Thomas Barton

Thomas Barton (1728– 25 May 1780) was an Anglo-Irish Anglican clergyman who served as a missionary in Pennsylvania and was an ardent supporter of British colonial rule. After graduating from Trinity College Dublin he emigrated to America, and in 1751 opened a school at Norristown, Pennsylvania, around the age of 21. He was for some time tutor at the academy (now university) at Philadelphia. In 1753, Barton married Esther Rittenhouse, the daughter of a neighbouring farmer, and sister of David Rittenhouse, the distinguished mathematician and astronomer, whose close friendship he enjoyed until his death.

In 1754, Barton went to England, where he received episcopal orders. He returned to America as a missionary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, with which he remained connected until 1759. He accompanied, as chaplain, the expedition to Fort du Quesne (now Pittsburgh), which ended in the defeat and death of its leader, General Braddock. On leaving York County, Pennsylvania, he settled at Lancaster as rector of St. James's. Here he remained nearly twenty years, dividing his time between the duties of his office and the pursuit of natural history. He was elected to the revived American Philosophical Society in 1768. At last his adherence to the royalist party compelled him to quit his post, for he was unwilling to take the oath of allegiance after the Declaration of Independence. Benjamin Smith Barton, the American physician and naturalist, was one of his children.