Background
Thomas Blount was born on May 10, 1759, in North Carolina, United States, the son of Jacob and Barbara (Gray) Blount.
Businessman military politician
Thomas Blount was born on May 10, 1759, in North Carolina, United States, the son of Jacob and Barbara (Gray) Blount.
Thomas Blount was educated at home.
At the age of seventeen Thomas Blount enlisted in the 5th Regiment, and added his name to the Revolutionary annals of North Carolina that already included his father and two brothers, Reading and William. Late in 1777 he was taken prisoner by the British, carried to England, and held until the close of the war. Returning to his native state he joined his brother, John Gray, who was engaged in foreign trade, and opened a branch store at Tarboro, Edgecombe County. In 1786 they were agents and trustees for the state in the Martinique debt settlement.
A republican in politics, Thomas participated in the second North Carolina convention called to consider the ratification of the national Constitution, opposed James Iredell's federalist amendments, but voted for ratification without amendment. Elected to the lower house of the state legislature in 1789, he served on the commission to locate and plan the state capital, gave his name to Blount St. , Raleigh, and in general made himself so useful that he was rewarded with a seat in Congress in 1793. From then until the time of his death in 1812 he served continuously, except for the intervals of the Sixth, Seventh, and Eleventh Congresses.
His achievements as a national legislator were not conspicuous. He was an adroit politician of the old Revolutionary school, who "wined and dined" for political support, discussed horse-racing more than political issues, and defended his loyalty by answering George Thatcher's charge of Francophil sympathies with a challenge to a duel.
Thomas Blount was a member of the Republican party.
Thomas Blount married Jacky Sullivan Sumner, daughter of the Revolutionary general, Jethro Sumner.
