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.