Timeline of George Clymer’s Life (1739-1813)
Thanks To
Harry Shingledecker and John Busovicki

1739: Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Son of Christopher and Deborah

(Fitzwater) Clymer. George was their only child.

1740: His mother died.

1746: His father died, and he became the ward of William Coleman, an uncle and a wealthy businessman. (Coleman’s wife was the sister of George’s mother.) Mr. Coleman had, according to Benjamin Franklin, “the coolest, clearest head, the best heart, and the exactest morals of almost any man I ever met with.”

1750s:While growing and educated by Mr. Coleman, George developed a love of

reading, science, and philosophy. (His uncle had a large library.) As a young man he attended the College of Philadelphia from 1757-58. Started out as a clerk and worked his way up to a full-fledged partner in William Coleman’s mercantile firm. Inherited the firm and a small fortune upon the death of Mr. Coleman.

1759: Merged his business with that of partners Robert Ritchie and Reese Meredith and son. The firm was called “Merediths & Clymer.” (Mr. Meredith, a prominent shipping merchant, owned a ship called The Black Prince.)

1760s:Became a lifelong friend of General (and later President) George

Washington, who was a frequent guest in the home of Mr. Meredith.

1765: Married Elizabeth Meredith, the daughter of Mr. Meredith. She bore him nine children, five of whom survived infancy. Names of eight of the children from eldest to youngest: William, Henry, John, Margaret, Elizabeth, Julian, Ann, George.

1773: Headed up a committee, the Philadelphia Tea Party, that successfully opposed the sale of British tea in Philadelphia and helped to force the resignation of Philadelphia tea consignees (East India Company merchants) appointed by Britain under the Tea Act.

 

1775: Became a member of the Council of Safety of Philadelphia.

1775: Appointed along with Michael Hillegas to be the first Continental

Treasurers. Clymer personally helped to underwrite the war by exchanging all his own “hard coin” currency for Continental currency. He also supported colonial loans.

1775: Upon the onset of the Revolutionary War, Clymer accepted a Captain’s

commission because he recommended independence from Great Britain.

1776: As Captain of the Third Battalion under Colonel Cadwalader, he marched

his regiment to Amboy and later to Denk’s Ferry. He was later promoted to Colonel.

1776: Appointed to be a member of the Continental Congress when three of the

Pennsylvania delegates to the Congress declined to vote for the Declaration of Independence and withdrew.

1776: Signed the Declaration of Independence on August 2.

1776: Visited Ticonderoga with Richard Stockton to inspect the affairs of

the northern army. As a result of their report, Congress granted broader powers to General George Washington.

1776: Congress moved to Baltimore because of the advancing British Army,

leaving George Clymer, Robert Morris, and George Walton to transact congressional business in Philadelphia.

1777: Became a member of the Pennsylvania General Assembly.

1777: Was reelected to the Continental Congress. The duties provide so

strenuous that he took a short retirement from Congress for his health.

1777: On July 11, along with Philip Livingston and Eldridge Gerry, inspected

conditions of George Washington’s headquarters at Valley Forge.

1777: While living in Chester County, his home was attacked and partially

destroyed by a band of British soldiers. Clymer and his family escaped by hiding in the nearby woods. This happened after the British victory at the Battle of Brandywine, September 11, when some local Tories (American colonials loyal to Britain) told the British where Clymer lived.

1777: As commissioner of prisoners, Clymer received the captive Hessian

soldiers(mercenaries for the British Army)and sent those would could travel to Allentown.

1777: Accepted a commission with several other gentlemen to proceed to

Pittsburgh to help enlist warriors from the Shawnee and Delaware Indians into the service of the United States.

1777: While on his way to visit a friend, narrowly escaped death by

inadvertently avoiding a band of renegade Indians.

1777-78: Inspected conditions at Fort Pitt along with Colonel Samuel Washington

and Gabriel Jones.

1780: Elected director of bank of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, which was

established by the patriotic citizens of Philadelphia.

1780: Contributed $5,000 (several hundred thousand in today’s money) to the

bank of Pennsylvania to help supply provisions to the armies of the United States.

1780: Elected to Congress for a third term. At the Constitutional Convention,

where he rarely missed a meeting, he played a modest role in shaping the final document, the Constitution of the United States of America.

