{{Short description|American politician}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}} {{Infobox officeholder | name =Thomson Joseph Skinner | image =Thomson Joseph Skinner (Massachusetts Congressman).jpg | office1 = Member of the<br>[[U.S. House of Representatives]]<br> from [[Massachusetts]] | term_start1 = January 27, 1797 | term_end1 = March 3, 1799 | predecessor1 = [[Theodore Sedgwick]] | successor1 = [[Theodore Sedgwick]] | constituency1 = [[Massachusetts's 1st congressional district|1st district]] | term_start2 = March 4, 1803 | term_end2 = August 10, 1804 | predecessor2 = [[Samuel Thatcher]] | successor2 = [[Simon Larned]] | constituency2 = [[Massachusetts's 12th congressional district|12th district]] | order3 = 7th | office3 = Treasurer and Receiver-General of Massachusetts | term_start3 = 1806 | term_end3 = 1808 | governor3 = [[Caleb Strong]]<br>[[James Sullivan (governor)|James Sullivan]] | preceded3 = [[Jonathan Jackson (Continental Congress)|Jonathan Jackson]] | succeeded3 = Josiah Dwight | office4 = Member of the [[Massachusetts House of Representatives]] | term4 = 1790–1797<br>1801–1803 | office5 = Member of the [[Massachusetts Senate]] | term5 = 1789<br>1800 | birth_date={{birth date|1752|5|24|mf=y}} | birth_place=[[Colchester, Connecticut|Colchester]], [[Connecticut Colony]], [[British America]] | death_date={{death date and age|1809|1|20|1752|5|24|mf=y}} | death_place=[[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]], U.S. | spouse=Ann Foote (1754–1808) | profession=Businessman<br/>Politician | party=[[Federalist Party (United States)|Federalist]]<br/>[[Democratic-Republican Party (United States)|Democratic-Republican]] |}}
'''Thomson Joseph Skinner''' (May 24, 1752 – January 20, 1809), was an American politician from [[Williamstown, Massachusetts]]. In addition to service as a militia officer during the [[American Revolution]], he served as a county judge and sheriff, member of both houses of the Massachusetts legislature, U.S. Marshal, and member of the [[United States House of Representatives]]. He served for two years as [[Treasurer and Receiver-General of Massachusetts]], and after his death an audit showed his accounts to be deficient for more than the value of his estate, which led to those who had posted bonds on his behalf having to pay the debt.
==Early life== Thomson J. Skinner was born in [[Colchester, Connecticut|Colchester]] in the [[Connecticut Colony]] on May 24, 1752, the son of Reverend Thomas Skinner and Mary Thomson, the second wife of Thomas Skinner.<ref>{{cite book |last=Fernald |first=Natalie R. |date=May 1, 1904 |title=The Genealogical Exchange |volume=1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9WVbAAAAMAAJ&q=%22thomas+skinner%22+%22colchester%22+%22thompson%22+%221752%22&pg=PA19 |location=Buffalo, NY |publisher=N. R. Fernald |page=19}}</ref> (His name is sometimes spelled Thompson, Tompson, Tomson, or even Thomas.) Skinner was educated in Colchester, his father died when he was 10 years old, and Thomson Skinner and his brother Benjamin were apprenticed to a carpenter and homebuilder.<ref>{{cite book |last=Perry |first=Arthur Latham |date=1904 |title=Williamstown and Williams College: A History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y3MWAAAAYAAJ&q=skinner&pg=PA260 |location=Norwood, MA |publisher=Norwood Press |page=162}}</ref> At age 21 Skinner moved to [[Williamstown, Massachusetts]] with his brother, where they went into the construction business as partners in a firm they named "T. J. and B. Skinner".<ref>{{cite book |last=Perry |first=Arthur Latham |date=1904 |title=Williamstown and Williams College: A History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y3MWAAAAYAAJ&q=skinner&pg=PA260 |location=Norwood, MA |publisher=Norwood Press |pages=161–162}}</ref> The Skinner brothers were also involved in other ventures, including a successful tavern.<ref>{{cite news |last=Kean |first=Sumner |date=April 4, 1964 |title=Location of Proposed Williams Dorm has Long History as Site of Hotels |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/54951673/ |newspaper=Berkshire Eagle |location=Pittsfield, MA |page=26}}</ref>
==Military career== Thomson Skinner was a member of the militia, including service during and after the [[American Revolution]]. In the summer of 1776 he carried messages between units in Berkshire County and General [[Horatio Gates]], commander of the [[Continental Army]]'s Northern Department in upstate [[New York (state)|New York]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Perry |first=Arthur Latham |date=1899 |title=Williamstown and Williams College: A History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y3MWAAAAYAAJ&q=%22gates%22+%22the+general+will+please+inquire+of+the+bearer%22&pg=PA101 |location=Norwood, MA |publisher=Norwood Press |pages=101, 104}}</ref> He also served as adjutant of Berkshire County's 2nd Regiment, adjutant of the Berkshire County 3rd Regiment (Simonds'), and a [[Company (military unit)|company]] commander in the Berkshire County regiment commanded by Asa Barnes.<ref>{{cite book |last=Massachusetts Secretary of State |date=1906 |title=Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War: A Compilation from the Archives |volume=14 |url=https://archive.org/stream/massachusettssolssthmass#page/282/mode/2up |location=Boston, MA |publisher=Wright & Potter |page=282}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Ohio State Society, Sons of the American Revolution |date=1919 |title=Yearbook of the Ohio Society of the Sons of the American Revolution |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IbE-AQAAMAAJ&q=%22skinner%27s%22+%22company%22+%22berkshire+county+%22militia%22&pg=PA173 |location=Cincinnati, OH |publisher=A. H. Pugh Printing |page=173}}</ref> Skinner remained in the militia after the war, and rose to the rank of [[Major general (United States)|major general]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Smith |first= Joseph Edward Adams |date=1885 |title=History of Berkshire County, Massachusetts |volume=II |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ddw_AQAAMAAJ&q=%22skinner%22+%22williamstown%22+%22militia%22+%22major+general%22&pg=PA673 |location=New York, NY |publisher=J. B. Beers & Co. |page=673}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |date=1804 |title=The Massachusetts Register and United States Calendar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-VIGAAAAMAAJ&q=%22j+skinner%22 |location=Boston, MA |publisher=Richardson & Lord and James Loring |page=136}}</ref> During the Revolution he served as a member of the [[Courts-martial in the United States|court-martial]] which acquitted [[Paul Revere]]'s conduct during the unsuccessful [[Penobscot Expedition]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Baxter |first=James Phinney |date=1914 |title=Documentary History of the State of Maine |volume= 19 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H01IAAAAYAAJ&q=%22skinner%22+%22revere%22+%22court-martial%22&pg=PA428 |location=Portland, ME |publisher=Lefavor-Tower Company |pages=428–430}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last= Greenburg |first=Michael M. |date=2014 |title=The Court-Martial of Paul Revere: A Son of Liberty and America's Forgotten Military Disaster |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bJzEBAAAQBAJ&q=%22paul+revere%22+%22court-martial%22+%22skinner%22&pg=PA205 |location=Lebanon, NH |publisher=University Press of New England |page=205 |isbn=978-1-6116-8535-0}}</ref>
==Political career== He served in the [[Massachusetts House of Representatives]] in 1781,<ref>{{cite book |date=1890 |title=Acts and Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1780-1781 |url=https://archive.org/details/actsandlawscomm01massgoog |quote=j. skinner williamstown 1781. |location=Boston, MA |publisher=Wright and Potter |page=[https://archive.org/details/actsandlawscomm01massgoog/page/n642 604]}}</ref> 1785,<ref>{{cite book |date=1890 |title=Acts and Resolves Passed by the General Court, 1784-1785 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1y2xAAAAMAAJ&q=%22j.+skinner%22+%22williamstown%22+1785&pg=PA626 |location=Boston, MA |publisher=Wright & Potter |page=626}}</ref> 1789,<ref>{{cite book |date=1894 |title=Acts and Resolves Passed by the General Court, 1788-89 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=61ixAAAAMAAJ&q=%22j.+skinner%22+%22williamstown%22+1789&pg=PA523 |location=Boston, MA |publisher=Wright & Potter |page=523}}</ref> and 1800. He was a member of the [[Massachusetts State Senate]] from 1786 to 1788, 1790 to 1797, and 1801 to 1803.<ref>{{cite book |date=1829 |title=A History of the County of Berkshire, Massachusetts |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ah2FAAAAIAAJ&q=skinner&pg=PA113 |location=Pittsfield, MA |publisher=Samuel W. Bush |pages=111–112}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |date=1897 |title=Acts and Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1800-1801 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OHcQAAAAYAAJ&q=skinner&pg=PA458 |location=Boston, MA |publisher=Wright & Potter |page=432}}</ref>
From 1788 to 1807, Skinner was a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas for [[Berkshire County, Massachusetts|Berkshire County]], and he was chief judge from 1795 to 1807.<ref>{{cite book |last=Davis |first=William Thomas |date=1900 |title=History of the Judiciary of Massachusetts |url=https://archive.org/details/historyjudiciar00davigoog |quote=skinner judge berkshire county. |location=Boston, MA |publisher=Boston Book Company |page=[https://archive.org/details/historyjudiciar00davigoog/page/n244 211]}}</ref> In 1788 he was a delegate to the state convention that ratified the [[United States Constitution]], and voted in favor of ratification.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.memorialhall.mass.edu/collection/itempage.jsp?itemid=17491&img=0&level=advanced&transcription=1 |title=Ratification of the Federal Constitution by Massachusetts, published in the Hampshire Gazette, February 13, 1788 |website=Memorial Hall Museum Online |publisher=Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association |location=Deerfield, MA |access-date=July 26, 2015}}</ref> He was also a candidate for [[Massachusetts's 4th congressional district]] that year.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A New Nation Votes |url=https://elections.lib.tufts.edu/catalog/kp78gh718 |access-date=2024-12-21 |website=elections.lib.tufts.edu}}</ref>
From 1791 to 1792 he served as Berkshire County Sheriff.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bcsoma.org/page_mobile.php?PageID=525&PageName=Berkshire+County+Sheriffs+Office |title=List of Sheriffs of Berkshire County |publisher=Berkshire County Sheriff's Office |access-date=July 26, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304033259/http://www.bcsoma.org/page_mobile.php?PageID=525&PageName=Berkshire+County+Sheriffs+Office |archive-date=March 4, 2016 }}</ref> In 1792 Skinner, recognized as a [[Federalist Party (United States)|Federalist]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Hall |first=Van Beck |date=1972 |title=Politics Without Parties: Massachusetts, 1780–1791 |url=https://archive.org/details/politicswithoutp00hall |url-access=registration |quote=skinner judge berkshire county. |location=Pittsburgh, PA |publisher=University of Pittsburgh Press |pages=[https://archive.org/details/politicswithoutp00hall/page/301 301]–302 |isbn=978-0-8229-3234-5}}</ref> was a presidential elector, and supported the reelection of [[George Washington]] and [[John Adams]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://elections.lib.tufts.edu/catalog/tufts:ma.electorswest.1792 |title=Election Results: Massachusetts 1792 Electoral College, Western District |website=A New Nation Votes |publisher=Tufts University |access-date=July 26, 2015}}</ref> Skinner was a founding trustee of [[Williams College]], served on the board of trustees from 1793 to 1809, and was treasurer from 1793 to 1798.<ref>{{cite book |last=Spring |first=Leverett Wilson |date=1917 |title=A History of Williams College |url=https://archive.org/details/ahistorywilliam00sprigoog |quote=j. skinner williams college trustee 1793 1809. |location=Boston, MA |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company |page=[https://archive.org/details/ahistorywilliam00sprigoog/page/n85 67]}}</ref>
Skinner represented [[Massachusetts's 1st congressional district]] ([[Berkshire County, Massachusetts|Berkshire County]]) in the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House]] for part of one term and all of another, January 1797 to March 1799.<ref>{{cite book |last=United States House of Representatives |date=1826 |title=Journal of the United States House of Representatives |volume= 3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o0hGAQAAMAAJ&q=skinner&pg=PA294 |location=Washington, DC |publisher=Gales & Seaton |page=14}}</ref> Before this election, he also ran for the House in 1792 and 1794.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A New Nation Votes |url=https://elections.lib.tufts.edu/catalog/8p58pf10n |access-date=2024-12-25 |website=elections.lib.tufts.edu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=A New Nation Votes |url=https://elections.lib.tufts.edu/catalog/mc87pr19w |access-date=2024-12-25 |website=elections.lib.tufts.edu}}</ref> He was again elected to the U.S. House in 1802, this time from the renumbered [[Massachusetts's 12th congressional district|12th District]], and served from March 1803 until resigning in August 1804.<ref>{{cite book |last= Poore |first=Benjamin Perley |date=1878 |title=The Political Register and Congressional Directory |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924028697815 |quote= skinner representative 1803 1804 resigned. |location=Boston, MA |publisher=Houghton, Osgood and Company |page=[https://archive.org/details/cu31924028697815/page/n40 25]}}</ref> Skinner, by now identified with the Jeffersonian or [[Democratic-Republican Party]], lost to [[John Quincy Adams]], the [[Federalist Party (United States)|Federalist]] candidate, in an 1803 election for [[List of United States senators from Massachusetts|U.S. Senator]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Adams |first=Henry |date=1905 |title=Documents Relating to New-England Federalism, 1800-1815 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BApFAAAAYAAJ&q=%22thomson+j+skinner%22+%22jefferson%22&pg=PA154 |location=Boston, MA |publisher=Little, Brown, and Company |page=154}}</ref>
From 1804 to 1807 Skinner served as [[United States Marshals Service|U.S. Marshal]] for Massachusetts.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.usmarshals.gov/readingroom/us_marshals/massachusetts.pdf |title=List of United States Marshals for the District of Massachusetts, 1789-1875 |publisher=United States Marshals Service |access-date=July 26, 2015}}</ref> From 1806 to 1808 he was [[Treasurer and Receiver-General of Massachusetts]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gifford |first1=S. N. |last2=Marden |first2=George A. |date=1881 |title=Manual for the Use of the General Court |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n0wIAAAAQAAJ&q=massachusetts+treasurer+and+receiver+general+coffin+jackson+skinner&pg=PA217 |location=Boston, MA |publisher=Rand, Avery & Co. |page=217}}</ref>
==Death== Skinner died in Boston on January 20, 1809.<ref>{{cite book |last=Robbins |first=Thomas |date=1886 |title=Diary of Thomas Robbins, D. D., 1796-1854 |volume= 1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SL8EAAAAYAAJ&q=%22skinner%22+%22boston%22+%22january+20%2C+1809%22&pg=PA5 |location=Boston, MA |publisher=Beacon Press |page=5}}</ref>
==Accounts as Massachusetts Treasurer== After Skinner's death, an 1809 audit revealed that his accounts as state treasurer were in arrears for $60,000 (about $935,000 in 2017), while his estate was valued at only $20,000. Several of the individuals who had posted [[surety bond]]s to guarantee his performance as treasurer paid portions of the remaining $40,000 obligation in order to satisfy Skinner's debt.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sureties of Thompson J. Skinner |date=1812 |title=Memorial of the Sureties of Thompson J. Skinner |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qkVfAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA11 |location=Pittsfield, MA |publisher=Phineas Allen |page=11}}</ref>
==Family== In 1773 Skinner married Ann Foote (April 11, 1754 – December 15, 1808).<ref>{{cite book |last=Goodwin |first=Nathaniel |date=1849 |title=The Foote Family: Or, the Descendants of Nathaniel Foote, One of the First Settlers of Wethersfield, Conn. |url=https://archive.org/details/footefamilyorde00goodgoog |location=Hartford, CT |publisher=Case, Tiffany and Company |page=[https://archive.org/details/footefamilyorde00goodgoog/page/n98 84]}}</ref> Their children included Thomson Joseph, Mary, Thomas, Ann, Eliza, and George Denison.<ref>{{cite book |last=Foote |first=Abram William |date=1907 |title=Foote Family: Comprising the Genealogy and History of Nathaniel Foote of Wethersfield, Connecticut and His Descendants |volume=1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f1dMAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA48 |location=Rutland, VT |publisher=Marble City Press |page=48}}</ref> Skinner and his wife had known each other as children because Skinner's mother had married Ann Foote's father following the deaths of Skinner's father and Foote's mother.<ref>{{cite book |last=Foote |first=Abram William |date=1907 |title=Foote Family: Comprising the Genealogy and History of Nathaniel Foote of Wethersfield, Connecticut and His Descendants |volume=1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f1dMAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA48 |location=Rutland, VT |publisher=Marble City Press |page=48}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==External links== {{CongBio|S000471}}
{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box | state=Massachusetts | district=1 | before=[[Theodore Sedgwick]] | after= [[Theodore Sedgwick]] | years=January 27, 1797 – March 3, 1799 }} {{US House succession box | state=Massachusetts | district=12 | before=[[Samuel Thatcher]] | after= [[Simon Larned]] | years=March 4, 1803 – August 10, 1804 }} {{S-off}} {{succession box | before =[[Jonathan Jackson (Continental Congress)|Jonathan Jackson]] | title = 7th [[Treasurer and Receiver-General of Massachusetts|Treasurer and Receiver General]],<br> [[Commonwealth of Massachusetts]] | years=1806–1808 | after = Josiah Dwight}} {{s-end}} {{USRepMA}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skinner, Thomson}} [[Category:1752 births]] [[Category:1809 deaths]] [[Category:Massachusetts militiamen in the American Revolution]] [[Category:American militia generals]] [[Category:Massachusetts state senators]] [[Category:Massachusetts state court judges]] [[Category:Sheriffs in Massachusetts]] [[Category:Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives]] [[Category:State treasurers of Massachusetts]] [[Category:Massachusetts Federalists]] [[Category:People from Colchester, Connecticut]] [[Category:People from Williamstown, Massachusetts]] [[Category:Politicians from Berkshire County, Massachusetts]] [[Category:Democratic-Republican Party United States representatives from Massachusetts]] [[Category:19th-century United States representatives]] [[Category:18th-century United States representatives]] [[Category:18th-century members of the Massachusetts General Court]] [[Category:19th-century members of the Massachusetts General Court]] [[Category:Candidates in the 1788–1789 United States elections]] [[Category:Candidates in the 1792 United States elections]]