1735-1819

Hugh Williamson, M.D., LL.D., one of the signers of the federal constitution, was born in West Nottingham, Pennsylvania, on the 5th of December, 1735. At the age of sixteen, he entered the first class in the College of Philadelphia, and at the first commencement held in that college he received the degree of bachelor of arts. He afterward commenced the study of divinity with Dr. Samuel Finley, and prosecuted it with such success that in 1759 he was licensed to preach. In 1760 he received the degree of master of arts; and was soon after appointed professor of mathematics in that institution.

In 1764, Mr. Williamson resigned his professorship and left his native country for Europe, to prosecute his medical studies at the University of Edinburgh. After enjoying the medical lectures of that institution for several years, he went to London, where he remained twelve months diligently pursuing his studies. From London he crossed over to Holland, and completed his medical education at Utrecht. After his return to this country, he commenced the practice of medicine in Philadelphia, and met with great success.

In 1769, in conjunction with several of the American astronomers, Mr. Williamson was employed in making observations on the transit of Venus, which happened in that year; and which were afterward referred to with peculiar notice and approbation by the astronomers of Europe. In 1770 he published "Observations upon the change of the climate of the United States." In consideration of these valuable papers, he was elected honorary member of the Holland Society of Sciences; of the Society of Arts and Sciences of Utrecht; and as a further reward of his literary labors, the degree of doctor of laws was conferred upon him by the University of Leyden.

In 1773, Mr. Williamson was appointed, in conjunction with Dr. John Ewing, to make a tour through England, Scotland, and Ireland, to solicit benefactions for the college at Newark. During his stay in London, he procured the celebrated letters of Hutchinson and Oliver, in which they had secretly labored to paint, in the most odious colors, the character of the people of Massachusetts. He lost no time in delivering them into the hands of Dr. Franklin, who afterward transmitted them to his constituents in Boston. "The indignation and animosity, which were excited on their perusal, roused the people to a greater opposition to the measures of Great Britain."

Mr. Williamson then passed into Holland, where he heard the news of the Declaration of Independence. As soon as he could arrange his affairs, he sailed for America, and arrived at Philadelphia in March, 1779. Shortly after, he settled in North Carolina, and commenced the practice of physic at Edenton, and afterward removed to Newbern. In 1780, he was appointed a surgeon in thc army. In 1782 he took his seat as a representative in the House of Commons of North Carolina; from thence he was sent to the general Congress; and in 1786 he was appointed a member to revise and amend the constitution of the United States. [Articles of Confederation.]

In 1787, Mr. Williamson was appointed a delegate from North Carolina, in the general convention at Philadelphia who formed and signed the federal Constitution of the United States. While in Congress, he enjoyed a large share of influence, and was esteemed for the purity of his intentions and his inflexible devotedness to the interests of his country. In 1811 he published "Observations on the climate in the different parts of America, compared with the climate in corresponding parts of the other continent." In 1812 he published the "History of North Carolina," 2 vols. octavo. His other writings are numerous and detached, and are to be found in many of the literary and scientific journals of our country.

In 1814, Mr. Williamson took an active part in the formation of the "Literary and Philosophical Society of New York." His intellectual faculties remained to the last period of his life unbroken and in their full vigor. He died on the 22d of May, 1819, in the eighty-fifth year of his age.

[During the convention which drafted the new constitution, Georgia delegate William Pierce, and others for various reasons, left the convention before September and did not sign the new constitution. However, while in attendance Pierce made private notes on each representative.]

Pierce's notes.