Arthur St. Clair
9th President of the United States
in Congress Assembled February 2, 1787 to October 29, 1787

Revolutionary War Major General

A Scottish Born US President.
By Stanley L. Klos

ST. CLAIR, Arthur, soldier, born in Thurso, Caithness, Scotland, March 23, 1734; died in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, 31 August 1818. There is much debate over President St. Clair's Lineage. Laurel Fechner, Historian Clan Sinclair USA, for instance maintains that St. Clair's actual name in Scotland was Sinclair (clarified by clicking here).

Arthur St. Clair's story is one of unusual contrasts, enjoying a great family inheritance and then ending his life in desolate poverty; crossing the Delaware with Washington to capture Trenton while loosing Fort Ticonderoga under his own command in 1777; presiding as President of the United States in the Congress Assembled that produced the US Constitution and Northwest Ordinance only to be removed by Thomas Jefferson as Northwest Governor for opposing Ohio Statehood.

St. Clair attended the University of Edinburgh and studied medicine serving part of an apprenticeship with the renowned anatomist, William Hunter. On May 13, 1757, St. Clair changed his career plans and purchased a commission as ensign in the 60th Regiment. He came to America with Admiral Edward Boscawen's fleet. St. Clair served under Gen Jeffrey Amherst at the capture of Louisburg, 26 July 1758. For this and other services he received a lieutenant's commission on April 17, 1759 and was assigned to the command of Gen. James Wolfe. At the Battle of the Plains which decided the fate of French in America St. Clair took a notable part:

"Then came the fatal struggle on the plains during which Lieutenant St. Clair seized the colors, which had fallen from the hand of a dying soldier, and bore them until the field was won by the British."

One year later on duty in Boston, St. Clair married Phoebe Bayard in May of 1760 at the Trinity Episcopal Church. Phoebe was the daughter of , Balthazar Bayard & Mary Bowdoin whose grandfather was James Bowdoin of Boston. In 1762 he resigned his commission and moved to Bedford Pennsylvania to survey land for the Penn's. By 1764 the couple decided to settle permanently in Ligonier Valley, Pennsylvania. St. Clair purchased land and erected mills becoming the largest landowner in western Pennsylvania and a quite prominent British subject.

In 1770 he was made surveyor of the District of Cumberland and subsequently held positions as a justice of the court of quarter sessions and of common pleas, a member of the proprietary council, a justice, recorder, clerk of the orphans' court, and prothonotary of Bedford and Westmoreland counties. His most memorable role in Colonial Western Pennsylvania occurred in 1774.

Virginia, who since the 1750's claimed the Fort Pitt territory, decided to repossess Pittsburgh. Dr. John Connolly, a native Pennsylvanian,

"... appeared on the ground, and having the authority and blessings of Lord Dunmore, Governor of Virginia, took possession of Fort Pitt."

This Biography Continues along with the other 9 Presidents of the United States in Congress Assembled in

 

President Who? Forgotten Founders 

In this landmark work on Early Presidential History, Historian Stanley L. Klos unravels the complex birth of the US Presidency while providing captivating biographies on the Four Presidents of the Continental Congress and ten Presidents of the United States before George Washington.  The book is filled with actual photographs of Pre-Constitutional letters, resolutions, treaties, and laws enacted by the Confederation Congress and signed by the Presidents of the Confederation Congress as “President of the United States.”

 

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From the Biographical Directory of Congress

ST. CLAIR, Arthur, a Delegate from Pennsylvania; born in Thurso, Caithness, Scotland, March 23, 1734 (old style); attended the University of Edinburgh and studied medicine; purchased a commission as ensign in the Sixtieth Foot, May 13, 1757, and came to America; served under Gen. Amherst at the capture of Louisburg July 26, 1758, and under Gen. James Wolfe at Quebec in 1759; resigned April 16, 1762; settled in Ligonier Valley, Pa., in 1764, where he erected mills; surveyor of the district of Cumberland in 1770; justice of the court of quarter sessions and of common pleas; member of the proprietary council, justice, recorder, and clerk of the orphans’ court; prothonotary of Bedford and Westmoreland Counties; served in the Pennsylvania Militia and Continental Army during the Revolutionary War; was a member of the Pennsylvania council of censors in 1783; Member of the Continental Congress 1786-1787, and its President in 1787; appointed Governor of the Northwest Territory upon its formation in 1789 and served until November 22, 1802; named commander of Federal Troops, March 4, 1791; returned to Ligonier Valley, Pa., and engaged in the iron business; died near his old home, “Hermitage,” near Youngstown, Pa., August 31, 1818; interment in General Arthur St. Clair Cemetery, Greensburg, Pa.