1782: Moved to Princeton New Jersey so that his children could receive a

college education there.

1784-88: Summoned by citizens of Philadelphia to take part in the general

assembly of the state. Elected as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1785. As a state legislator, he advocated a bicameral legislature, reform of the penal code, and opposed capital punishment but for the most heinous of crimes. He helped to frame the first Constitution of Pennsylvania.

 

1787: One of the signers of the Constitution of the United States of

America. (Clymer was among eight members such as Benjamin Franklin who signed both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.)

1789-91: Served in the first House of Representatives of the United States in

the First Congress. He favored liberal naturalization and a pro-French and Jefferson economic policy.(Recall that France provided military aid to the American Revolution to help defeat the British.)

1791: Appointed by George Washington to head the excise department (Internal

Revenue) of the state of Pennsylvania. Tried to help quell a rebellion west of the Allegheny Mountains where people refused to pay a duty on alcoholic beverages (known as the Whiskey Rebellion). His efforts were unsuccessful.

1794: Resigned from the excise department after his son John Meredith, age 25,

who was in the army units dispatched against the Whiskey Rebels, was wounded and died at Parkinson’s Ferry (now Monongahela City).

1795-96: Along with Colonel Hawkins and Colonel Pickins, was appointed to

negotiate a treaty with the Cherokee and Creek Indians in Georgia.

1796: Retired from political life.

1805: Presided over the Philadelphia bank.

Presided over the Academy of Fine Arts.

Elected Vice President of the Philadelphia Agricultural Society.

Sep. 7, 1805: George Clymer and his wife, Elizabeth, appeared before a justice

of the court in Philadelphia and gave a deed to the trustees of Indiana County for 250 acres of land for a payment of five shillings (a token amount). Two of the Clymer’s children, Ann and George, Jr., witnessed the transaction.

1806: Moved to Morrisville a few miles outside of Philadelphia.

1813: Died at almost age 74 at Summerseat, his estate at Morrisville.

His grave is in the Friends Meeting House Cemetery in Trenton, New Jersey.

A commemorative plaque near his tombstone reads:

“Signer of the Constitution of the United States of America. Deputy from Pennsylvania to Federal Constitution Convention May 25 1787 – September 18, 1787. Erected by the Pennsylvania Constitution Commemoration Committee 1937.”

THREE SIGNIFICANT QUOTES OF GEORGE CLYMER

Clymer, an independent thinker, once stated: “Some men’s minds are like looking-glasses, for, having no images or impressions of their own, they can but reflect those of other people.”

Clymer also proved prophetic when he said: “…American agricultural improvements will be faster and more universal than those of any other country.” George would be proud of the fact that the number one industry in Pennsylvania is agriculture.

Clymer also believed that even though Americans enjoy freedom of the press, the press bears the responsibility to convey the truth when he said: “A printer publishes a lie: for which he ought to stand in the pillory, for the people believe in and act upon it.”

SHORT HISTORY OF THE FORMATION OF INDIANA AND CLYMER

1803: The Pennsylvania General Assembly passed an act for the formation of Indiana County. James Paar, William Jack, and James Pomeroy were appointed trustees. George Clymer, through his agent Alexander Craig, agreed to give 250 acres to form Indiana County. Though Clymer gave the land for a token sum, he owned 3,050 acres, and this was an advantageous move for Clymer because having the county seat located in the midst of his other lands increased their sale value.

1805: The Pennsylvania General Assembly appointed Charles Campbell, Randall Laughlin, and John Wilson as trustees for Indiana County and gave them the authority to survey the 250 acres and lay out lots for public buildings, future homes and businesses, streets, and alleys. Lots were sold at public auction and prices ranged from five to two hundred and four dollars. Proceeds were used to erect a stone jail, completed in 1807, and a courthouse, completed in 1809. The principal street of Indiana was, and is, Philadelphia Street in honor of George Clymer’s hometown at the time. The present Sixth Street was originally named Clymer Street.

1905: The town of Clymer, in Indiana County, was named in honor of George Clymer at the suggestion of the Honorable John S. Fisher who later became Governor of Pennsylvania. Houses were first erected in Clymer about 1905, although the court order establishing Clymer Borough was not granted until February 29, 1908. Clymer resides in Cherryhill Township, which was formed in 1854 out Green and Brushvalley townships.