Thomas Scott (c. 1739 – March 2, 1796) was an American lawyer and politician who was born in theProvince of Pennsylvania. Following theAmerican Revolution, he became a member of the firstPennsylvania Assembly in 1776, and helped to craft the first laws of theCommonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Born in what is nowChester County, Pennsylvania in about 1739, Scott opted to study law while still young. Following his admission to the bar and subsequent practice of law, he moved to the area known today asBrownsville inFayette County and settled on Dunlaps Creek atRedstone Old Fort circa 1770.
In 1773, he was appointed as a justice of the peace; in 1776, he was a member of the firstPennsylvania Assembly.
AfterWashington County was established on March 28, 1781, he was appointed as the firstprothonotary. He served in that capacity until March 28, 1789, when he resigned in order to accept his elected position with theU.S. House of Representatives. He took that seat on Wednesday, April 1, 1789, which was the opening of the first session of thefirst Congress in the city of New York.[1] Among his contributions, he purportedly had the honor of presenting to the Congress of the new nation a resolution that established the capital city on the banks of thePotomac River now known asWashington, D.C.[2] He was one of nine representatives to vote against theEleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution.[3]
Scott died on March 2, 1796, and was buried in the Old Graveyard in the city ofWashington, Pennsylvania, on Walnut Street which is now considered to be the present site ofWashington & Jefferson College. During the early 1900s, his body was exhumed and re-interred in the Washington Cemetery.
| Preceded by John Proctor | Member,Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, representingWestmoreland County 29 November 1777 – 17 February 1781 | Succeeded by Christopher Hayes |
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| Preceded by District Created | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromPennsylvania's at-large congressional district 1789–1791 alongside: George Clymer,Thomas Fitzsimons,Thomas Hartley,Frederick A.C. Muhlenberg,Henry Wynkoop,Daniel Hiester andPeter G. Muhlenberg | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromPennsylvania's at-large congressional district 1793–1795 alongside: Thomas Fitzsimons,John W. Kittera,Thomas Hartley,Frederick A.C. Muhlenberg,James Armstrong,Peter G. Muhlenberg,Andrew Gregg,Daniel Hiester,William Irvine,William Findley,John Smilie, andWilliam Montgomery | Succeeded by |
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