Name
DOB - DOD
Burial Location
Visited
* Gravesite on Private Property
October 30 [O.S. October 19] 1735 – July 4, 1826
Home:
Quincy, Massachusetts
Education:
Harvard University
Profession:
President, Vice President, Minister to the United Kingdom and the
Netherlands, Delegate to Continental Congress from Massachusetts
Gilbert Stuart, John Adams, c. 1800-1815, NGA 42933
Samuel Adams
27 Sep 1722 – 2 Oct 1803
Home:
Boston, Massachusetts
Education:
Harvard University
Profession:
Governor of Massachusetts, Lt. Gov. of Mass., State Senator of Mass.,
Delegate to Continental Congress from Mass., Clerk of House of Representatives of Mass.
Samuel Adams by John Singleton Copley
Josiah Bartlett
21 Nov 1729 – 19 May 1795
Home:
Kingston, NH
Education:
Profession:
Delegate to Continental Congress, Signed Articles of Confederation, State
court Judge, Member of Federal constitutional convention, Elected Governor of New Hampshire
Engraving of Josiah Bartlett by printmakers including Henry Bryan Hall, Albert Rosenthal, and Max Rosenthal. Draughtsman is David McNeely Stauffer. Title from Calendar of Emmet Collection. Citation/reference : EM451
Carter Braxton
10 Sep 1736 – 10 Oct 1797
Home:
King William, VA
Education:
College of William and Mary
Profession:
Farmer, Virginia House of Burgesses, Delegate to the Continental Congress,
Member, Virginia patriot's Committee of Safety, Signer of the Declaration of Independence
Other Info:
Before the American Revolution, Carter Braxton was possessed of a considerable fortune through
inheritance and favorable marriages. While still in his teens he inherited the family estate, which
included a flourishing Virginia tobacco plantation, upon the death of his father. He married a wealthy
heiress who died when he was just 21, and within a few years he had remarried, this time to the daughter
of the Receiver of Customs in Virginia for the King. As a delegate representing Virginia in the
Continental Congress in 1776, he was one of the minority of delegates reluctant to support an American
declaration of independence, a move which he viewed at the time as too dangerous.
Braxton invested his wealth in commercial enterprises, particularly shipping, and he endured severe financial reversals during the Revolutionary War when many of the ships in which he held interest were either appropriated by the British government (because they were British-flagged) or were sunk or captured by the British. He was not personally targeted for ruin because he had signed the Declaration of Independence, however; he suffered grievous financial losses because most of his wealth was tied up in shipping, “that trade which is so essential to the prosecution of the War” and which was, therefore, a prime military target for the British. Even if he hadn’t signed the Declaration of Independence, Braxton’s ships would have been casualties of the war just the same.
Although Braxton did lose property during the war and had to sell off assets (primarily landholdings) to cover the debts incurred by the loss of his ships, he recouped much of that money after the war but subsequently lost it again through his own ill-advised business dealings. His fortune was considerably diminished in his later years, but he did not by any stretch of the imagination “die in rags.” 2
Braxton invested his wealth in commercial enterprises, particularly shipping, and he endured severe financial reversals during the Revolutionary War when many of the ships in which he held interest were either appropriated by the British government (because they were British-flagged) or were sunk or captured by the British. He was not personally targeted for ruin because he had signed the Declaration of Independence, however; he suffered grievous financial losses because most of his wealth was tied up in shipping, “that trade which is so essential to the prosecution of the War” and which was, therefore, a prime military target for the British. Even if he hadn’t signed the Declaration of Independence, Braxton’s ships would have been casualties of the war just the same.
Although Braxton did lose property during the war and had to sell off assets (primarily landholdings) to cover the debts incurred by the loss of his ships, he recouped much of that money after the war but subsequently lost it again through his own ill-advised business dealings. His fortune was considerably diminished in his later years, but he did not by any stretch of the imagination “die in rags.” 2
Carter Braxton
Private Property - Photo from Google Maps
Charles Carroll
19 Sep 1737 – 14 Nov 1832
Home:
Ellicott City, MD
Education:
Jesuits' College at St. Omar, France; seminary in Rheims; Graduate,
College of Louis the Grande; Bourges; studies in Paris; Studies, apprenticeship in London. (Scholar,
Lawyer)
Profession:
Member of first Maryland Committee of Safety, Provincial Congress, Delayed
member of Continental Congress, August, Signed Declaration of Independence; Appointed to board of War,
Elected to Senate of Maryland, Elected U.S. Senator from Maryland, returned to Maryland Senate
Other Info:
Charles Carroll was the last surviving member of those who signed the
Declaration. He died, the last survivor of the signers of the Declaration, in 1832 at the age of 95.
Grave Site:
The cemetery and Doughoregan Manor are privately owned and Posted. We
drove to entrance and didn't enter or take a photo in August 2021.
Charles Caroll by Michael Laty
Private Property - Photo from Google Maps
Samuel Chase
17 Apr 1741 – 19 Jun 1811
Home:
Baltimore, MD
Education:
Classical education in Law, Baltimore
Profession:
Practiced Law in Annapolis; Elected to Continental Congress, Chief Justice
of Criminal Court, district of Baltimore; Chief Justice, state of Maryland, Justice, US Supreme Court
Grave Site:
The Old St. Paul Cemetery was locked at the time of our vist in August
2021.
Samuel Chase by John Beale Bordley
The gate is locked at Old Saint Paul's Cemetary. Contact the office at (410) 685-3404.
Abraham Clark
15 Feb 1726 – 15 Sep 1794
Home:
Rahway, NJ
Education:
Self-taught, Surveying, Law
Profession:
Land attorney; High Sheriff of Essex County, NJ., Member of New Jersey
Provincial Congress; Elected to the Continental Congress
Other Info:
Clark saw two of his sons captured by the British and incarcerated on the
prison ship Jersey. Reportedly, the British offered Abraham Clark the lives of his sons if he would only
recant his signing and support of the Declaration of Independence; he refused.
Abraham Clark a copy after a portrait by John Trumbull.
