William Maclay (July 20, 1737April 16, 1804) was a politician from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

during the eighteenth century. Maclay, along with Robert Morris, was a member of Pennsylvania's first two-member delegation to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

. He assisted

John Harris, Sr. John Harris Sr. (1673 – December 1748) was an American businessman who emigrated from Britain to America late in the 17th century. Harris would later settle and establish Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, which was later named in his honor. Biograp ...

with the planning the layout of

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in Pe ...

in 1785, where Maclay Street is named for him. Following his tenure in the Senate, he served in the

Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

on two occasions, as a county judge, and as a presidential elector. He is known for his

journal A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of what happened over the course of a day or other period *Daybook, also known as a general journal, a ...

providing historical information on the

1st United States Congress The 1st United States Congress, comprising the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives, met from March 4, 1789, to March 4, 1791, during the first two years of George Washington's presidency, first at Federal Hall in ...

Biography

Maclay pursued

classical studies Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

and then served as a

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

lieutenant in the

Battle of Fort Duquesne The Battle of Fort Duquesne was British assault on the eponymous French fort (later the site of Pittsburgh) that was repulsed with heavy losses on 14 September 1758, during the French and Indian War. The attack on Fort Duquesne was part of a l ...

in 1758. He went on to serve in other expeditions in the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...

. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1760. After a period of practicing law, he became a surveyor in the employ of the

Penn family William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy an ...

, and then a

prothonotary The word prothonotary is recorded in English since 1447, as "principal clerk of a court," from L.L. ''prothonotarius'' ( c. 400), from Greek ''protonotarios'' "first scribe," originally the chief of the college of recorders of the court of the B ...

and clerk of the courts of Northumberland County in the 1770s. During 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 Revolut ...

, he served in the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...

as a commissary. He was also a frequent member of the

Pennsylvania General Assembly The Pennsylvania General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The legislature convenes in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. In colonial times (1682–1776), the legislature was known as the Pennsylvania ...

in the 1780s. During that period, he was also the Indian commissioner, a judge of the

court of common pleas A court of common pleas is a common kind of court structure found in various common law jurisdictions. The form originated with the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, which was created to permit individuals to press civil grievances against one ...

, and a member of the executive council. After the ratification of the Constitution Maclay was

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population ...

to the

and served in the

from March 4, 1789, to March 4, 1791. He received a two-year term instead of the usual six-year term for senators after he lost a lottery with the other Pennsylvania senator, Robert Morris. In the Senate, Maclay was one of the most radical members of the

Anti-Administration The Anti-Administration Party was an informal political faction in the United States led by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson that opposed policies of then Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton in the first term of US President George W ...

faction. He constantly feuded with Vice President

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...

in the Senate after Adams rejected Maclay's political deal to support his vice-presidential candidacy during the 1789 presidential election. In July 1789 he issued a resolution requiring the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

to request the Senate's permission to dismiss

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

members, but it was defeated by Vice President Adams's tiebreaking vote when Adams convinced

Tristram Dalton Tristram Dalton (May 28, 1738 – May 30, 1817) was an American politician and merchant from Massachusetts. He served a single term as one of the first United States senators, from 1789 to 1791. He was for many years one of the leading citizens ...

and

Richard Bassett Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stron ...

to withdraw their support. During Senate debates over the

Residence Act The Residence Act of 1790, officially titled An Act for establishing the temporary and permanent seat of the Government of the United States (), is a United States federal statute adopted during the second session of the First United States Co ...

establishing the site of the U.S. permanent

national capital A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encompasses the g ...

and

seat of government The seat of government is (as defined by ''Brewer's Politics'') "the building, complex of buildings or the city from which a government exercises its authority". In most countries, the nation’s capital is also seat of its government, thus that ...

Vice President Adams worked with Morris, who preferred

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

as the capital, to defeat Maclay's motion placing it near his landholdings on the

Susquehanna River The Susquehanna River (; Lenape: Siskëwahane) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, overlapping between the lower Northeast and the Upland South. At long, it is the longest river on the East Coast of the ...

. In his

, which is the only diary and one of the most important records of the

First United States Congress The 1st United States Congress, comprising the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives, met from March 4, 1789, to March 4, 1791, during the first two years of George Washington's presidency, first at Federal Hall in ...

