Related Posts
- Buy Tickets for The Constitutional Walking Tour of Philadelphia – See 20+ Sites on a Primary Overview of Independence Park, including the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall
- Constitutional Convention
- Independence Hall
- Signers' Garden
- National Constitution Center
- Christ Church
Birth: October 17, 1752
Death: April 25, 1810 (age 57)
Colony: Delaware
Occupation: Farmer, Businessman, Politician
Significance: Signed the United States Constitution (at the age of 34)
Jacob Broom was born to a modest Quaker family from Wilmington, Delaware. His father was a blacksmith and managed a small farm. Broom was educated before returning to help with the family farm, and he also became a businessman in his small hometown.
Broom became involved in Wilmington, Delaware politics, and he was elected to the position of Vice-Mayor of Wilmington in 1776, a position which he held for six more terms, and he also served multiple terms as Mayor of Wilmington.
Broom's deeply held pacifist beliefs as a Quaker prevented him from participating in the Revolutionary War. In the aftermath of the Revolutionary War, Broom became an outspoken proponent of a stronger central government and was named as a member of the Constitutional Convention which met in Philadelphia in the Summer of 1787. At the Constitutional Convention, Broom helped to debate, draft and sign the United States Constitution.
Broom moved back to Delaware following the Constitutional Convention, and he remained involved in local politics. Broom was on a business trip to Philadelphia in 1810 when he died, and he was buried in the North Garden of Christ Church in Philadelphia (before the establishment of Christ Church Burial Ground in 1719, Christ Church buried some of its earliest members of the congregation in the churchyard).
Jacob Broom in Philadelphia
Jacob Broom first lived in Philadelphia when he helped to write the Constitution of the United States as a member of the Constitutional Convention in 1787. During the Constitutional Convention, Broom worked at Independence Hall. Broom was also in Philadelphia when he died, and he is buried at Christ Church. Today, you can also see a statue commemorating Broom for his role in the creation of the United States Constitution in the Signers' Hall exhibit of the National Constitution Center. Signers' Garden pays tribute to the Founding Fathers, including those such as Broom who signed the Constitution of the United States. The National Constitution Center, Independence Hall, Christ Church and Signers' Garden are stops visited along The Constitutional Walking Tour!