George Clymer
16 Mar 1739 – 23 Jan 1813
Home:
Morrisville, PA
Education:
Private
Profession:
Merchant, Member of the Philadelphia Committee of Safety, Elected to the
Continental Congress, Member of Pennsylvania Legislature, Revenue Officer, Federal Indian Agent, First
president of: Philadelphia Bank, Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts, vice-president of the Philadelphia
Agricultural Society
Other Info:
He was one of the first Patriots to advocate complete independence from
Britain.
George Clymer by Charles Willson Peale
William B. Ellery
22 Dec 1727 – 15 Feb 1820
Home:
Newport, RI
Education:
Harvard College
Profession:
Elected to Continental Congress, Judge, Supreme Court of Rhode Island,
First Collector, the port of Newport
Engraving of William Ellery by Henry Bryan Hall.
Gen. William Floyd
17 Dec 1734 – 4 Aug 1821
Home:
Westernville, NY
Education:
Profession:
Farmer, Soldier, Member of Continental Congress, Member of Congress, State
Senator, New York
Gen. William Floyd by Ralph Earl
The Gen. William Floyd House is a historic house on Main Street at Gifford Hill Road in Westernville, New York. Built in 1803, it was the last home of Founding Father William Floyd (1734–1821), a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and a driving force in the settlement of the area. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1971. The house is a private residence, and is not normally open to the public.
Benjamin Franklin
17 Jan 1706 – 17 Apr 1790
Home:
Philadelphia, PA
Education:
Self-taught, apprenticed as a printer. Honorary Doctor of Laws,
Universities of Edinburgh and Oxford.
Profession:
Printer, Publisher, Scientist. Clerk of the Pennsylvania Assembly, Founded
the Library Company of Philadelphia,Postmaster of Philadelphia, Member of Pennsylvania Assembly, Deputy
Postmaster general of the British colonies in America, founded Academy of Sciences of Philadelphia,
Agent to Europe for Pennsylvania, for Pennsylvania, Georgia, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Elected to
Continental Congress, Testified before Parliament concerning the Stamp Act, Postmaster General of the
united colonies, Commissioner to the French Court, Minister plenipotentiary to the French Court,
Negotiator in and Member of the Treaties with Great-Britain, Member of the Supreme Executive Council of
Pennsylvania, President of Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery, Senior member of the
Constitutional Convention
Benjamin Franklin by Joseph Siffrein Duplessis
17 Jul 1744 – 23 Nov 1814
Home:
Marblehead, MA
Education:
Harvard College
Profession:
Member, General Court of Massachusetts, Elected to Massachusetts
Legislature, Provincial Congress, Continental Congress, envoy to France, Governor of Massachusetts, Vice
President of the United States (with Madison)
Other Info:
The word "gerrymander" (originally written "Gerry-mander") was used for
the first time in the Boston Gazette newspaper on March 26, 1812. Appearing with the term, and helping
spread and sustain its popularity, was this political cartoon, which depicts a state senate district in
Essex County as a strange animal with claws, wings and a dragon-type head, satirizing the district's odd
shape.
Elbridge Gerry (1744–1814), American statesman
Button Gwinnett
1735 – 19 May 1777
Home:
Savannah, GA
Education:
Profession:
Commander of Georgia's Continental Battalion, Elected to Continental
Congress, President of the Georgia Council of Safety
Other Info:
He lead an abortive attempt to invade Florida, in order to secure
Georgia's southern border. That adventure was thwarted by Lachlan McIntosh and his brother George, and
Gwinnett was charged with malfeasance. He was cleared of wrongdoing as he ran an unsuccessful campaign
for Governor. Soon afterward, his honor challenged in public by McIntosh, he offered a duel. They met
outside of Savanna on May 16, 1777, where both were wounded. McIntosh ultimately survived, Button
Gwinnett died three days later at the age of 42.
Portrait of Button Gwinnett, signer of the Declaration of Independence from Georgia
Monument to Button Gwinett located in Colonial Park Cemetery
in Savanah, GA. His remains are reported to be buried beneath this monument.
in Savanah, GA. His remains are reported to be buried beneath this monument.
Lyman Hall
12 Apr 1724 – 19 Oct 1790
Home:
Burke County, GA
Education:
Yale College
Profession:
Elected to Continental Congress, Delegate to the Georgia House of
Assembly, Elected Governor of Georgia, Judge
Other Info:
In January 1779, Hall's home in Sunbury was burned by the British. Hall's
family fled to the North, where they remained until the British evacuation in 1782. Hall then returned
to Georgia, settling in Savannah.
Lyman Hall
Monument and burial site of Lyman Hall and George Walton located
in Augusta, GA. Gwinett's remains are supposedly buried in Savanah, GA
in Augusta, GA. Gwinett's remains are supposedly buried in Savanah, GA
John Hancock
12 Jan 1737 – 8 Oct 1793
Home:
Boston, MA
Education:
Harvard College
Profession:
Elected to the Boston Assembly, Delegate to, and President of, the
Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, Elected to Continental Congress, Elected President of the
Continental Congress, Member of Massachusetts state Constitutional Convention, elected Governor of
Massachusetts
John Hancock
Col. Benjamin Harrison, V
13 Dec 1730 – 24 Apr 1791
Home:
Charles City, VA
Education:
Attended William and Mary College
Profession:
Farmer, Elected to Virginia House of Burgesses, Member of the Continental
Congress, Reelected to House of Burgesses, Selected as Speaker, Elected Governor of Virginia
Other Info:
His son, William Henry
Harrison, was elected ninth President of the United States, and his great-grandson, Benjamin
Harrison, became the 23rd President.
Benjamin Harrison, V
The mansion on the Berkeley Plantation built by Benjamin Harrison IV in 1726.
