Thomas Contee

Thomas Contee (c. 1729–1811) of "Brookefield", near Nottingham, Prince George's County, Maryland, was an American patriot who held the rank of colonel, militia man, politician, planter.

[2] Contee inherited through his mother, the estate "Brookefield", the original home of his ancestor, Maj. Thomas Brooke, Sr., Esq.

Contee had management of a store at Pig Point in Bristol in southern Anne Arundel County from 1772 to 1775, and was an agent for his sons Alexander and Benjamin, in Nottingham, and Upper Marlboro.

Too old for active duty, Contee in 1776 was commissioned a Major of Militia by the Council of Safety and instructed to inspect the newly raised troops and to aid in the equipment of the volunteer forces.

In November 1776, he was elected a member of the Council of Safety which continued to act until March 20, 1777, when the new state government was organized.

He was sent to Philadelphia to confer with the Continental Congress as to the proper organization of the army and the general plans for defense.

Contee was elected to the state legislature and for many years was chairman of the Republican Party in Prince George's County.

On November 5, 1781, he was elected by a large majority, President of the Congress and in 1782, as head of the new nation, issued letters of marque to prey upon the British Commerce.

The motto under his Arms in Guild Hall, London is, "pour dieu et mon roi" ("for God and my king").

Alexander was a prosperous merchant at Nottingham Prince George's Co., Clerk of the Court; and from 1720 to 1724, member of the Lower House of the General Assembly.

The Contees came to Maryland from England, but they were of French descent Huguenots, who emigrated to Barnstable, in Devonshire, to escape the religious persecutions which culminated in the revocation of the Edict of Nantes.

Their great granddaughter married in 1551, Louis I, Prince de Conde, a cadet of the Bourbons who ascended the French throne in the person of Henry IV, King of France and Navare (1553–1610).