, he criticizes Vice President Adams and President

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

. He also criticized many of their supporters who ran the senate and included particular senators, believing that their ways of running the Senate were inefficient. He was unsuccessful in his attempt to be re-elected by the state legislature of Pennsylvania. Following his retirement from national politics, he was also a member of the

Pennsylvania State House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

in 1795, 1796, and 1797. In addition, he was a

presidential elector The United States Electoral College is the group of presidential electors required by the Constitution to form every four years for the sole purpose of appointing the president and vice president. Each state and the District of Columbia appo ...

in the 1796 presidential election (voting for Jefferson), a county judge from 1801 to 1803, and a member again of the state House of Representatives in 1803. He died in 1804 and was interred in Old Paxton Church Cemetery in Harrisburg. Several of his relatives were also politicians, including his brother,

Samuel Maclay Samuel Maclay (June 17, 1741October 5, 1811) was an American surveyor, farmer, and politician from Union County, Pennsylvania. He served in the state legislature and represented Pennsylvania in both the U.S. House and the United States Senate. ...

, and his nephew,

William Plunkett Maclay William Plunkett Maclay (August 23, 1774 – September 2, 1842) was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. William P. Maclay (son of Samuel Maclay and nephew of William Maclay) was born in Northumberland Count ...

Mansion and land

Maclay retired to his farm in

Dauphin, Pennsylvania Dauphin is a borough in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 796 at the 2020 census. Dauphin's ZIP code is 17018. It is part of the Harrisburg–Carlisle Metropolitan Statistical Area. Geography Dauphin is located ...

in 1791, where he built a limestone mansion just north of the northern

Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the List of c ...

boundary at the time on Front Street and (ironically) South Street. In 1908, the home was purchased by William E. Bailey, a descendant of an early Harrisburg iron and steel industrialist family, who made renovations created by city architect Miller Kast to a

Georgian Revival Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I, George II, Georg ...

style. Presently, the building is occupied and maintained by the Pennsylvania Bar Association. The area east of Maclay's Mansion came to be known as "Maclaysburg" (present day

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

) and extended out to what would become the

Pennsylvania State Capitol Complex The Pennsylvania State Capitol Complex is a large complex of state government buildings in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Set on more than of downtown Harrisburg, it includes the Pennsylvania State Capitol and a landscaped park environment with monume ...

. Because it was undeveloped and within the floodplain, it was also sometimes referred to as "Maclay's Swamp" between North and South streets and Second and Third Streets; in the winter, it was popular for ice skating. Previously trying to encourage the relocation of the capital to Harrisburg while in the U.S. Senate, Maclay sold ten acres of land to the Commonwealth prior to his death. In 1811, using that land, architect Stephen Hills began to construct the Capitol building and state office buildings after Governor

Simon Snyder Simon Snyder (November 5, 1759November 9, 1819) was the third Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, serving three terms from 1808 to 1817. He led the state through the War of 1812. Born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Snyder established a ...

agreed to relocate centrally within Pennsylvania.

Personal life and family

He married Mary McClure Harris (1750-1809), daughter of John Harris Jr. and granddaughter of John Harris Sr., who were both the namesakes of Harrisburg. William and Mary had several children, including Eleanor, who married William Wallace and had a daughter named Mary Elizabeth Wallace DeWitt. Her relatives are Brigadier General Wallace DeWitt, General

John L. DeWitt John Lesesne DeWitt (January 9, 1880 – June 20, 1962) was a 4-star general officer in the United States Army, best known for leading the Japanese American internment, internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. After the attack on Pe ...

, and Brigadier General Calvin DeWitt Jr.

References

* '' Journal of William Maclay: United States Senator from Pennsylvania 1789–1791'', Edited by Edgar S. Maclay, (1890)
online edition
* Bowling, Kenneth R. and Veit, Helen E., ed. ''Documentary History of the First Federal Congress of the United States of America, 4 March 1789–3 March 1791. Vol 9: The Diary of William Maclay and Other Notes on Senate Debates.'' 1988. 532 pp.

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Johns Hopkins University Press The Johns Hopkins University Press (also referred to as JHU Press or JHUP) is the publishing division of Johns Hopkins University. It was founded in 1878 and is the oldest continuously running university press in the United States. The press publi ...

, c1988. * Trees, Andy. "The Diary of William Maclay and Political Manners in the First Congress." ''Pennsylvania History'' 2002 69(2): 210–229. * Gearhart, Heber, ''The Life of William Maclay,'' Northumberland County Historical Society Proceedings, (2, ): 46–73.
William Maclay
"

Dictionary of American Biography The ''Dictionary of American Biography'' was published in New York City by Charles Scribner's Sons under the auspices of the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS). History The dictionary was first proposed to the Council in 1920 by h ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

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, 1936.

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. Accessed 5 May. 2011. Gale Document Number: GALE, BT2310008518 Fee, via

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.
The Political Graveyard

External links

*
FamilySearch: William MACLAY (AFN: JWB6-Q2)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maclay, William 1737 births 1804 deaths People from Chester County, Pennsylvania People of colonial Pennsylvania

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

Anti-Administration Party United States senators from Pennsylvania Members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives 19th-century American politicians Politicians from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania People of Pennsylvania in the French and Indian War People of Pennsylvania in the American Revolution