View source for Timothy Matlack

{{short description|American politician, military officer and businessman (1736–1829)}}
{{more refs|date=December 2023}}
{{Use American English|date=December 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2025}}
{{Infobox artist
| name          = Timothy Matlack
| image         = Timothy Matlack.jpg
| imagesize     =
| caption       = A 1790 portrait of Matlack by [[Charles Willson Peale]] on display at the [[Museum of Fine Arts, Boston|Museum of Fine Arts]] in [[Boston]]
| birth_name    =
| birth_date    = {{birth date |1736|3|28}} 
| birth_place   = [[Haddonfield, New Jersey|Haddonfield]], [[Province of New Jersey]], [[British America]]
| death_date    = {{death date and age |1829|4|14|1736|3|28}}
| death_place   = [[Holmesburg, Philadelphia|Holmesburg]], [[Philadelphia]], Pennsylvania, U.S.
| resting_place = Wetherills Cemetery in [[Audubon, Pennsylvania]]
| known_for     = "Scribe of the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]]"
| nationality   = American
| spouse        = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Eleanor Yarnell<br/>|1758|1791|reason=died}}
* {{marriage|Elizabeth Claypoole<br/>|1797|}}
}}
}}
'''Timothy Matlack''' (March 28, 1736 – April 14, 1829) was an American politician, military officer and businessman who was chosen in 1776 to inscribe the original [[United States Declaration of Independence]] on [[vellum]].<ref name=lnp>{{cite news|first=Jack |last=Brubaker |title=The Scribbler: The man who really wrote the Declaration of Independence  |url=http://lancasteronline.com/opinion/the_scribbler/the-scribbler-the-man-who-really-wrote-the-declaration-of/article_97e841f4-3c75-11e6-adde-cb17b73fb581.html |work=([[LNP (newspaper)|LNP]]) [[Lancaster Online]] |date=2016-06-28 |accessdate=2016-07-06}}</ref> A brewer and beer bottler who emerged as a popular and powerful leader in the [[American Revolutionary War]], Matlack served as Secretary of Pennsylvania during the conflict and a delegate to the [[Second Continental Congress]] in [[Philadelphia]] in 1780. Matlack was known for his excellent penmanship, and his handwritten copy of the Declaration is on public display in the [[Charters of Freedom|Rotunda of the Charters of Freedom]] at the [[National Archives Building]] in [[Washington, D.C.]]

Matlack became one of [[Pennsylvania]]'s most provocative and influential political figures. He was removed from office by his political enemies at the end of the Revolutionary War, but returned to power in the [[Presidency of Thomas Jefferson|Jeffersonian era]].<ref>Coelho, Chris. ''Timothy Matlack: Scribe of the Declaration of Independence''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 2013, p. 55.</ref>

==Early life and education==
Matlack was born in [[Haddonfield, New Jersey]], on March 28, 1736, to Elizabeth Martha Burr Haines and Timothy Matlack. His grandparents were William Matlack and Mary Hancock, and Henry Burr and Elizabeth Hudson. His siblings were Sybil, Elizabeth, Titus, Seth, Josiah, and [[White Matlack]]; his half-siblings were [[Reuben Haines]] and Mary Haines. His first cousin was a Quaker abolitionist [[John Woolman]].<ref>Coelho, Chris ''Timothy Matlack: Scribe of the Declaration of Independence''. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2013, p.185.</ref> 

In 1738, the family moved to [[Philadelphia]], and he was apprenticed to the prosperous [[Quakers|Quaker]] merchant John Reynell in 1749. At the end of his term, he married Ellen Yarnall, the daughter of Quaker minister Mordecai Yarnall, and their children were William, Mordecai, Sibyl, Catharine, and Martha.{{fact|date=December 2023}}

