chose not to accept slavery in the new state. Upon the new state's

admittance to the Union In electrical engineering, admittance is a measure of how easily a circuit or device will allow a current to flow. It is defined as the reciprocal of impedance, analogous to how conductance & resistance are defined. The SI unit of admittance ...

, fellow legislators elected Thomas to the U.S. Senate, in which he would serve for two terms (from 1818 until his retirement in 1829). In 1820, Thomas proposed the

to limit slavery above the southern border of

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. In 1823 he switched parties and became a Crawford Republican. He served as chairman on the Committee on Public Lands in the

16th 16 (sixteen) is the natural number following 15 and preceding 17. 16 is a composite number, and a square number, being 42 = 4 × 4. It is the smallest number with exactly five divisors, its proper divisors being , , and . In English speech, ...

and 18th Congresses. He refused the nomination for a third term and moved to

Mount Vernon, Ohio Mount Vernon is a city in Knox County, Ohio, United States. It is located northeast of Columbus. The population was 16,990 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Knox County. History The community was platted in 1805, and named after Mo ...

in 1829, where he lived the rest of his life.

Death and legacy

About two years after the death of his wife, Thomas committed suicide on May 2, 1853, having lived more than seven decades. He is buried in Mound View Cemetery. Thomas's nephew,

(1806-1850), son of his brother Richard Symmes Thomas, served as

Illinois Attorney General The Illinois Attorney General is the highest legal officer of the state of Illinois in the United States. Originally an appointed office, it is now an office filled by statewide election. Based in Chicago and Springfield, Illinois, the attorney ...

and on the

Illinois Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Illinois is the state supreme court, the highest court of the State of Illinois. The court's authority is granted in Article VI of the current Illinois Constitution, which provides for seven justices elected from the five ap ...

References

External links

* , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Jesse B. 1777 births 1853 deaths 1850s suicides 19th-century American politicians American politicians who committed suicide Delegates to the United States House of Representatives from Indiana Territory Democratic-Republican Party United States senators Illinois Democratic-Republicans Illinois National Republicans Indiana Democratic-Republicans Indiana Territory officials Kentucky lawyers Members of the Indiana Territorial Legislature People from Kaskaskia, Illinois People from Mount Vernon, Ohio People from Shepherdstown, West Virginia Suicides in Ohio United States senators from Illinois