William Maclay (Pennsylvania politician, born 1737)
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William Maclay | |
---|---|
United States Senator from Pennsylvania | |
In office March 4, 1789 – March 4, 1791 | |
Preceded by | None |
Succeeded by | Albert Gallatin |
Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives | |
In office 1795–1797 | |
Personal details | |
Born | John Harris, Sr.)[1] | July 20, 1737
Residence | Harrisburg, Pennsylvania |
Occupation | Lawyer, surveyor, Pennsylvania Legislature, U.S. Senator |
William Maclay (July 20, 1737 – April 16, 1804) was a politician from
Biography
Maclay was born in
After the
He constantly feuded with Vice President John Adams in the Senate after Adams rejected Maclay's political deal to support his vice-presidential candidacy during the 1789 presidential election. In July 1789 he issued a resolution requiring the President to request the Senate's permission to dismiss Cabinet members, but it was defeated by Vice President Adams's tiebreaking vote when Adams convinced Tristram Dalton and Richard Bassett to withdraw their support. During Senate debates over the Residence Act establishing the site of the U.S. permanent national capital and seat of government Vice President Adams worked with Morris, who preferred Philadelphia as the capital, to defeat Maclay's motion placing it near his landholdings on the Susquehanna River.[4]
In his
Following his retirement from national politics, he was also a member of the
Mansion and land
Maclay retired to his farm in
The area east of Maclay's Mansion came to be known as "Maclaysburg" (present day Downtown) and extended out to what would become the Pennsylvania State Capitol Complex.[7] Because it was undeveloped and within the floodplain, it was also sometimes referred to as "Maclay's Swamp" between North and South streets and Second and Third Streets; in the winter, it was popular for ice skating.[8] Previously trying to encourage the relocation of the capital to Harrisburg while in the U.S. Senate, Maclay sold ten acres of land to the Commonwealth prior to his death. In 1811, using that land, architect Stephen Hills began to construct the Capitol building and state office buildings after Governor Simon Snyder agreed to relocate centrally within Pennsylvania.[9]
Personal life and family
He married Mary McClure Harris (1750-1809), daughter of John Harris Jr. and granddaughter of John Harris Sr., who were both the namesakes of Harrisburg. William and Mary had several children, including Eleanor, who married William Wallace and had a daughter named Mary Elizabeth Wallace DeWitt. Her relatives are Brigadier General Wallace DeWitt, General John L. DeWitt, and Brigadier General Calvin DeWitt Jr.
References
- ^ "The Maclays of Lurgan", Maclay, Edgar Stanton, 1889, Olgivie Press, Brooklyn New York, U.S. A., p.15
- ^ "William Maclay Mansion - Harrisburg, PA - Signs of History on Waymarking.com". www.waymarking.com. Retrieved 2021-07-01.
- ^ The Journal of William Maclay: United States Senator from Pennsylvania, 1789-1791
- ^ "U.S. Senate: John Adams, 1st Vice President (1789-1797)". www.senate.gov. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
- ^ "William Maclay Mansion - Written Historical and Descriptive Data" (PDF). Library of Congress - Historic American Buildings Survey. 1933. Retrieved 2021-07-01.
- ^ "William Maclay Mansion - Harrisburg, PA - Signs of History on Waymarking.com". www.waymarking.com. Retrieved 2021-07-01.
- ^ "William Maclay Mansion Historical Marker". www.hmdb.org. Retrieved 2021-07-01.
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- ^ "The History of Pennsylvania's Early Capitols - cpc.state.pa.us". cpc.state.pa.us. Retrieved 2021-07-01.
- Journal of William Maclay: United States Senator from Pennsylvania 1789–1791, Edited by Edgar S. Maclay, (1890). online edition
- Bowling, Kenneth R. and Veit, Helen E., ed. Documentary History of the First Federal Congress of the United States of America, 4 March 1789–3 March 1791. Vol 9: The Diary of William Maclay and Other Notes on Senate Debates. 1988. 532 pp. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, c1988.
- Trees, Andy. "The Diary of William Maclay and Political Manners in the First Congress." Pennsylvania History 2002 69(2): 210–229. ISSN 0031-4528
- Gearhart, Heber, The Life of William Maclay, Northumberland County Historical Society Proceedings, (2, ): 46–73.
- "William Maclay." New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1936. Gale Biography In Context. Accessed 5 May. 2011. Gale Document Number: GALE|BT2310008518 Fee, via Fairfax County Public Library.
- United States Congress. "William Maclay (id: M000031)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- The Political Graveyard