==Career==
[[File:USA declaration independence.jpg|thumb|upright|Matlack's original [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]], now faded, is on public view in the [[Charters of Freedom]] rotunda of the [[National Archives Building]] in [[Washington, D.C.]]]]
In 1760, Matlack opened a store called the Case Knife, and he and Owen Biddle purchased a steel furnace in [[Trenton, New Jersey]], in 1762. His shop failed in 1765, and he was disowned by the [[Quakers]] who complained that he had been "frequenting company in such a manner as to spend too much of his time from home". He was confined to debtors' prison in 1768 and 1769.{{fact|date=December 2023}}

By 1769, Matlack set up a new business selling bottled beer and opened his own brewery near [[Independence Hall]] in [[Philadelphia]].{{fact|date=December 2023}}

In 1774, Matlack was hired by [[Charles Thomson]], Secretary of the [[First Continental Congress]], to engross (transcribe) an address to the King of England.{{fact|date=December 2023}}

In May 1775, he became clerk to the [[Second Continental Congress]] and, in June, he composed [[George Washington]]'s commission as commander-in-chief of the [[Continental Army]] of the United Colonies. Congress elevated him to Storekeeper of Military Supplies. He was also a member of Philadelphia's Committee of Inspection and Secretary of the Committee of Officers of the city's three militia battalions.{{fact|date=December 2023}}

In January 1776, Philadelphia added two more battalions to its militia brigade, and Matlack was elected Colonel of the Fifth Battalion of Rifle Rangers. He was a delegate to the Conference of Committees, which met in June to plan a new constitution for Pennsylvania. Later that month, he engrossed the [[United States Declaration of Independence]] on parchment, and the 56 delegates to the Second Continental Congress began signing it on August 2, 1776; it was unanimously adopted by all 56 delegates on July 4, 1776.{{fact|date=December 2023}}

Matlack was instrumental in drafting the [[Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776]], which he ardently defended against critics, including [[Benjamin Rush]], [[James Wilson (Founding Father)|James Wilson]], and [[John Dickinson (Pennsylvania and Delaware)|John Dickinson]]. Newspapers were his primary medium and he signed a number of articles with the pseudonym Tiberius Gracchus.<ref>Pennsylvania: A History of the Commonwealth, (ed. Millegrand Pencak, W., the Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, PA, 2002, p. 117)</ref> As Secretary to the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, Matlack was one of the most powerful men in the new state during the [[American Revolutionary War]]. In 1780, his government passed an Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery.

The Philadelphia and Pennsylvania militia crossed the [[Delaware River]] with Washington on December 27, 1776, and Colonel Matlack and his 5th Rifle Battalion were part of the expedition. Washington credited the Pennsylvania militia for their timely service in this campaign, and other officers commended the force for its manliness and spirit. Following the British occupation of Philadelphia, Washington assigned [[Benedict Arnold]] to the post of Commandant of Philadelphia, and Matlack came to despise Arnold's presence. He led an investigation of Arnold's wrongdoing, which triggered a court martial, and the court sentenced Arnold to be reprimanded by the Commander-in-Chief. Washington said that his officer's behavior had been "reprehensible"; Arnold's treason was discovered five months later.{{fact|date=December 2023}}

Matlack was named a trustee of the [[University of Pennsylvania|University of the State of Pennsylvania]] in 1779. In 1780, he was elected a member of the [[American Philosophical Society]] and served as its secretary from 1781 to 1783.<ref>{{Cite web|title=APS Member History|url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=timothy+matlack&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced|access-date=2020-12-07|website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref> 

In 1781, Matlack was among the founders of [[The Religious Society of Free Quakers]], [[Quakers]] who were "disowned" because of their support of the American war for independence. He was also one of the earliest opponents of slavery in America, and he felt that the Quakers were not moving quickly enough to abolish it.{{fact|date=December 2023}}

Along with [[Benjamin Franklin]] and [[Robert Morris (financier)|Robert Morris]], Matlack helped raise a substantial sum of money to construct the Free Quaker Meeting House at the corner of Fifth and [[Arch Street (Philadelphia)|Arch]] Streets in [[Center City, Philadelphia|Center City Philadelphia]].{{fact|date=December 2023}}