John Hart
1714 – 11 May 1779
Home:
Hopewell, NJ
Education:
Profession:
Farmer, Member of the New Jersey Assembly, Served on the Committee of
Safety, Committee of Correspondence, Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, Member of Provincial Assembly,
Elected to the Continental Congress
Other Info:
John Hart’s New Jersey farm was looted in the course of the Revolutionary
War (possibly due his status as Speaker of the Assembly), and he did have to remain in hiding in nearby
mountains for a short time, but his plight has been grossly exaggerated in the past. When the British
overran the area of New Jersey where Hart resided in late November of 1776, he was not “driven from his
[dying] wife’s bedside,” as his wife had already died several weeks earlier (and most of his thirteen
children were adults by then). He certainly didn’t spend “more than a year” on the run living “in
forests and caves,” as the Continental Army recaptured the area within a month (through General George
Washington’s famous crossing of the Delaware River on Christmas night). Hart also did not die “from
exhaustion and a broken heart” a mere “few weeks” after emerging from hiding — in 1778 he was re-elected
to the New Jersey assembly, and he invited the American army to encamp on his New Jersey farmland in
June 1778 before succumbing to kidney stones in May 1779.2
Joseph Hewes
23 Jan 1730 – 10 Nov 1779
Home:
New Jersey
Education:
Princeton College
Profession:
Member of the Colonial Assembly of North Carolina, Member of the Committee
of Correspondence, member of new Provincial Assembly, Elected to Continental Congress, Defacto first
Secretary of the Navy
Joseph Hewes
Joseph Hewes and George Ross
Thomas Heyward, Jr.
28 Jul 1746 – 17 Apr 1809
Home:
Old House, SC
Education:
Private classical education, Law studies in America and England
Profession:
Elected to the Continental Congress, Judge
Other Info:
After signing the Declaration of Independence, Heyward returned to South Carolina to fight the British,
joining the militia. In 1779, he was wounded during the successful battle of Port Royal Island, near
Beaufort, South Carolina. He recovered, and a year later, helped to defend Charleston. On August 27,
1780, Heyward was taken from his Charleston home by British troops and detained in the Old Exchange
Building. Just hours after being arrested, he and 28 other "ringleaders of the rebellion" were relocated
to a guard ship in the harbor. On September 4, they were transported to St. Augustine, Florida, and
remained there for about 11 months until they were freed in a prisoner exchange.
In 1779 the Heyward's family home, White Hall, was damaged by a fire set by the Tories. [refn: Robert B. Cuthbert and Stephen G. Hoffius, editors, Northern Money, Southern Land: The Lowcountry Plantation Sketches of Chlotilde R. Martin (Columbia, SC: The University of South Carolina Press, 2009) pg 171]
In 1779 the Heyward's family home, White Hall, was damaged by a fire set by the Tories. [refn: Robert B. Cuthbert and Stephen G. Hoffius, editors, Northern Money, Southern Land: The Lowcountry Plantation Sketches of Chlotilde R. Martin (Columbia, SC: The University of South Carolina Press, 2009) pg 171]
Thomas Heyward, Jr. by Philippe Abraham Peticolas
William Hooper
28 Jun 1742 – 14 Oct 1790
Home:
Hillsborough, NC
Education:
Harvard College
Profession:
Elected to General Assembly of North Carolina, Member of Continental
Congress, Judge of the Federal Court
William Hooper
Monument and burial site of John Penn and William Hooper at the
Guilford
Courthouse Battle Grounds.
Courthouse Battle Grounds.
Note: Joseph Hewes is buried in Philidephia, PA
Stephen Hopkins
7 Mar 1707 – 13 Jul 1785
Home:
Providence, RI
Education:
Profession:
Surveyor, Speaker of the Rhode Island Assembly, Delegate to the Albany
Convention, Member of the Continental Congress, Member of Rhode Island Legislature
Francis Hopkinson
21 Sep 1737 – 9 May 1791
Home:
Bordentown, NJ
Education:
Graduate of the College of Philadelphia
Profession:
Delegate to the Continental Congress, Judge of admiralty for Pennsylvania,
Appointed Judge to the US Court for the District of Pennsylvania
Other Info:
Hopkinson claimed credit for designing the American flag, but the evidence
for his claim is not clear.
Francis Hopkinson by Robert Edge Pine
Samuel Huntington
16 Jul 1731 – 5 Jan 1796
Home:
Norwich, CT
Education:
Self-taught
Profession:
Admitted to the Bar of Connecticut, King's attorney, tax collector,
town-meeting moderator, justice of the peace, Norwich Connecticut; Appointed to the Superior court,
Elected to provincial Upper House of Assembly, appointed to the Council of Safety, Delegate to the
Continental Congress, President of the Continental Congress, Lieutenant Governor and Chief judge of
Superior Court of Connecticut, Governor of Connecticut
Other Info:
Because he was President of Congress when the nation’s first framework of
government, the Articles of Confederation, took effect on March 1, 1781, Huntington has been called the
first real President of the United States.
Samuel Huntington by Charles Willson Peale
13 Apr 1743 - 4 Jul 1826
Home:
Charlottesville, VA
Education:
William and Mary College
Profession:
Farmer, Admitted to Virginia bar, Elected to Virginia House of Burgesses,
Delegate to the Continental Congress, Virginia House of Delegates, Elected Governor of Virginia,
Dispatched to England to treat for peace with Gr. Britain, Associate Envoy to France, Minister to the
French Court, Secretary of State, Established Democratic-Republican party, Vice President of the United
States, President, Established University of Virginia
Thomas Jefferson by Rembrandt Peale
Francis Lightfoot Lee
14 Oct 1734 – 11 Jan 1797
Home:
Warsaw, VA
Education:
Private
Profession:
Member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, Elected to Continental
Congress, Member of Virginia Senate
Tours of Mt. Airy Plantation:
Mount Airy Plantation is open to the public for tours by reservation only. Tours are available daily from 10am to 4pm, except for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day. The last tour begins at 3:30pm.
To make a reservation, please call (804) 450-4554 or (804) 333-4930.
The cost of a tour is $15 for adults, $12 for seniors, and $8 for children ages 6-12. Children under 6 are free.
Tours last approximately one hour and include a guided walk through the mansion, the gardens, and the grounds.
Mount Airy Plantation is located at 1263 Mount Airy Lane, Warsaw, VA 22571. It is about an hour's drive from Richmond and Fredericksburg.
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Private Drive at the time of our visit - Entrance to Mt. Airy Plantation
Private Drive at the time of our visit - Entrance to Mt. Airy Plantation
Richard Henry Lee
20 Jan 1732 – 19 Jun 1794
Home:
Coles Point, VA
Education:
The private school at Wakefield, Yorkshire, England
Profession:
Farmer, Justice of the peace, Virginia House of Burgesses, Continental
Congress, First US Senator for Virginia
Other Info:
American statesman and Founding Father from Virginia best known for the
Lee Resolution, the motion in the Second Continental Congress calling for the colonies' independence
from Great Britain.
