Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer | |
|---|---|
 Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer painted byJohn Hesselius,c. 1760–70 | |
| 1st President of the Maryland State Senate | |
| In office 1777–1780 | |
| Succeeded by | Matthew Tilghman |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1723 (1723) |
| Died | November 16, 1790(1790-11-16) (aged 66–67) Annapolis, Maryland, U.S. |
| Signature | .png) |
Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer[a] (1723 – November 16, 1790) was an American politician andFounding Father who was one of the signers of theConstitution of the United States. He was active for many years in theProvince of Maryland's colonial government, but when conflict arose with Great Britain, Jenifer embraced thePatriot cause.
Jenifer, born at Coates Retirement (nowEllerslie), an estate west ofPort Tobacco inCharles County, Maryland, was the son of Dr. Daniel Jenifer and Elizabeth Mason. As a young man, he acted as areceiver general, the local financial agent for the last two proprietors of Maryland. He was the uncle ofThomas Stone,Michael J. Stone, andJohn Hoskins Stone. The Jenifer family was ofSwedish origin.[1][2][3]
Jenifer served as justice of the peace for Charles carver county and later for the western circuit of Maryland. He sat on a commission that settled a boundary dispute betweenPennsylvania andDelaware[4] (1760) and on the Governor's Council, the upper house of the Maryland legislature that also served as the colony's court of appeals and as a board of senior advisers to the governor (1773–76).
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Despite his close ties with the colonial government, Jenifer strongly resented what he and most of the colonial gentry saw asParliament's arbitrary interference with the colonies' affairs, especially its laws concerning taxation and trade regulation. Years before the struggle for independence began, he had defended the proprietors of Maryland against those who sought to make Maryland a Royal colony. When the Revolution came, Jenifer lent his considerable support as a wealthy landowner to the Patriot cause, despite the fact that many leading Patriots had been his enemies in the proprietorship struggle. Jenifer became the president of Maryland'sCouncil of Safety, the Patriot body established to organize Maryland's military forces for the Revolution (1775–1777). When, in 1776, a new constitution was framed for the state of Maryland, Jenifer commented on the document's neglect ofpopular sovereignty: "The Senate does not appear to me to be a Child of the people at Large, and therefore will not be Supported by them longer than there Subsists the most perfect Union between the different Legislative branches."
During and after the war, Jenifer became increasingly concerned about national affairs. He represented his state in theContinental Congress (1778–1782) while simultaneously serving as president of Maryland'sfirst senate (1777–1780). As manager of his state's finances between 1782 and 1785, Jenifer drew on his experiences as a landholder to help the state survive the critical postwar economic depression. Along withJames Madison,John Dickinson,George Mason and his good friendGeorge Washington, Jenifer began to explore ways to solve the economic and political problems that had arisen under the weakArticles of Confederation. Consequently, he attended theMount Vernon Conference, a meeting that led eventually to theConstitutional Convention.
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Like his old friendBenjamin Franklin, Jenifer enjoyed the status of elder statesman at the Convention, which took place from May 25 to September 17, 1787, inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania. Jenifer used his prestige (as well as humor and reputation as pleasant company) to work for a strong and permanent union of the states by reconciling opposing views and formulating the compromises that made the convention a success.
Jenifer took stands on several important issues, although his advanced age restricted his activity in the day-to-day proceedings. Business experience gained while managing a large plantation had convinced him that an active central government was needed to ensure financial and commercial stability. To that end, Jenifer favored a strong and permanent union of the states in which a Congress representing the people had the power to tax. Concerned with continuity in the new government, he favored a three-year term for theUnited States House of Representatives. Too frequent elections, he concluded, might lead to indifference and would make prominent men unwilling to seek office. Jenifer was outvoted on this point, but his reaction was to marvel at the delegates' ability to come to agreement on a plan of government: "The first month we only came to grips, and the second it seemed as though we would fly apart forever, however we came as close as friends of eighty years in but days."[citation needed] When Maryland's other delegate,Luther Martin, said that he feared being hanged if the people of Maryland approved the Constitution, Jenifer quipped that Martin should stay in Philadelphia, so that he would not hang in his home state.[citation needed]
After the convention, Jenifer retired to his plantation at Stepney nearAnnapolis, where he died in 1790. He was buried atEllerslie, the place of his birth, which is now on theNational Register of Historic Places. In his will, Jenifer passed his roughly 16,000-acre (65 km2) land holdings to his nephew, Daniel Jenifer, and instructed that all hisslaves be freed six years after his death.[5] The following year the younger Jenifer had a son, who was named after his great-uncle.Daniel Jenifer, like his uncle, also served as magistrate in Charles County, as well as three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. His family home,Retreat, was located in Charles County, near one of the largest slave-trading ports of the era, Port Tobacco; it was built in the last quarter of the 18th century and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[6]
Jenifer Street inMadison, Wisconsin, is named in honor of Jenifer.[7] There is also a Jenifer Street inWashington, D.C. Daniel of Saint Thomas Jenifer Elementary school in Charles County was named in his honor. Jenifer Elementary School is located in theCharles County Public Schools school district.
This article incorporatespublic domain material fromDaniel of St. Thomas Jennifer.United States Army Center of Military History.
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by no one | President of the Maryland State Senate 1777–1780 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President of the Maryland State Senate 1780 | Succeeded by |
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