George THATCHER, Congress, MA (1754-1824)

THATCHER, George, a Delegate and a Representative from Massachusetts; born in Yarmouth, in the county of Barnstable, Mass., April 12, 1754; prepared for college by a private instructor; was graduated from Harvard College in 1776; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1778 and commenced practice in York, Maine; moved to Biddeford, Maine, in 1782; Member of the Continental Congress 1787-1789; elected to the First Congress; reelected to the Second and Third Congresses and reelected as a Federalist to the Fourth through Sixth Congresses (March 4, 1789-March 3, 1801); chairman, Committee on Revisal and Unfinished Business (Fifth Congress); did not seek renomination in 1800, having accepted a judicial appointment; district judge in Maine 1792-1800; associate judge of the supreme court of Massachusetts 1800-1820; delegate in 1819 to the constitutional convention of Maine, which until 1820 was a district of Massachusetts; again a judge of the supreme court of Maine 1820-1824; died in Biddeford, Maine, April 6, 1824; interment in Woodlawn Cemetery.

Bibliography

Kaplan, Lawrence S. “A New Englander Defends the War of 1812: Senator Varnum to Judge Thatcher.” Mid-America 46 (October 1964): 269-80.

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