Richard Henry Lee by Charles Willson Peale
This burial site is located in the middle of a soybean field.
Francis Lewis
21 Mar 1713 – 30 Dec 1803
Home:
Queens, NY
Education:
Westminster in London
Profession:
Merchant, Elected to the Continental Congress
Other Info:
Francis Lewis represented New York in the Continental Congress, and
shortly after he signed the Declaration of Independence his Long Island estate was raided by the
British, possibly as retaliation for his having been a signatory to that document. While Lewis was in
Philadelphia attending to congressional matters, his wife was taken prisoner by the British after
disregarding an order for citizens to evacuate Long Island. Mrs. Lewis was held for several months
before being exchanged for the wives of British officials captured by the Americans. Although her
captivity was undoubtedly a hardship, she had already been in poor health for some time and died a few
years (not months) later.2
Philip Livingston
15 Jan 1716 – 12 Jun 1778
Home:
Brooklyn Heights, NY
Education:
Graduate of Yale College
Profession:
Merchant, Alderman, New York city; Delegate to the Albany Convention,
Delegate to the Continental Congress, Later, State Senator in New York, Delegate to Federal Congress
Other Info:
Livingston lost several properties to the British occupation of New York
and sold off others to support the war effort, and he did not recover them because he died suddenly in
1778, before the end of the war. The British used Philip’s Duke Street home as a barracks and his
Brooklyn Heights residence as a Royal Navy hospital.
Philip Livingston
Thomas Lynch, Jr.
5 Aug 1749 – 1779
Home:
Hopsewee Plantation, Georgetown, SC
Education:
Graduated Cambridge University
Profession:
Captain of a South Carolina Regimental Company, Delegate to the
Continental Congress
Other Info:
After two more years of illness in South Carolina, where he resided with
his wife at Peachtree Plantation on the South Santee River, many suggested that Thomas Lynch Jr. travels
to Europe in search of a different atmosphere. Despite the dangers, he and his wife sailed for respite
on a vessel to St. Eustatius in the West Indies in late 1779. The ship is known to have disappeared
shortly after, standing as the last record of his life. Elizabeth and Thomas Lynch Jr. having fathered
no children died at sea in 1779. At the age of 30, he was the youngest signer of the Declaration to
die.
The Hopsewee Plantation, birthplace of Thomas Lynch, Jr., is open for tours. Check their website for schedules.
The Hopsewee Plantation, birthplace of Thomas Lynch, Jr., is open for tours. Check their website for schedules.
Thomas Lynch, Jr.
Hopsewee Plantation
Hopsewee Plantation - Closed during our visit.
Thomas Lynch, Jr. Plaque located on the original house
Photo furnished by Hopsewee Plantation
Photo furnished by Hopsewee Plantation
Thomas McKean
19 Mar 1734 – 24 Jun 1817
Home:
Philadelphia, PA
Education:
Studied under Francis Allison
Profession:
Lawyer, Deputy Attorney General to County Sussex, Admitted to Bar of
Pennsylvania Supreme Court, appointed Clerk of the Assembly of Delaware, Member of Delaware Assembly,
Delegate to the Stamp Act Congress, Collector of Customs and Commissioner of Revenue at New Castle,
Delegate to the Continental Congress, President of Delaware, Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, Governor of
Pennsylvania
Other Info:
Among his many offices, McKean was a delegate to the Continental Congress (of which he later served as
president), President of Delaware, Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, and Governor of Pennsylvania. The
above-quoted statement regarding his being “hounded” by the British during the Revolutionary War is
probably based upon a letter he wrote to his friend John Adams in 1777, in which he described how he had
been “hunted like a fox by the enemy, compelled to remove my family five times in three months, and at
last fixed them in a little log-house on the banks of the Susquehanna, but they were soon obliged to
move again on account of the incursions of the Indians.”
However, it is problematic to assert that McKean’s treatment was due to his being a signer of the Declaration of Independence. (His name does not appear on printed copies of that document authenticated in January 1777, so it is likely he did not affix his name to it until later.) If he was targeted by the British, it was quite possibly because he also served in a military capacity as a volunteer leader of the militia. In any case, McKean did not end up in “poverty,” as the estate he left behind when he died in 1817 was described as consisting of “stocks, bonds, and huge land tracts in Pennsylvania.”2
However, it is problematic to assert that McKean’s treatment was due to his being a signer of the Declaration of Independence. (His name does not appear on printed copies of that document authenticated in January 1777, so it is likely he did not affix his name to it until later.) If he was targeted by the British, it was quite possibly because he also served in a military capacity as a volunteer leader of the militia. In any case, McKean did not end up in “poverty,” as the estate he left behind when he died in 1817 was described as consisting of “stocks, bonds, and huge land tracts in Pennsylvania.”2
Thomas McKean by Charles Wilson Peale
Thomas McKean
Thomas McKean - 2021
Arthur Middleton
26 Jun 1742 – 1 Jan 1787
Home:
Dorchester County, SC
Education:
Graduate of Cambridge
Profession:
Charleston Council of Safety, Delegate to the Continental Congress
Other Info:
British forces landed near Charleston in 1780 and ravaged the surrounding
area and many of the plantations, including Middleton Place. While the buildings remained intact, the
British and Loyalists stole anything of value they could carry and destroyed everything they could not
carry. The Middletons escaped capture at that point by fleeing to Charleston ahead of the British
raid.
