Thomas McKean (pronounced mc-CANE) (March 19, 1734June 24, 1817) was an American lawyer, politician, and Founding Father. During the American Revolution, he was a Delaware delegate to the Continental Congress, where he signed the Continental Association, the United States Declaration of Independence, and the Articles of Confederation. McKean served as a President of Congress. He was at various times a member of the Federalist and the Democratic-Republican parties. McKean served as president of Delaware, chief justice of Pennsylvania, and the second governor of Pennsylvania. He also held numerous other public offices. Early life and education McKean was born on March 19, 1734, in New London Township in the Province of Pennsylvania to William McKean and Letitia Finney. His father was a tavern keeper and both his parents were Irish-born Protestants who came to Pennsylvania as children from Ballymoney, County Antrim, Ireland. He was educated by Reverend Francis Alison at his school in New Castle, Delaware. Mary Borden was his first wife. They married in 1763 and lived at 22 The Strand in New Castle, Delaware. They had six children: Joseph, Robert, Elizabeth, Letitia, Mary, and Mary. Mary Borden McKean died in 1773 and is buried at Immanuel Episcopal Church in New Castle. Letitia McKean married Dr. George Buchanan and was the mother of Admiral Franklin Buchanan. Sarah Armitage was McKean's second wife. They married in 1774, lived at the northeast corner of Third and Pine Streets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and had four children, Sarah, Thomas, Sophia, and Maria. They were members of the New Castle Presbyterian Church and the First Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. McKean's daughter Sarah married the Spanish diplomat Carlos Martínez de Irujo, 1st Marquis of Casa Irujo; their son, Carlos Martínez de Irujo y McKean, as his father, would later become prime minister of Spain. Career In 1755, he was admitted to the bar of the Lower Counties, as Delaware was then known, and likewise in the Province of Pennsylvania the following year. In 1756, he was appointed deputy attorney general for Sussex County. From the 1762–1763 session to the 1775–1776 session, he was a member of the General Assembly of the Lower Counties, serving as its speaker in 1772–1773. From July 1765, he also served as a judge of the Court of Common Pleas and began service as the customs collector at New Castle in 1771. In November 1765, his Court of Common Pleas became the