Thomas Fitzsimons

Thomas FitzSimons was an American merchant and statesman of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He represented Pennsylvania in the Continental Congress, the Constitutional Convention, and the U.S. Congress. Fitzsimons' ancestry has not been proved, but one thought is that Fitzsimons was born at Ballikilty, north Co. Wexford, Leinster province, Ireland, in October, 1741. He was a member of a collection of Irish families with the name "Fitzsymons" and it variants. In the mid-1750s he immigrated to Philadelphia where his father soon died. However, Fitzsimons had enough education that he could begin... work as a clerk in a mercantile house. He married Catherine Meade on November 23, 1761 and formed a business partnership with her brother George. Their firm specialized in the West Indies trade, which would successfully operate for over 41 years. However, this firm was soon hit by the new revenue measures created to help support the finances of the British Empire, including the much reviled Stamp Act of 1765. Concerned with these ideas, Fitzsimons became active in the Irish merchant community in Philadelphia, elected the head of the Friendly Sons of St.
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