Simeon Theus (d. 1821), merchant and public official, served in the Continental army, 1775–83, rising from second lieutenant to captain and enduring British captivity after the fall of Charleston in 1780. He was awarded the brevet rank of major in 1783 and later joined the Society of the Cincinnati. Following the war Theus was a partner in a Charleston factorage firm. He served as a South Carolina commissioner for settling the state’s Revolutionary War claims against the United States, and he was also a state treasurer and cashier of the state bank. In 1800 President John Adams nominated Theus as commissioner of valuations for the direct tax in South Carolina. He accepted the position but resigned less than a year later. In 1802 Theus declined TJ’s nomination as commissioner of bankruptcy for South Carolina, but he accepted appointment as collector at Charleston in 1806 and held that post until 1819. As collector, Theus helped enforce the Embargo of 1807 and was sued in this capacity in the prominent case of Gilchrist v. Collector of Charleston. A circuit court decision in the plaintiff’s favor the following year circumscribed the power of TJ’s administration to detain ships until stronger legislation was obtained (Heitman, Continental Army description begins Francis B. Heitman, comp., Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army during the War of the Revolution, April, 1775, to December, 1783, rev. ed., 1914 description ends , 538; Charleston South-Carolina Gazette, and Public Advertiser, 11/15 Dec. 1784; Charleston City-Gazette & Daily Advertiser, 22 May, 24 Dec. 1794, 30 Aug. 1800, 24 Dec. 1802; Harold C. Syrett and others, eds., The Papers of Alexander Hamilton [1961–87], 14:295, 16:42; PTJ description begins Julian P. Boyd, Charles T. Cullen, John Catanzariti, Barbara B. Oberg, and others, eds., The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, 1950– , 40 vols. description ends , 34:136n, 37:152–3, 512–3, 699, 711; JEP description begins Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States description ends , 1:337, 338, 350, 2:16, 17, 3:170 [5, 7 Feb., 28 Apr. 1800, 20, 21 Jan. 1806, 26 Jan. 1819]; TJ to Theus, 10 Sept. 1808 [DLC]; ANB description begins John A. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes, eds., American National Biography, 1999, 24 vols. description ends , 12:142 [William Johnson]; The Federal Cases: Comprising Cases Argued and Determined in the Circuit and District Courts of the United States [1894–97], 10:355–66; Charleston City Gazette and Commercial Daily Advertiser, 7 July 1818, 11 Apr. 1821; gravestone inscription in Circular Congregational Church Burying Ground, Charleston).