The SAR MAGAZINE is the official quarterly publication of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution published quarterly.
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SUMMER 2014 31 former secretary. Instead, it passed a bill making the department of foreign affairs responsible for most of the tasks Thomson had in mind and changed its name to the Department of State. Not until 1849, after ignoring the recommendations of several presidents, did Congress pass an act to establish a "Home Department to be called the Department of the Interior." The final insult was left to the Board of Treasury, which refused to pay Thomson's salary for April through July 1789 on the grounds that "he hath not been recognized by the present Congress." (Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton later paid it.) For almost four months the Lee-Adams interest had tormented its detested foe. Thomson's pride and a lack of interest among Federalists, fixed as they were on the bright future and desiring no reminder of the past, also worked against him. On the day the House declined to create a home department, Thomson submitted his resignation to President Washington. Animosities first generated in 1775 had leapt across the constitutional revolution of 1787-89 and dealt Charles Thomson a mortal blow not only to his pride and prominence, but also to his place in American political history. Thomson retired to his home outside of Philadelphia, where intellectual interests replaced political. Almost immediately, he devoted himself to an English translation of a Greek version of the Old Testament, a task he completed in 1808. Seven years later, he published a synopsis of the Gospels. Sometime after retirement, he destroyed another writing project: a political history of the American Revolution, of which he had already written more than 1,000 pages. It was based on everything omitted from the bare-bones Journals of Congress. Why? "I should contradict all the histories of the great events of the Revolution. Let the world admire the supposed wisdom and valor of our great men ... I shall not undeceive future generations." Death rescued Thomson from senility 50 years after he had first become "the graphic faculty of the old Congress, the hand and pen of that body." z z z z z z z z z z For more reading on Charles Thomson, see: The Life of Charles Thomson, Secretary of the Continental Congress and Translator of the Bible From the Greek by Lewis R. Author, (1900). "Goodbye, 'Charle': The Lee-Adams Interest and the Political Demise of Charles Thomson. Secretary of Congress. 1774-1789," by Kenneth R. Bowling, Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 100, No. 3 (July 1976), pp. 314-35. "Charles Thomson, 'Prime Minister' of the United States" by Fred S. Rolater, Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 101, No. 3 (July 1977), pp. 322-348. Honoring Our Colonial Ancestors If you are an American and a direct male descendant of someone who rendered civil or military service in one of the 13 American colonies be- fore July 4, 1776, consider joining the NATIONAL SOCIETY SONS OF THE AMERICAN COLONISTS. For information on its activities and eligibility requirements, contact: Registrar General R.D. Pollock 3504 Wilson Street Fairfax, VA 22030-2936 www.americancolonists.org COMPATRIOTS! You MaY Be eligiBle for MeMBership in a VerY select order numerous sar members are already affiliated coMpatriots! Eligibility founding ancestor prior to 1657 and a revolutionary War patriot in the same male line. Male line may be from: (1) father's father; (2) Mother's father; (3) father's Maternal grandfather; (4) Maternal grandfather of Mother's father; (5) Maternal grandfather of father's father. for information, contact: daniel c. Warren 1512 steuben road gloucester point, Va 23062 or www.founderspatriots.org The presentation of the Charles Thomson plaque with the Thomson House owner and Maghera offcials during the SAR's visit to Ireland.