But when the British occupation of Charleston began, three South Carolina signers, Arthur, his bother-in-law Edward Rutledge, and Thomas Heyward were captured, taken from their homes, and were incarcerated for almost a year in Saint Augustine, Florida. In July 1781 he was freed in a prisoner exchange, and was appointed by Governor John Rutledge (the brother of Edward Rutledge) to the state senate. He was re-elected to that seat in 1782. In November of that year, he returned to South Carolina to visit his family from whom he had been separated and to view for the first time the plundering and devastation wrought by the British during their occupation of Middleton Place.1
But when the British occupation of Charleston began, three South Carolina signers, Arthur, his bother-in-law Edward Rutledge, and Thomas Heyward were captured, taken from their homes, and were incarcerated for almost a year in Saint Augustine, Florida. In July 1781 he was freed in a prisoner exchange, and was appointed by Governor John Rutledge (the brother of Edward Rutledge) to the state senate. He was re-elected to that seat in 1782. In November of that year, he returned to South Carolina to visit his family from whom he had been separated and to view for the first time the plundering and devastation wrought by the British during their occupation of Middleton Place.1
Arthur Middleton from a painting by Benjamin West
Middleton Place
Lewis Morris
8 Apr 1726 – 22 Jan 1798
Home:
Bronx, NY
Education:
Graduate of Yale College
Profession:
Farmer, Member of Provincial Legislature; Deputy to New York Convention,
Delegate to the Continental Congress, County judge, Worcester, Served in New York Legislature, Member of
the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York
Other Info:
Lewis Morris saw his Westchester County, New York, home taken over in 1776
and used as a barracks for soldiers, and the horses and livestock from his farm commandeered by military
personnel, but he suffered those initial deprivations at the hands of the Continental Army, not the
British. Shortly afterwards his property was appropriated, looted, and burned by the British when they
occupied New York. (Morris and his wife were eventually able to reclaim their property and restore their
home after the war.)2
Lewis Morris by John Wollaston (c. 1710 - c. 1767) Photographer: cliff1066 - Flickr
Robert Morris
20 Jan 1734 – 8 May 1806
Home:
Philadelphia, PA
Education:
Private and Apprenticeship
Profession:
Merchant, Delegate to the Continental Congress, Appointed Special
Commissioner of Finance, Author of the plan for a National Bank, Financial Agent of the United States,
Delegate to the Pennsylvania Legislature, Delegate to the Constitutional Convention, United States
Senator, Appointed Secretary of the Treasury
Other Info:
One of the richest men in America at the time of the Rebellion; known as
the "Financier of the Revolution". Along with Alexander Hamilton and Albert Gallatin, he is widely
regarded as one of the founders of the financial system of the United States. His involvement in
unsuccessful land speculation caused him to be imprisoned from debt from 1798 to 1801.
Robert Morris by Robert Edge Pine (c. 1720 - 1788) Photographer: cliff1066 - Flickr
Christ Church
Robert Morris - 2021
John Morton
10 Mar 1724 – 1 Apr 1777
Home:
Chester, PA
Education:
Informal
Profession:
Judge, Elected to Provincial Assembly, Delegate to the Stamp Act Congress,
President of the Provincial Assembly, Offices in Pennsylvania: Justice of the Peace, High Sheriff,
Presiding Judge of the General Court and the Court of Common Pleas, Associate Judge of the Supreme Court
of Pennsylvania; Elected to Continental Congress
Other Info:
As he lay dying, he predicted that one day, people would realize that his
voting for independence was “the most glorious service I have ever rendered my country.” John Morton was
the first of the 56 signers to die, passing away at his birthplace on April 1, 1777.
John Morton
John Morton - 2021
John Morton - 2021
John Morton - 2021
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
26 Dec 1738 – 4 Jan 1789
Home:
Yorktown, VA
Education:
Private, in England. Graduate of Cambridge
Profession:
Farmer, Member of the House of Burgesses, Virginia provincial Convention,
Officer and Commander of the Virginia Militia, Delegate to the Continental Congress, Elected Governor of
Virginia
Other Info:
In the fall of 1781, General Nelson led 3,000 Virginia Militiamen as part
of George Washington's Army besieging Yorktown. The British surrendered at Yorktown on October 19, 1781,
marking the end of the major fighting in the American Revolution. Thomas Nelson had sacrificed his
health, his home and his fortune to help win independence. He died on January 4, 1789, at the age of
fifty while living at his son's home in Hanover County, Virginia.
There are several stories about the destruction of his home during the Battle of Yorktown. All are interesting stories, but none have been proven. Whatever the truth, the Nelson home was certainly not “destroyed” as claimed. The house stands to this day as part of Colonial National Historical Park, and the National Park Service’s description of it notes only that “the southeast face of the residence does show evidence of damage from cannon fire.”2
There are several stories about the destruction of his home during the Battle of Yorktown. All are interesting stories, but none have been proven. Whatever the truth, the Nelson home was certainly not “destroyed” as claimed. The house stands to this day as part of Colonial National Historical Park, and the National Park Service’s description of it notes only that “the southeast face of the residence does show evidence of damage from cannon fire.”2
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Grace Episcopal Church, Yorktown, VA
William Paca
31 Oct 1740 – 23 Oct 1799
Home:
Wye Plantation, MD
Education:
Profession:
Judge, Delegate to the Maryland Legislature, Member of the Committee of
Correspondence, Patriot
Leader; Elected to Continental Congress, Chief Justice of Maryland, Elected Governor of Maryland,
Federal District Judge for the State of Maryland
Other Info:
William Paca suffered much in his personal life. His first wife, Mary
Chew, died at age 38, and only
one of their three children lived to adulthood. Paca remarried, to Anne Harrison, who died at age
23, and their only child died at age 2. Paca would have two other children; to women he did not
marry. One of them was his daughter, Hester, whose mother was a free black woman, creating somewhat
of a scandal at the time. Paca would raise Hester and send her to the finest boarding school in
Philadelphia.
Portrait of William Paca, Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland.
Gate to Wey House
Wey House Service Entrance - Cemetery located down
this road, but the road is Posted.
Robert Treat Paine
11 Mar 1731 – 12 May 1814
Home:
Boston, MA
Education:
Harvard College
Profession:
Judge, Admitted to Massachusetts Bar, Elected to Provincial Assembly,
Delegate to the Continental
Congress, Attorney General for Massachusetts, Judge, Supreme Court of Massachusetts, State counselor
Other Info:
In 1770, Boston hired him to prosecute the British soldiers involved with
the "Boston Massacre," and
although he only convicted two of the eight soldiers (who were dismissed from the Army), he became
popular among the patriots.
Robert Treat Paine
John Penn
6 May 1740 – 14 Sep 1788
Home:
Stovall, NC
Education:
Informal
Profession:
Law Practice in Virginia, Accepted to the North Carolina Bar, Member of
Continental Congress, Member
of the Board of War
Other Info:
He was buried at his homesite, but was exhumed and re-interred at Guilford
Battle Grounds near Greensboro, North Carolina in 1894.
