William Paca

William Paca
Signer of the Declaration of Independence

Historic Annapolis Foundation - Visit Paca's Annapolis house

William Paca was born on 31 October 1740, at his family's home near Abingdon in Baltimore (now Harford) County. He was the second son of John and Elizabeth Smith Paca, and a member of the fourth generation of Paca men in Maryland, his great-grandfather Robert having emigrated in the 1640s. William was educated in Philadelphia, graduating from the College of Philadelphia in 1759 with a Bachelor of Arts degree, and then settled in Annapolis.

Paca spent several years reading law with the noted attorney Stephen Bordley, before gaining experience in London and then beginning his own practice in county and provincial courts. In 1763, Paca ensured his social and economic position by his marriage to Mary Chew, the daughter of a wealthy and prominent Maryland family. Four days after their wedding, Paca purchased two lots in Annapolis and soon began building the five-part mansion and extensive pleasure garden that survive today.

A distinguished figure in public life, William Paca served as an Annapolis councilman and mayor, vestryman of St. Anne's Church, delegate from Annapolis to the lower house of the General Assembly, and delegate to the Continental Congress. Paca was a leader of the patriot cause in Maryland from the initial opposition to the Stamp Act in 1764 through his service in the Congress. He voted for adoption of the Declaration of Independence in July 1776 and was one of Maryland's four signers on August 2nd. Paca resigned his position as delegate to become a judge of the Admiralty Court, which tried maritime cases, and resigned that position when elected governor of Maryland in November 1782. Paca was re-elected in 1783 and 1784.

At the end of his third term, Paca moved to his plantation on the Eastern Shore, where he eventually built an elegant mansion, although he continued to own property in and spend time in Annapolis. He later represented his Eastern Shore district (Queen Anne's County) in the House of Delegates, before George Washington appointed him a Federal district judge in December 1789, a position he held for the remainder of his life.

Death claimed Mary Chew Paca in 1774, and Paca's second wife, Ann Harrison Paca, in 1780. Altogether, Paca had six children (two illegitimate), two of whom — survived him. William Paca died at his home in Queen Anne's County on 13 October 1799, just days short of his 59th birthday. Text Courtesy of: Historic Annapolis Foundation

Bibliography

Gregory A. Stiverson and Phebe R. Jacobsen, William Paca: A Biography (Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society, 1796)

Jean B. Russo, William Paca’s Education: The Making of an Eighteenth-Century Gentleman and American Patriot (Annapolis, MD: Historic Annapolis Foundation, 1999)

Jean B. Russo, A Question of Reputation: William Paca’s Courtship of Polly Tilghman (Annapolis: MD: Historic Annapolis Foundation, 2000)

Deed adding 35 acres of land in Maryland to Joseph White adjacent to 100 acres he already owns. Dated August 9, 1784. Signed "Wm. Paca" in left margin when he was governor of Maryland

We invite you to read a transcription of the complete text of the Declaration as presented by the National Archives.

The article "The Declaration of Independence: A History," which provides a detailed account of the Declaration, from its drafting through its preservation today at the National Archives.

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