Military History Index
History of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence
As I sit here, it is Friday evening here in the United States, July 2, 1999. Sunday is the
Fourth of July, the day we Americans celebrate our independence.
The Uniteds States is not very old by the standards of many countries in the world. The
Declaration of Independence was an action of the Second Continental Congress, July 4, 1776.
It begins with the words "When in the course of human events ..." and was signed by 56 men.
Some famous names from our history are represented in the signatures on the Declaration of
Independence, the name most associated with the Declaration being John Hancock, the first
person to sign the document. The other signers were:
GEORGIA:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton.
NORTH-CAROLINA:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn.
SOUTH-CAROLINA:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward Jr, Thomas Lynch Jr, Arthur Middleton.
MARYLAND:
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll.
VIRGINIA:
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison,
Thomas Nelson Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton.
PENNSYLVANIA:
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton,
George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross.
DELAWARE:
Caesar Rodney, George Read.
NEW-YORK:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Frank Lewis, Lewis Morris.
NEW-JERSEY:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John
Hart, Abraham Clark.
NEW-HAMPSHIRE:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton.
MASSACHUSETTS-BAY:
Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry.
RHODE-ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE:
C. Stephan Hopkins, William Ellery.
CONNECTICUT:
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott.
Some of these names are well known in American history (John Adams, Benjamin
Franklin) but in his note to Beulah, Andy asks a very good question: Have you ever
wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?
Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died.
Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the
Revolutionary Army, another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from
wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.
They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.
What kind of men were they? Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants,
nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated. But they signed
the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they
were captured.
---Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas
by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.---
---Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost
constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding.
His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.---
---Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett,
Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.---
---At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis
had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George
Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.---
---Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she
died within a few months.---
---John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for
their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he
lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished.
A few weeks later he died from exhaustion and a broken heart.---
---Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates.---
Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution. These were not wild eyed,
rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and education. They had security,
but they valued liberty more. Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged: "For
the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of the divine
providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."
They gave you and me a free and independent America. The history books never told you a
lot of what happened in the Revolutionary War. We didn't just fight the British. We were
British subjects at that time and we fought our own government!
Some of us take these liberties so much for granted... We shouldn't. So, take a couple of
minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these patriots. It's not
much to ask for the price they paid . . .
LET'S ALL REMEMBER THAT FREEDOM IS "NEVER FREE"!!!!
Author unknown.
Contributed by: Norma F. Jennings
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