Thirteen Signers, Thirteen Stories

[Hawk1981]

Fifty-six men affixed their names to the Declaration of Independence, and asserted their claim that the United Colonies would be free and independent states. Some of the signers, such as John Hancock, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin are immediately recognizable and well-known. Here are some lesser known stories of thirteen signers from thirteen colonies, both of service in their efforts for their cause and in their life after American Independence.

Roger Sherman

Roger Sherman of Connecticut attended the Constitutional Convention of 1787 where he is credited with giving dozens of speeches, many defending the rights of smaller states. In Thomas Jefferson’s words, Sherman was “a man who never said a foolish thing in his life.” He is the only person to sign the Articles of Association, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution.

Caesar Rodney

Caesar Rodney rode overnight from Dover, Delaware, to Philadelphia to cast the deciding vote on Richard Henry Lee’s resolution for independence. The votes of Delaware’s two other delegates were split and he was summoned to break the tie. He arrived on July 2, 1776, having ridden through a rainstorm to cast his vote. He wore a green, silk veil to cover the scarring on the left side of his face from an excised tumor. Despite his appearance John Adams said regarding Rodney that "there is sense and fire, spirit, wit, and humor in his countenance."

Button Gwinnett

Button Gwinnett, named Georgia’s president and commander-in-chief in 1777, he was a failure at nearly everything he ever set his hand to. He failed as a merchant and as a plantation owner. He ordered an unsuccessful invasion of British-controlled East Florida to secure the state’s southern border. Lachlan McIntosh, commander of Georgia’s Continental battalion, publicly denounced Gwinnett in the harshest terms. The two men fought a duel during which both men were shot, but only Gwinnett died of his wound.

Samuel Chase

Staunch Federalist and Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase from Maryland was known for his abrasive personality. He refused to tone down his partisan rhetoric after Thomas Jefferson’s 1804 presidential re-election. Urged on by Jefferson, Virginia Senator John Randolph accused Chase in impeachment proceedings of promoting a political agenda from the bench. Chase was acquitted when several Jeffersonian Republicans joined nine Federalists in voting not guilty.

 

[Hawk1981]

Elbridge Gerry

Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts, became the source of the term “gerrymandering” because as governor, he redistricted his state in favor of his own party. The word is a combination of Gerry’s name and the word “salamander,” which described the shape of the Essex County district after the redistricting. Gerry was noted for having a stern demeanor, slight stammer, hostile remarks and constant vacillation. His tomb is adorned with his message, "It is the duty of every citizen, though he may have but one day to live, to devote that day to the good of his country."

Matthew Thornton

Matthew Thornton drafted a plan for government for independent New Hampshire after the royal government was dissolved. Adopted on January 5, 1776, it was the first of the state constitutions after the armed conflict between Britain and the Colonies began in 1775. John Adams wrote of him, "We have from New Hampshire a Colonel Thornton, a physician by profession, a man of humor. He has a large budget of droll stories with which he entertains company perpetually."

John Witherspoon

Reverend John Witherspoon, invited to come to America from Scotland to be the first president of the College of New Jersey in 1747, was unable to take the position until 1768, making him its sixth president. During the Revolution, Witherspoon was forced to shut down and evacuate the school as the British forces drew near. The British nearly destroyed the institution during the war. He devoted subsequent years to rebuilding what is now known as Princeton University. In response to a delegate who maintained that America was not yet "ripe" for independence, Witherspoon announced that "In my judgment the country is not only ripe for the measure, but in danger of becoming rotten for the want of it!"

 

[Hawk1981]

Francis Lewis

Twenty-five years before signing the Declaration of Independence, Francis Lewis of New York supplied uniforms to the British during the French and Indian War. Captured by the French in August 1756 at Fort Oswego, New York, he spent several years as a prisoner in France. When he returned to the Colonies, he received 5,000 acres of land in New York in compensation for those lost years. He was a delegate to the Stamp Act Congress and an early member of the Sons of Liberty. Not known for making speeches, he made a strong defense of George Washington during the "Conway Cabal," in which several military officers and congressmen sought to replace Washington as head of the colonial forces.

