TIMOTHY MATLACK

Timothy Matlack the second, was born in Haddonfield, New Jersey, to Martha

Burr and Timothy Matlack, a Quaker merchant and brewer. The family moved to

Philadelphia in 1746. In 1758 young Timothy married Ellen Yarnall, the

daughter of Quaker preacher Mordecai Yarnall; they had five children. After

the death of his first wife, Matlack in 1797 married widow Elizabeth

Claypoole Copper. Timothy died at Holmesburg, near Philadelphia, Pa., April

14, 1829

1773 Jan 2 Ann Yarnall. Widow. Springfield. 1-2-1773. Nov. 26, 1783. To children

of late husband Mordecai Yarnall, Sarah, wife of Samuel Wetheral, Elenor, wife of

Timothy Madlock, Hannah, wife of James Yarnall, Katherine, wife of Joseph Day,

Mary, Mordecai, Peter and Deborah Yarnall, all the share of his estate left me by

their father. To my 2 daughters, Mary, wife of Elisha Worrall and Elizabeth Maris,

all wearing apparel. To son Saml. Maris £100 &c. at 21. Remainder divided among 4

children, viz. Jesse, Mary, Elizabeth and Samuel. Executors: Friends Jesse Maris

and Wm. Fell. Date proven: Nov 26 1783.

Matlack, like his father, established himself as a hardware merchant and then as a

brewer. Young Matlack enjoyed the sports of horse racing and cock fighting, both of

which brought him into contact with people of all races and classes. After he fell

into debt and was thrown into debtors' prison, the Quakers obtained his release,

even though the Philadelphia monthly meeting had disowned him in July of 1765.

Quakers often criticized him for his association with the lower classes.

When the American Revolution came, Matlack emerged as a strong and colorful leader,

an advocate of personal liberty and the security of property. His belief in the

freedom and equality of all men led him to oppose slavery. Matlack served as a member

of a number of military groups, one of which, the Fifth Rifle Battalion of Philadelphia

Associators; as colonel of this battalion, he saw action at the Battle of Trenton in

December of 1776 and then at the Battle of Princeton in early January of 1777.

Matlack held a variety of political offices during the Revolutionary era, including

storekeeper of military supplies, delegate to the Pennsylvania Constitutional

Convention, and member of the state Council of Safety. As clerk to the secretary of

the Second Continental Congress, Matlack penned the official version of the

Declaration of Independence on display in the National Archives. After he helped shape

Pennsylvania's radical one-house constitution in 1776, Matlack was elected secretary

to the state's Supreme Executive Council. During the next few years he achieved great

political influence and held many offices. During this period he represented the

commonwealth of Pennsylvania at the trial for the court martial of Benedict Arnold,and

he wrote a number of newspaper articles (signed "T.G.") attacking opponents of the

constitution and James Wilson, leader of Pennsylvania Republicans.

Matlack was a director of the Bank of North America in 1781 and 1782, despite its

Republican domination. Republicans, however, were becoming more influential and

soon challenged Matlack's political position. In 1782 he was removed as secretary

to the Supreme Executive Council on charges of irregularity in the accounting. He

contested the charges, and the proceedings against him were eventually dropped, but

Matlack never regained his former political power. He lived briefly in New York in

1784, but soon returned to Pennsylvania, living out his life in Philadelphia,

Lancaster, and Holmesburg. He remained in politics but was relegated to lesser

political posts such as clerk of the state senate and state master of the rolls and

Philadelphia alderman.

Matlack helped found the Society of Free Quakers in 1781. Matlack's stands on the

abolition of slavery and on the use of military force as well as his immoderate

actions had separated him from the established Quaker community; after the death

of his son Mordecai in military service during the Revolutionary War, Matlack had

caned two Quakers who had criticized his sons for bearing arms against the British.

The Society of Free Quakers was made up people like him, who had been disowned, or

resigned from the Society of Friends, usually due to their wartime activities. The

Library of Congress has recently discovered that Matlack designed the Free Quaker

Meeting House which still stands at Fifth and Arch Streets in Philadelphia. At the

time of his death in 1829 he was interred in the Society of Free Quakers burial

ground.

Culturally, Matlack made other contributions as well. In 1780 he was elected to the

American Philosophical Society, serving as a secretary of the organization from 1781

to 1783. Both Charles Willson Peale and Rembrandt Peale painted his portrait. In 1779,

at the height of his influence, Matlack was elected a trustee of the University of the

State of Pennsylvania (now the University of Pennsylvania), serving until his 1785

resignation. (Timothy Matlack (1736-1829), University of Pennsylvania Archives)

Col. Matlack died in 1829 at the age of 94 years, 11 months and 10 days and was buried

in the Free Quaker Burying Ground near the old church but his body was later exhumed

in November 1905 and moved to the cemetery in Fatland across the river from Valley

Forge.  He lived to be a very aged man and in his later years, he lived with his

daughter and son-in-law, Martha (Matlack) and Guy Bryan, in Holmesburg, PA.  Ellinor

Yarnell Matlack (sic) was buried in the Free Quaker Ground 17 July 1791 Col. Timothy

Matlack was married a second time in 1797 to Elizabeth Capper, widow of Capt. Norris

Capper and sister of David Claypoole, the printer.

  Children:

    1 WILLIAM MATLACK born July 39 1759 PA................................ 

    2 MORDECAI MATLACK born 1761 PA. Mordecai died March 7 1778.

    3 SYBIL MATLACK born Dec 11 1764 PA.

    4 CATHERINE MATLACK born April 8 1767 PA.

    5 MARTHA MATLACK born PA. Martha married Guy Bryan June 21 1785 PA.