on November 5, 1788, he was elected president of the Council, replacing Benjamin Franklin. He was unanimously reelected to the presidency on November 11, 1789. He presided over the committee that wrote Pennsylvania's 1790 state constitution. That document did away with the Executive Council, replacing it with a single governor. On December 21, 1790, Mifflin became the last president of Pennsylvania and the first governor of the Commonwealth. He held the latter office until December 17, 1799, when he was succeeded by Thomas McKean. He then returned to the state legislature, where he served until his death the following month. Personal life Although Mifflin's family had been Quakers for four generations, he was expelled from the Religious Society of Friends when he joined the Continental Army, because his involvement with the military contradicted that faith's pacifistic doctrines. Mifflin became a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1768 and served for two years as its secretary. He served from 1773 to 1791 as a trustee of the College and Academy of Philadelphia (now the University of Pennsylvania), including two years as treasurer (1773–1775). Death and legacy Mifflin died in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on January 23, 1800. He is interred at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Lancaster. A Commonwealth of Pennsylvania historical marker outside Holy Trinity, dedicated in 1975, commemorates Thomas Wharton and Mifflin, the first and last Presidents of Pennsylvania under the Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776. It reads: Namesakes Counties, cities, and townships Schools and government buildings Governor Mifflin School District Mifflin Hall (dormitory at the Pennsylvania State University University Park Campus) Mifflin Hall (main building at the U.S. Army Quartermaster Center and School at Fort Lee, Virginia) Thomas Mifflin School, School District of Philadelphia Footnotes References External links Brief biography and portrait at the University of Pennsylvania Biography and portrait at Quartermasters-General 1744 births 1800 deaths American people of English descent American Lutherans Burials in Pennsylvania Colonial American merchants Continental Army generals Continental Army officers from Pennsylvania Continental Army staff officers Continental Congressmen from Pennsylvania 18th-century American politicians Governors of Pennsylvania Members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Members of the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly Politicians from Lancaster, Pennsylvania Politicians from Philadelphia People of colonial Pennsylvania Quartermasters Quartermasters General of the United States Army Signers of the Continental Association Signers of the United States Constitution Speakers of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives University of Pennsylvania alumni Businesspeople from Lancaster, Pennsylvania Aides-de-camp