John Penn by Unknown author - Guilford Courthouse National Military Park
Monument and burial site of John Penn and William Hooper at the
Guilford
Courthouse Battle Grounds.
Courthouse Battle Grounds.
Note: Joseph Hewes is buried in Philidephia, PA
George Read
18 Sep 1733 – 21 Sep 1798
Home:
New Castle, DE
Education:
Private school - Chester Pennsylvania, Philadelphia College, Law studies
Profession:
Admitted to Philadelphia Bar, Attorney General (in Delaware), Member of
Delaware Committee of
Correspondence, Elected to Continental Congress, Member of Delaware Constitutional Convention,
Acting Governor of Delaware, Judge, Court of Appeals, State Senator, Chief Justice of the State of
Delaware
Other Info:
He was frequently absent, and when the Congress voted on American
Independence on July 2, 1776, Read
surprised many by voting against it. That meant that Rodney had to ride overnight to Philadelphia to
break the deadlock in Delaware's delegation for independence. However, when the Declaration of
Independence was finally adopted, Read signed it despite his natural caution.
George Read by Robert Edge Pine
Immanuel Church
Immanuel Church
George Read - 2021
George Read - 2021
Caesar Rodney
7 Oct 1728 – 29 Jun 1784
Home:
Dover, DE
Education:
Informal
Profession:
Commissioned High Sheriff of Kent County, Elected to Colonial Assembly,
Delegate to the Stamp Act Congress, Member of the Delaware Committee of Correspondence, Elected to
Continental Congress,
Military Leader, Elected President of the State of Delaware, Member of the Upper House of the State
Assembly
Other Info:
In 1776, he was suffering from cancer of the jaw, and returned to his home
near Dover, Delaware. When the vote for independence neared, delegate Thomas McKean sent him a message
to return
immediately to the Continental Congress. Despite illness and a cold drizzling rain, he rode all
night for 80 miles to Philadelphia, arriving just in time to vote. His vote for independence was
absolutely critical, as the Delaware delegation was equally split between independence and remaining
British, and Rodney's vote put Delaware squarely on the side of independence, two votes to one.
After the Declaration of Independence, Rodney would recruit men to serve in the American Army, and
even fought in the Army himself.
Caesar Rodney
Descendants of Caesar Rodney
Caesar Rodney - 2021
Caesar Rodney - 2021
George Ross
10 May 1730 – 14 Jul 1779
Home:
Philadelphia, PA
Education:
Private, Classical. Read law in Philadelphia
Profession:
Admitted to Pennsylvania Bar, Crown Prosecutor for Carlisle, twelve years;
Elected to Provincial Assembly, Elected to Continental Congress, Colonel in the Continental Army, Vice
president of the
Pennsylvania constitutional convention, Judge of the Admiralty Court of Pennsylvania
Other Info:
He was also the uncle of the man who married Betsy Griscom in 1773, giving
her her famous married name: Betsy Ross.
George Ross
Joseph Hewes and George Ross - 2021
Dr. Benjamin Rush
24 Dec 1745 – 19 Apr 1813
Home:
Philadelphia, PA
Education:
B.A. at the College of New Jersey (now Princeton), M.D. at the University
of Edinburgh
Profession:
Physician, Professor of Chemistry at the College of Philadelphia, Writer,
Member of the Sons of
Liberty in Philadelphia, Elected to Pennsylvania provincial conference, Elected to Continental
Congress, Appointed Surgeon-general to the armies of the middle department (of the Continental
Army), Instructor, Physician, University of the State of Pennsylvania, Treasurer of the U.S. Mint,
Professor of medical theory and clinical practice, University of Pennsylvania
Other Info:
In 1777 he was appointed surgeon-general of the middle department of the
Continental Army. This
office led to some trouble for him; he was critical of the administration of the Army Medical
service under Dr. William Shippen. He complained to Washington, who deferred to the Congress.
Ultimately Congress upheld Shippen and Rush resigned in disgust. As the war continued and Army
forces under General Washington suffered a series of defeats, Rush secretly campaigned for removal
of Washington as commander-in-chief, and went so far as to write an anonymous letter to then
Governor Patrick Henry of Virginia. He was caught in the act and confronted by Washington, at which
point he bowed out of any activities related to the war.
Dr. Benjamin Rush by Charles Willson Peale - Independence National Historical Park
Benjamin Rush M.D. - 2021
Benjamin Rush M.D.
Benjamin Rush M.D.
Edward Rutledge
23 Nov 1749 – 23 Jan 1800
Home:
Charleston, SC
Education:
Graduate of Oxford, Studied at Middle Temple (London), Member of the
English Bar
Profession:
State Legislator, Representative to the Continental Congress, Captain,
Charleston Battalion of
Artillery, State legislator, College of Electors, Elected Governor for South Carolina
Other Info:
After the signing, Edward returned home to South Carolina to help defend
his state. In the spring of
1780, the British captured him during the siege of Charleston, and he served a year as a prisoner of
war in Florida. Since the entire Rutledge family supported independence, the British also imprisoned
his mother, Sarah Hext Rutledge, in Charleston.
Edward Rutledge by James Earl
2019 - Closed
Edward Rutledge - 2021
Edward Rutledge - 2021
Roger Sherman
19 Apr 1721 – 23 Jul 1793
Home:
New Haven, CT
Education:
Informal, Cobbler, Surveyor, Lawyer. Honorary M.A. from Yale
Profession:
Admitted to Bar in New Milford Connecticut, Justice of the Peace, elected
to General Assembly,
representing New Milford Connecticut, Commisary for the Connecticut Troops, Elected to various Upper
and Lower House offices representing New Haven, Judge of the Superior Court of Connecticut, Elected
to Continental Congress, Distinguished member of the Constitutional Convention, Elected US Senator
for Connecticut
Other Info:
Among the first patriot leaders to deny the supremacy of the British
Parliament over the colonies,
he became influential in the Continental Congresses defending that cause. He served on the committee
to write the Declaration, and although his words did not go into the document, his views did. Roger
Sherman’s greatest service to his country came after independence was won; during the drafting of
the United States Constitution. During the Constitutional Convention of 1787, he presented the
Connecticut Compromise, a proposal that resolved the major differences between the large states and
the small states on representation in the national legislature – that each state would have a
representative based upon its population, and an equal number of senators. It was this compromise
that helped to get all of the states to agree on a constitution, and for this reason, Connecticut is
called "the Constitution State."
