Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, Maryland's Founder at the Constitutional Convention

Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, painted by John Hesselius. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.

Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, uncle of Declaration signer Thomas Stone, was one of Maryland's most important figures of the Revolutionary era. He was born in 1723 at Coates Retirement, a plantation west of Port Tobacco, Maryland. Known for his political and economic skill, he served as a justice of the peace in Charles County and later as a circuit judge in western Maryland. In 1760 he sat on the Maryland commission to settle the border dispute with Pennsylvania, which led to the Mason–Dixon Line.

Land, trade and slavery

As his political standing grew, Jenifer bought land, traded goods, bought and sold enslaved African Americans, and handled indentured servants' contracts. He invested in a ship carrying about 140 enslaved men and women that reached Annapolis on September 29, 1767. One of them is believed to have been Kunta Kinte, whose life Alex Haley told in Roots.

From royal councilor to patriot

By 1771 Jenifer sat on the council of Maryland's proprietary governor, Sir Robert Eden, which at first earned him the hostility of Marylanders who were questioning Parliament's authority. Over the next four years he cautiously turned against British rule, while hoping for a reconciliation that would leave Maryland largely self-governing under the Crown. After King George III declared the colonies in rebellion in August 1775, Jenifer committed fully to the patriot cause. He became president of Maryland's Council of Safety, which organized the state's military forces in 1775 — while, remarkably, still serving on Eden's council, which let him keep fellow patriots informed of the governor's efforts to blunt the independence movement.

After Maryland adopted its first constitution, Jenifer was chosen President of the Senate, one of the most powerful posts in the new state. Though a member of the gentry himself, he saw that many senators thought themselves above ordinary citizens and had not learned from Parliament's abuses. "The Senate does not appear to me to be a Child of the people at Large," he wrote, "and therefore will not be Supported by them…."

Toward the Constitution

After the war, Maryland and Virginia renewed an old rivalry over the Potomac River. Maryland's claim was stronger, but Virginians eyed the profits of the river trade. At James Madison's suggestion, delegates met at George Washington's home, Mount Vernon; Maryland's delegation included Jenifer and Stone. Under Washington's guidance the Virginians made many concessions, and the resulting Mount Vernon Compact showed that cooperation among all the states was needed. It led to the Annapolis Convention of 1786 on interstate trade. Only five states attended and it failed in its aims, but it called for another convention the next May in Philadelphia — the Constitutional Convention.

Jenifer arrived in Philadelphia on June 2, 1787, one of the oldest delegates. Georgia delegate William Pierce wrote that he "is always in a good humour, never fails to make his company pleased with him." Jenifer seldom spoke on the floor, but he used his goodwill behind the scenes to reconcile opposing delegates and shape the compromises that led to the signing of the Constitution on September 17, 1787.

He died in Annapolis on November 16, 1790. His burial place is unknown; the most likely site is his birthplace, Coates Retirement, now called Ellerslie, a private residence closed to the public.

Sources

• National Park Service, Thomas Stone National Historic Site: "Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer."