In September 1788, just three months after the U.S. Constitution was ratified, the Continental Congress ordered the organization of the new government. Article 1, Section 1 of the Constitution provides that “all legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives,” and Article 2 creates the position of the president. So selection of a Congress and chief executive were immediate priorities.
The election of a president was a national matter and the outgoing Congress specified the mode, but it was left to each state to conduct its own elections for the new Congress, which would consist of 26 Senators and 65 Representatives. On November 20, 1788, both chambers of the Massachusetts legislature approved a bill specifying the manner for electing its allotment of 8 Representatives. This legislation was forwarded to Governor John Hancock, and he approved it. The election soon followed and 8 men were selected to represent the Commonwealth in the first U.S. House of Representatives.
Until 1820, what is now the State of Maine belonged to Massachusetts and was called the District of Maine. Consisting of the counties of York, Cumberland and Lincoln, this District was allotted 1 of the 8 representatives. George Thacher won the election in that District and became Maine’s first Representative to the U.S. Congress. He had been a Massachusetts delegate to the Continental Congress in 1787 and would be re-elected to his new post until 1801. At that time he accepted an appointment to the state Supreme Court. During the organization of Maine's statehood in 1819, he was a member of the convention that created the new state's constitution. When statehood was achieved in 1820, he became a justice of the new Supreme Court of Maine.
In the early days, Massachusetts had a practice of having the governor provide to the winner of an election a certification of the results. This made his election official. Most other states may not have had a similar practice, as we only recall seeing one other state certification besides Massachusetts. This is Thacher’s certification of election to the First Congress of the United States, signed by Governor Hancock.
Document Signed, Council Chamber, Boston, January 6, 1789. “In pursuance of a resolution of the General Court [state legislature] passed the 20th of November 1788, the Governor & Council having examined the returns from the several towns within the District of York, Cumberland & Lincoln respecting the choice of a Representative to represent the People thereof in the Congress of the United States & do find that the Hon. George Thacher, Esq. has a majority of votes. I do hereby certify the said Hon. George Thacher, Esq. to be a Representative of this Commonwealth to represent the People thereof in the Congress of the United States.” The Seal of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is still present.
The First Congress met at Federal Hall in New York, N.Y. and later at Congress Hall in Philadelphia from March 4, 1789 to March 3, 1791, during the first two years of the first administration of President George Washington. It was the most important and productive in American history, as it established and stabilized the new government, set important precedents, and breathed life into the Constitution by proving it could work in practice as well as theory. Among its many legislative accomplishments were passage of the Bill of Rights; the setting up a legal system through the Judiciary Act; the establishment of the Departments of State, War and Treasury; the creation of a revenue system for the new nation; the admission of two states into the Union; passage of an act to naturalize new citizens; the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury's plan for funding the foreign, domestic and state Revolutionary War debts; the establishment of a national bank; and the choice of a location for the U.S. capital city.
Our research of auction records for the past thirty years failed to disclose another such certification relating to the First Congress of the United States having reached the market, nor have we seen one. Moreover, as neither of the U.S. Senators from Massachusetts to that Congress were from Maine, this document certifies the election of the first person to represent Maine in either house of Congress.