Arthur ST. CLAIR, Congress, PA (1734-1818)

1734-1818

ST. CLAIR, Arthur, a Delegate from Pennsylvania; born in Thurso, Caithness, Scotland, March 23, 1734 (old style); attended the University of Edinburgh and studied medicine; purchased a commission as ensign in the Sixtieth Foot, May 13, 1757, and came to America; served under Gen. Amherst at the capture of Louisburg July 26, 1758, and under Gen. James Wolfe at Quebec in 1759; resigned April 16, 1762; settled in Ligonier Valley, Pa., in 1764, where he erected mills; surveyor of the district of Cumberland in 1770; justice of the court of quarter sessions and of common pleas; member of the proprietary council, justice, recorder, and clerk of the orphans’ court; prothonotary of Bedford and Westmoreland Counties; served in the Pennsylvania Militia and Continental Army during the Revolutionary War; was a member of the Pennsylvania council of censors in 1783; Member of the Continental Congress 1786-1787, and its President in 1787; appointed governor of the Northwest Territory upon its formation in 1789 and served until November 22, 1802; named commander of Federal Troops, March 4, 1791; returned to Ligonier Valley, Pa., and engaged in the iron business; died near his old home, “Hermitage,” near Youngstown, Pa., August 31, 1818; interment in General Arthur St. Clair Cemetery, Greensburg, Pa.

Bibliography

Smith, William H. The St. Clair Papers. The Life and Public Services of Arthur St. Clair, Soldier of the Revolutionary War; President of Continental Congress; The Governor of the Northwestern Territory; with his correspondence and other papers. 1882. Reprint, New York: Da Capo Press, 1971.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present