John Penn

John Penn of North Carolina was born in Caroline Country, Virginia, and studied law and received his lawyer’s license in 1762. He was taken to court in early 1774 on charges of making disrespectful remarks about King George. The justices fined Penn one penny, which he refused to pay. That incident may have prompted Penn’s move from Virginia to Granville County, North Carolina, where other Penn family members had previously moved.

Robert Morris

Robert Morris of Pennsylvania, specialized in financial affairs and procuring military supplies. He kept the Continental Army going by wheedling money and supplies from the states, tightening accounting procedures, and occasionally obtaining personal loans to further the American cause. In 1789, he declined President George Washington’s offer to appoint him Secretary of the Treasury. That office went to an alternate candidate suggested by Morris, Alexander Hamilton. In his later years, Morris suffered setbacks in land speculation and was forced to live for a time in debtor's prison.

 

[Hawk1981]

Stephen Hopkins

Rhode Island’s Stephen Hopkins suffered from a palsy that caused his hand to shake as he signed the Declaration of Independence. He affixed his name, using his left hand to steady his right. “My hand trembles,” Hopkins said, “but my heart does not.” He successfully passed anti-slavery laws in Rhode Island and fought hard for anti-slavery laws in Congress.

Thomas Lynch Jr

Thomas Lynch Sr, highly respected by his fellow delegates for his “plan and sensible” manner, suffered a debilitating stroke in early 1776. South Carolina elected his son, Thomas Lynch Jr to Congress, in part to assist his father, who remained a delegate. In the summer of 1776, the elder Lynch’s declining health kept him from signing the Declaration of Independence, leaving a gap between the signatures of South Carolina delegates Edward Rutledge and Thomas Heyward Jr. Thomas Lynch Sr died in December. The younger Lynch and his wife were lost at sea during a storm in 1779 sailing in the Caribbean.

Richard Henry Lee

Richard Henry Lee of Westmoreland County, on instructions from the Virginia Convention, introduced a resolution for independence in the Continental Congress on June 7, 1776. The Lee resolution led directly to the writing of the Declaration of Independence, adopted on July 2. Though he opposed ratification of the federal Constitution years later, he was one of Virginia’s first US senators and a strong advocate for a Bill of Rights.

 

[Lysistrata]

Remember that no women and no people of color were in this room and represented in this gathering, We do not have their signitures.

 

[White 6]

View attachment 359102
Stephen Hopkins

Rhode Island’s Stephen Hopkins suffered from a palsy that caused his hand to shake as he signed the Declaration of Independence. He affixed his name, using his left hand to steady his right. “My hand trembles,” Hopkins said, “but my heart does not.” He successfully passed anti-slavery laws in Rhode Island and fought hard for anti-slavery laws in Congress.

View attachment 359103
Thomas Lynch Jr

Thomas Lynch Sr, highly respected by his fellow delegates for his “plan and sensible” manner, suffered a debilitating stroke in early 1776. South Carolina elected his son, Thomas Lynch Jr to Congress, in part to assist his father, who remained a delegate. In the summer of 1776, the elder Lynch’s declining health kept him from signing the Declaration of Independence, leaving a gap between the signatures of South Carolina delegates Edward Rutledge and Thomas Heyward Jr. Thomas Lynch Sr died in December. The younger Lynch and his wife were lost at sea during a storm in 1779 sailing in the Caribbean.

View attachment 359104
Richard Henry Lee

Richard Henry Lee of Westmoreland County, on instructions from the Virginia Convention, introduced a resolution for independence in the Continental Congress on June 7, 1776. The Lee resolution led directly to the writing of the Declaration of Independence, adopted on July 2. Though he opposed ratification of the federal Constitution years later, he was one of Virginia’s first US senators and a strong advocate for a Bill of Rights.

Happy Independence day! Thanks, Hawk!

 

[whitehall]

Ben Franklin said it best, "gentlemen we must hang together or surely we will hang separately".