James Smith
17 Sep 1719 – 11 Jul 1806
Home:
York, PA
Education:
Attended Philadelphia Academy, Apprenticed law with brother George
Profession:
Surveyor, Lawyer, Captain of the Militia, Appointed to the Provincial
Convention in Philadelphia,
Appointed to the State Constitutional Convention, and Continental Congress
Richard Stockton
1 Oct 1730 – 28 Feb 1781
Home:
Princeton, NJ
Education:
West Nottingham Academy, Graduate of College of New Jersey
Profession:
Justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey, Elected to Continental
Congress
Other Info:
On November 30, 1776, Richard Stockton of New Jersey was the only signer
taken prisoner specifically because of his status as a signatory to the Declaration, “dragged from his
bed by night” by local Tories after he had evacuated his family from New Jersey, and he was imprisoned
in New York City’s
infamous Provost Jail like a common criminal. His estate, Morven, in Princeton was occupied by
General Cornwallis during Stockton's imprisonment; his furniture, all household belongings, crops
and livestock were taken or destroyed by the British. His library, one of the finest in the
colonies, was burned. One historian wrote, "Morven the home of the Hon. Richard Stockton, was
denuded of its library and furniture." Stockton was paroled on January 13, 1777. When his health
permitted, Stockton attempted to earn a living by reopening his law practice and teaching new
students. Two years after his parole from prison, he developed cancer of the lip that spread to his
throat. He was never free of pain until he died on February 28, 1781, at Morven.
Richard Stockton
Thomas Stone
1743 – 5 Oct 1787
Home:
Port Tobacco, MD
Education:
Parish School, Law Studies
Profession:
Admitted to the Maryland Bar, Elected to the Continental Congress, Elected to Constitutional Convention
(declined)
Other Info:
Stone rarely spoke in Congress, and although he favored independence for the colonies, he initially
urged a policy of reconciliation and negotiation with Britain. Even after he signed the Declaration
of Independence, he still favored finding some way to make peace with Britain. While in Congress, he
served on the committee that created the Articles of Confederation. After the war, he was elected to
the Maryland senate three times, dying during his third term. In 1787, he was elected to represent
Maryland at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, but held off going because his wife was
extremely ill. When Margaret died in June 1787, he was so grief-stricken that he gave up his law
practice and died just four months after his wife’s passing, dying of grief at the age of 44.
Thomas Stone by Robert Edge Pine
Haberdeventure located near Port Tobacco, MD
George Taylor
1716 – 23 Feb 1781
Home:
Easton, PA
Education:
Ironmaster
Profession:
Elected to the provincial Assembly, Member of the Committee of Correspondence, Committee of Safety,
Elected to Continental Congress
Other Info:
In 1775 he was appointed to replace a member of the Pennsylvania delegation who refused to support
Independence. He arrived too late to vote, but did sign the Declaration.
George Taylor
Matthew Thornton
1714 – 24 Jun 1803
Home:
Merrimack, NH
Education:
Physician
Profession:
Appointed surgeon to the New Hampshire Troops, Member of the Provincial Assembly, Colonel of the
Londonderry Militia, Londonderry Town Selectman, Londonderry Committee of Safety, Speaker of the New
Hampshire House of Representatives, Associate Justice of the Superior Court, Delegate to the
Continental Congress
Other Info:
Thornton headed the committee that created New Hampshire’s constitution, and upon its adoption in
January 1776, New Hampshire became the first of the original thirteen states to create a government
independent of Britain. Thornton was elected to the Continental Congress in September 1776, and
although the vote for independence was long past, he signed the Declaration as a New Hampshire
delegate on November 4, 1776, the day he arrived in Philadelphia to take his seat. He was one of the
last of the 56 men to sign the document.
Matthew Thornton
George Walton
1741 – 2 Feb 1804
Home:
Augusta, GA
Education:
Informal, perhaps self-taught
Profession:
Admitted to the Bar, Member, Secretary, Provincial Congress of Georgia, Member, Georgia Committee of
Safety, 1776; Elected to the Continental Congress, Colonel of the First Georgia Militia, Governor of
Georgia, Chief Justice of Georgia, Presidential Elector, Governor of Georgia, Superior Court Judge,
US. Senator
Other Info:
He would serve in the Congress from 1776 to 1777. In late 1777, he left Congress to serve in the
Georgia Militia, becoming a Colonel. During the Battle of Savannah in December 1778, he was shot in
the thigh and knocked off his horse. Captured and imprisoned by the British, he was finally released
in a prisoner exchange in the fall of 1779. Soon after being released, Walton was elected Governor
of Georgia. Later, he was elected Chief Justice of the state, and from 1795 to 1796, he served in
the US Senate. He died in his home in Augusta, Georgia, in 1804.
George Walton
Monument and burial site of Lyman Hall and George Walton located
in Augusta, GA. Gwinett's remains are supposedly buried in Savanah, GA
in Augusta, GA. Gwinett's remains are supposedly buried in Savanah, GA
Gen. William Whipple
14 Jan 1730 – 28 Nov 1785
Home:
Portsmouth, NH
Education:
Common School
Profession:
Elected to Provincial Congress, Member of state Council, Committee of Safety, Elected to Continental
Congress, Commissioned Brigadier General of the New Hampshire Militia, Appointed Associate Judge to
the Superior Court
Other Info:
One of sixteen signers who served as soldiers during the war, he rose to the rank of Brigadier
General and took part in campaigns in New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. General Whipple led
men in the successful expedition against General Burgoyne at the battles of Stillwater and Saratoga.
Gen. William Whipple by Walter Gilman Page
William Williams
23 Apr 1731 – 2 Aug 1811
Home:
Lebanon, CT
Education:
Harvard College
Profession:
Town Clerk, Selectman, Provincial Representative, Council to the Legislature. Elected State
Legislator, delegate to colonial conferences, Elected to Continental Congress, Delegate to the
Connecticut convention to ratify the federal Constitution, Judge of the Windham County Courthouse.
