Danville Political Club - Meetings

Meetings

The first meeting of the Political Club was at the residence of Samuel McDowell on the night of December 27, 1786. The founding members of the Club resolved to invite Muter, Short, Ormsby, Johnson, Tardeveau, Allen, William McDowell, Thomas Speed, and James Overton to join the Club. Also at the first meeting, Innes, Greenup, Belli, and John Brown were tasked with drafting a constitution for the Club.

While studying at The College of William & Mary, Brown had been a member of the first ever chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, and he borrowed heavily from that organization's constitution. Consequently, by the second meeting, held a week later at the home of Thomas Barbee, Brown was able to present a draft document to the Club. After two readings and several amendments, the constitution was approved.

Initially, meetings took place on Saturday nights at Grayson's Tavern in Danville, although fewer than half of the Club's members were residents of that city. In May 1787, the Club relocated their meetings to the courthouse in Danville and convene at 3:30 PM. Fines were levied against members for being late to meetings, leaving a meeting early, or missing a meeting without an acceptable excuse. (One acceptable excuse was the wooing of a woman, but only if doing so out-of-town.) Six members were considered a quorum, and at each meeting, a president was elected for the duration of that meeting. The Club constitution also called for the election of a secretary and treasurer who would serve until removed or unable to execute their duties. Thomas Speed was chosen as the secretary and Thomas Allin was chosen treasurer at the second meeting.

The topic of debate for each night was selected a month in advance. Some nights, the topic was related to the district of Kentucky's relationship to Virginia; other nights it was national in scope. For several consecutive meetings, the members debated the federal constitution, clause by clause, and suggested amendments. The resulting document was found in Thomas Speed's desk under the title "The Constitution of the United States as Amended and Approved by the Political Club." Perhaps the most remarkable suggestion was offered by George Muter on February 23, 1788: "he Federal Constitution ought to be preceded by a Declaration of Rights!" A committee composed of Innes, Greenup, Belli, Craddock, Todd, and John Brown were charged with drafting such a declaration, but if they carried out this charge, the result has been lost to history.