  charles thomson (november 29, 1729 &ndash; august 16, 1824) was a patriot leader in philadelphia during the american revolution and the secretary of the continental congress (1774â1789) throughout its existence. ==biography== thomson was born in gorteade townland, maghera parish, county londonderry, ireland, to scots-irish parents. after the death of his mother in 1739, his father emigrated to the british colonies in america with charles and two or three brothers. the father died at sea, and the penniless boys were separated in america. charles was cared for by a blacksmith in new castle, delaware, and was educated in new london, pennsylvania. in 1750 he became a tutor in latin at the philadelphia academy. 126px|left|charles thomson during the french and indian war, thomson was an opponent of the pennsylvania proprietors' american indian policies. he served as secretary at the treaty of easton (1758), and wrote an enquiry into the causes of the alienation of the delaware and shawanese indians from the british interest (1759), which blamed the war on the proprietors. he was allied with benjamin franklin, the leader of the anti-proprietary party, but the two men parted politically during the stamp act crisis in 1765. thomson became a leader of philadelphia's sons of liberty. he was married to the sister of benjamin harrison v, another signer, as delegate, of the declaration of independence.biography of charles thomson thomson was a leader in the revolutionary crisis of the early 1770s. john adams called him the "samuel adams of philadelphia". thomson served as the secretary of the continental congress through its entirety. through those 15 years, the congress saw many delegates come and go, but thomson's dedication to recording the debates and decisions provided continuity. along with john hancock, president of the congress, thomson's name (as secretary) appeared on the first published version of the declaration of independence in july 1776. thumb|thomson's great seal proposal; a modified version was accepted thomson's role as secretary to congress was not limited to clerical duties. according to biogr
1729_births 1824_deaths American_people_of_Scotch-Irish_descent Burials_in_Philadelphia,_Pennsylvania Continental_Congress Kingdom_of_Ireland_emigrants_to_the_Thirteen_Colonies People_from_County_Londonderry People_from_Maghera People_from_Philadelphia,_Pennsylvania People_of_Pennsylvania_in_the_American_Revolution