George Thatcher
Encyclopedia
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
district of Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. His name sometimes appears as George Thacher. He was a delegate for Massachusetts to the Continental Congress
Continental Congress
The Continental Congress was a convention of delegates called together from the Thirteen Colonies that became the governing body of the United States during the American Revolution....
in 1787 and 1788. He served as a justice in the state supreme court
State supreme court
In the United States, the state supreme court is the highest state court in the state court system ....
in both Massachusetts and Maine.
Thatcher was born in Yarmouth, Massachusetts
Yarmouth, Massachusetts
Yarmouth is a New England town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, Barnstable County being coextensive with Cape Cod. The population was 24,807 at the 2000 census....
. After private tutoring, he attended Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, graduating in 1776. He read law and was admitted to the bar in 1778, and then moved to York, Maine
York, Maine
York is a town in York County, Maine, United States at the southwest corner of the state. The population in the 2000 census was 12,854. Situated beside the Atlantic Ocean on the Gulf of Maine, York is a well-known summer resort. It is home to three 18-hole golf clubs, three sandy beaches, and...
to open a practice. By 1782 he had settled in Biddeford, Maine
Biddeford, Maine
Biddeford is a town in York County, Maine, United States. It is the largest town in the county, and is the sixth-largest in the state. It is the most southerly incorporated town in the state and the principal commercial center of York County. The population was 21,277 at the 2010 census...
, and remained there for the rest of his life.
Thatcher was named as one of the Massachusetts delegates to the Continental Congress in 1787. He wrote under the name "Scribble Scrabble." He was later elected a U.S. Congressman
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
from the Maine district of Massachusetts, as a Pro-administration
Pro-Administration Party (United States)
Pro-Administration "Party" is a term by historians to describe the supporters of the policies of George Washington's administration — especially Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton's financial policies — prior to the formation of the Federalist and Democratic-Republican Parties.Almost the entire...
candidate in 1789 to 1792 and as a Federalist
Federalist Party (United States)
The Federalist Party was the first American political party, from the early 1790s to 1816, the era of the First Party System, with remnants lasting into the 1820s. The Federalists controlled the federal government until 1801...
from 1794 to 1801. He did not seek re-election in 1800.
Thatcher accepted an appointment to a Massachusetts state court in 1792 and served until 1800 when he was appointed to the state's Supreme Court. During the organization of Maine's statehood in 1819, he was a member of the convention that created the new state's constitution. When statehood was achieved in 1820, he resigned from the Massachusetts court, and became a justice of the new Supreme Court of Maine. He served there until his death.
Thatcher, an ardent Unitarian
Unitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
, helped to sponsor the creation of Bowdoin College
Bowdoin College
Bowdoin College , founded in 1794, is an elite private liberal arts college located in the coastal Maine town of Brunswick, Maine. As of 2011, U.S. News and World Report ranks Bowdoin 6th among liberal arts colleges in the United States. At times, it was ranked as high as 4th in the country. It is...
so that Maine would have its own institution for advanced education. For the college's first dozen years, he served as a regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
.
Thatcher died at his home, and is buried in the Woodlawn Cemetery at Biddeford.