John Hanson Thomas (1779-1815)
MSA SC 3520-13936
Biography:
Born May 16, 1779, in Frederick, Maryland. Son of Philip Thomas (1747-1815) and Jane Contee Hanson, sister of Alexander Contee Hanson. Cousin of Alexander Contee Hanson, Jr.. Attended St. John's College, Annapolis, Maryland, 1798. Studied law under Robert Goodloe Harper, in Baltimore, Maryland. Married Mary Isham Colston on October 5, 1809; one son, Dr. John Hanson Thomas (1813-1881). Died May 2, 1815, in Frederick, Maryland. Buried at All Saints' Church, Frederick, Maryland.
The son of Dr. Philip Thomas, a member of the Maryland Constitutional Conventions of 1774 and 1775 and a Frederick County judge, John Hanson Thomas attended St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland, where other future Maryland leaders were among his classmates. The first signs of Thomas's activism appeared in 1793, when he and classmate John Jacob Tschudy collected money for the relief of French refugess. While in Annapolis, Thomas befriended Francis Scott Key, a fellow St. John's student, and Roger Brooke Taney, who was studying law under Jeremiah Townley Chase at the time. Thomas wrote in a letter to William Potts, another classmate, "What happiness I should not expect, if we three [Potts, Taney, and himself] can oly spend a few days together once more. It would be a triumvirate far more joyful and honest, I believe than any of ancient Rome or that of modern France." (Carl Brent Swisher, Roger B. Taney. (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1935), 41.) Friendships made during these days would bring both benefits and strife later in his life. Following graduation in 1798, Thomas studied law, at least for a brief time, under Baltimore attorney Robert Goodloe Harper. He later returned to his hometown of Frederick, Maryland, were he was admitted to the bar and established a law practice.
In 1811, Thomas and Taney represented General James Wilkinson before a federal court martial brought under the order of President James Madision. The pair won their client an acquittal, but refused payment for their services, believing he was indeed guilty. Although both were Federalists, Thomas and Taney's friendship became strained during the War of 1812. Taney was viewed as the leader of the pro-war "Coodies", while Thomas was among the pro-British "blue light" Federalists. Thomas contributed to a new newspaper in Frederick, The Plain Dealer, which was established to counteract the "Coodie" views expressed in the Federal Republican, which continued publication, despite the destruction of its offices in Baltimore by a riotious mob. Newspapers became more important in 1813 when debates in Frederick County between Thomas and United States Attorney General William Pinkney, a Republican, were reported at length. As a result of coverage in the Baltimore Whig, Pinkney won the election by a large margin in Baltimore, but lost by a similar margin in rural Frederick, where the debates took place.
In 1808, John Hanson Thomas was elected by the Federalists to represent Frederick County in the Maryland House of Delegates. During the 1809 regular session, he proposed a constitutional amendment which removed the property qualifications for public office, including electors of the Senate. The Act, 1809 Laws of Maryland Chapter 198, was successfully ratified in 1810. Thomas was re-elected to the House in 1813. In 1815, he was the Federalist candidate for the U.S. Senate, but died before the election. He was replaced on the ticket by his cousin, Alexander Contee Hanson, Jr.
On October 5, 1809, John Hanson Thomas married Mary Isham Colston, of Berkley County, Virginia, who was a niece of United States Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall. The couple had one son, Dr. John Hanson Thomas, who followed his father and grandfather into politics. Thomas died of thyphoid fever at the age of 35 in Frederick on May 2, 1815, just days after the passing of his father. Tributes to his work appeared in newspapers in both Frederick and Anne Arundel counties, declaring "He has left a chasm in society which can not be filled." (The Frederick-Town Herald, 6 May 1815.) He was buried at All Saints' Protestant Episcopal Church in Frederick, in whose congregation he had been active for many years.
Return to John Hanson Thomas's Introductory Page
|
Tell Us What You Think About the Maryland State Archives Website!
|