Thomas was schooled at the Reverend Francis Allison School in New Castle, Delaware starting at age 8, finishing his studies in 1750. He moved in with his uncle, John Finney and studied law with his cousin David Finney. He was admitted to the bar in 1754. In 1763, Thomas received an honorary MA degree from the College of Pennsylvania. He later received honorary law degrees 1) in 1781 from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), 2) in 1782 from Dartmouth College, and 3) in 1785 by the University of Pennsylvania. Before he was 21, Thomas was over 6 feet tall, with a thin face, hawk nose, and 'hot' eyes. He was never seen without his gold-headed cane.
Thomas married Mary Borden on July 21, 1763 in Bordertown, New Jersey. They had 6 children, 5 of whom survived to adulthood. Mary died March 12, 1773 in Delaware. Thomas then married Sarah Armitage (1756-1820) on September 7, 1774 in New Castle, Delaware, British Colonial America. They had 4 children all of whom survived to adulthood.
Thomas began his political career in 1756 with being appointed deputy attorney general for Sussex County. Between 1762 and 1776, he was a member of the General Assembly of the Lower Counties (serving as speaker from 1772 to 1773). He was also elected in 1768 to the revived American Philosophical Society.
In 1774, he was one of Delaware's delegates to the First Continental Congress. In 1775 and 1776, he was one of Delaware's delegates to the Second Continental Congress. He was a staunch advocate of independence, voting for independence. He also participated in the debate over the wording of the official Declaration of Independence.
Thomas left congress to become a Colonel in the 4th Battalion of Pennsylvania Associators, originally created by Benjamin Franklin in 1747. The unit joined General Washington at Perth Amboy, New Jersey in defense of New York City. Because he was away at war, Thomas did not signed the Declaration of Independence when everyone else did. His signature does not appear on the authenticated copy of January 17, 1777. However, he did ultimately sign it, possibly as late at 1781. He is recognized as being the last person to sign the Declaration of Independence.
Thomas drafted the Delaware Constitution overnight. It was approved September 20, 1776 becoming the first state constitution to be produced after the Declaration of Independence. In 1777, Thomas stepped in as President of Delaware for a month.
Thomas returned to the Delaware General Assembly from 1777-1783 but he was pursued by British forces. Over the next few years, he was forced to move his family at least 5 times because of this pursuit. Simultaneously, Thomas served as chief justice of Pennsylvania from 1777 to 1799. From 1799 to 1812, Thomas was elected to be Governor of Pennsylvania, stepping down to retire from politics (and avoid an impeachment for what newspapers called his "spoils system").
Because his handwriting was so bad, his signature was interpreted to be Thomas M Keap hence the odd name of Keap Street in Brooklyn, New York is named after him.
Thomas died June 24, 1817 at age 83 (most likely from old age) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was interred at First Presbyterian Church, Market Street, Philadelphia. In 1843, he was moved to the family vault at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia.
Those are some of the exact words used by Google’s censors, aka 'Orwellian content police,' in describing many of our controversial stories. Stories later proven to be truthful and light years ahead of the mainstream media. But because we reported those 'inconvenient truths' they're trying to bankrupt ANP.