In 1790, Matlack was commissioned to survey the "headwaters of the [[Susquehanna River]] and the streams of the [[New Purchase (1768)|New Purchase]]," the northwestern portion of the state purchased from the American Indians.  They were also charged with exploring a route for a passageway to connect the [[West Branch Susquehanna River|West Branch]] with the [[Allegheny River]].<ref>Storey, Henry Wilson. "History of Cambria County, Pennsylvania." New York: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1907.</ref> He lived in [[Lancaster, Pennsylvania]], from 1799 until 1808 when Lancaster was the capital of Pennsylvania,<ref name=lnp/> and he worked as a clerk of the [[Pennsylvania State Senate]].<ref name=lnp/> 

Matlack was known for his household garden, which included 28 types of peach tree.<ref name=lnp/> 

==Death==
Matlack died in [[Holmesburg, Pennsylvania]], on April 14, 1829, and was interred in the Free Quaker Burial Ground on South Fifth Street in [[Philadelphia]]. In 1905, his remains were removed and reinterred in Wetherill Cemetery opposite [[Valley Forge]].

==In popular culture==
* In the 2004 film ''[[National Treasure (film)|National Treasure]]'', Matlack is mentioned in a riddle solved by the protagonist, Ben Gates ([[Nicolas Cage]]).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://declaration.fas.harvard.edu/blog/facts-nationaltreasure|title=Presenting the Facts: National Treasure|date=19 December 2016 }}</ref>
* The font, ''American Scribe'' is inspired by Matlack's penmanship.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://fonts.adobe.com/fonts/american-scribe|title=American Scribe &#124; Adobe Fonts}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Jacob Shallus]], engrosser of the 1787 [[United States Constitution]]
* [[William Lambert (writer)|William Lambert]], engrosser of the [[United States Bill of Rights]]

==Notes==
*Coelho, Chris. ''Timothy Matlack: Scribe of the Declaration of Independence''. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2013.
*Fanelli, Doris Devine, Karie Diethorn and John C. Milley. ''History of the Portrait Collection, Independence National Historical Park''. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 2001.
*Johnson, Allen and Dumas Malone, eds. ''Dictionary of American Biography.'' New York: Charles Scribner & Sons, 1933, vol 12, pp 409–410
*Landis, Bertha Cochran. ''Col. Timothy Matlack.'' Papers read before the Lancaster County Historical Society, Vol. XLII-No.6; Lancaster, PA: 1938.
*Stackhouse, A. M. ''Col. Timothy Matlack, Patriot and Soldier.'' [N.p.]: Privately printed, 1910.
*Wetherill, Charles. ''History of The Religious Society of Friends Called by Some The Free Quakers, in the City of Philadelphia.'' Philadelphia: Printed for the Society, 1894
*Yarnall, John K. ''Yarnall Family Record in America from 1683 to 1913.'' Chicago, Dec. 1913.; William Wade Hinshaw, Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy, Vol. II - Philadelphia MM records.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://archives.upenn.edu/exhibits/penn-people/biography/timothy-matlack Biography, Timothy Matlack] at the University of Pennsylvania
*[https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/tri040.html Free Quaker Meeting House architectural drawing] by Timothy Matlack, Library of Congress

{{United States Declaration of Independence}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Matlack, Timothy}}
[[Category:1736 births]]
[[Category:1829 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Haddonfield, New Jersey]]
[[Category:American abolitionists]]
[[Category:American Quakers]]
[[Category:American revolutionaries]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Lancaster, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Continental Congressmen from Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Penmanship]]
[[Category:Pennsylvania militiamen in the American Revolution]]
[[Category:Merchants from colonial New Jersey]]
[[Category:People from colonial Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:People of New Jersey in the American Revolution]]
[[Category:Politicians from Lancaster, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:University of Pennsylvania people]]
[[Category:Politicians from Philadelphia]]
[[Category:Quaker abolitionists]]
[[Category:United States Declaration of Independence]]
[[Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society]]