Other Info:
In June 1776, delegate Oliver Wolcott had to leave the Continental Congress due to illness, and
Williams was sent in his place. He arrived in Philadelphia on July 28, 1776, too late for the vote
on independence, but he still signed the document on August 2.
James Wilson
14 Sep 1742 – 28 Aug 1798
Home:
Edenton, NC
Education:
Attended the Universities of St. Andrews, Glasgow, and Edinburgh; College of Philadelphia. Honorary
M.A. from Philadelphia College, studied Law with John Dickinson
Profession:
Admitted to the Bar, Member of the Pennsylvania provincial meeting, appointed to a Committee of
Correspondence, Elected to Provincial Congress, Commissioned Colonel of the Fourth Cumberland County
Battalion, Elected to the Continental Congress, Director of the Bank of North America, Member of the
Constitutional Convention, Associate Justice to the US. Supreme Court
Other Info:
Poor business decisions would ruin him financially, and he was twice imprisoned for debt: first in
New Jersey and later in North Carolina. One of his last written comments was that he had been
"hunted like a wild beast," by people attempting to collect money he owed them. James Wilson died in
poverty in 1798, in North Carolina, less than a month before his fifty-sixth birthday. His body was
originally interred on the Hayes Plantation near Edenton, North Carolina, and in 1906, was moved to
the Christ Churchyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
James Wilson - 2021
James Wilson - 2021
Rev. John Witherspoon
5 Feb 1723 – 15 Nov 1794
Home:
Princeton, NJ
Education:
Master of Arts, University of Edinburgh; Doctorate of Divinity, University
of St. Andrews
Profession:
President of College of New Jersey, Delegate to the Continental Congress, Twice elected to State
Legislature of New Jerse
Other Info:
On July 2, 1776, the day of the vote on independence, another delegate claimed that America wasn't
yet ripe enough for independence. Witherspoon immediately declared "It is not only ripe for the
measure, but in danger of rotting for the want of it." Witherspoon became the only clergyman to sign
the Declaration of Independence. Between 1776 and 1782, Witherspoon would serve on more than 100
committees, wearing his minister's robes in Congress to remind the delegates that God was on their
side. Despite personal setbacks Witherspoon never lost his belief that America would prevail in the
struggle for independence. In 1777, his son was killed at the Battle of Germantown, and later that
year, the British burned their home. In addition, part of the Battle of Princeton in 1777 was fought
on the college campus – the college was so badly damaged that it was closed for several years.
Rev. John Witherspoon by Charles Willson Peale
Oliver Wolcott, Sr.
20 Nov 1726 – 1 Dec 1797
Home:
Litchfield, CT
Education:
Graduate of Yale
Profession:
Sheriff of Litchfield County, Judge, Militia leader, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Delegate to the
Continental Congress, Brigadier General of the Connecticut Militia, Lt. Governor of Connecticut,
Governor
Other Info:
In June 1776, he took ill and left Congress, to return home. While returning to Connecticut, he
passed through New York City, where General George Washington ordered the newly approved Declaration
of Independence to be read to the troops, on July 9. That night, New York patriots pulled down the
statue of King George III, sending the head of the statue back to England in a display of rebellion.
Wolcott placed the remaining pieces of the statue into a wagon and shipped it to his home in
Litchfield, where it was melted down and made into bullets for the Revolutionary Army. According to
one account, 42,000 bullets were made from this statue, to be fired at British troops. Recovering
from his illness, Wolcott returned to Congress in October 1776, where he signed the Declaration of
Independence. Because of his earlier experience as a soldier, Congress promoted him to Brigadier
General and placed him in command of Connecticut troops. In 1776, he commanded 14 Revolutionary War
Regiments that helped to defend New York City from British attack, and in the fall of 1777, he
helped to defeat the British at the Battle of Saratoga, New York.
Portrait of Connecticut Founding Father Oliver Wolcott by the American painter Ralph Earl, oil on canvas. Courtesy of the Museum of Connecticut History.
George Wythe
3 Dec 1726 – 8 Jun 1806
Home:
Williamsburg, VA
Education:
Informal, Law Studies
Profession:
Admitted to the Bar in Virginia, Clerk of the committee on Privileges and
Elections of the House of Burgesses, Attorney General of Virginia, Member of the House of Burgesses;
Member of the Board of Visitors, William and Mary, Professor of Law, William and Mary, Elected to
Continental Congress, Speaker of the Virginia House, Judge of the Chancery Court of Virginia
Other Info:
He would taught law at the College of William and Mary, among his pupils
were two future Presidents, Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe. Thomas Jefferson, who had lost his own
father at age 14, called Wythe, "my second father."
Over the years, Wythe had grown to hate slavery, and after his second wife, Elizabeth, died in the late 1780s, he began to free his slaves. He lived with two of his former slaves: a housekeeper, Lydia Broadnax, and a young man named Michael Brown. Wythe was so fond of Michael that he named him to inherit part of his estate. Also living with him was his great-nephew, George Wythe Sweeney. Sweeney, who was in line to inherit most of the estate, ran up huge gambling debts. Initially, Sweeney forged his uncle’s name on checks, but becoming more desperate for money, he poured poison into coffee that George Wythe, Michael Brown and Lydia Broadnax drank. George and Michael both died from the poison, but Lydia survived. There was plenty of evidence against Sweeney, but by Virginia law blacks could not testify against whites in court, so Lydia was not heard, and Sweeney was found "not guilty" of murder. George Wythe died at age 80 from the poison his great-nephew had given him.
Over the years, Wythe had grown to hate slavery, and after his second wife, Elizabeth, died in the late 1780s, he began to free his slaves. He lived with two of his former slaves: a housekeeper, Lydia Broadnax, and a young man named Michael Brown. Wythe was so fond of Michael that he named him to inherit part of his estate. Also living with him was his great-nephew, George Wythe Sweeney. Sweeney, who was in line to inherit most of the estate, ran up huge gambling debts. Initially, Sweeney forged his uncle’s name on checks, but becoming more desperate for money, he poured poison into coffee that George Wythe, Michael Brown and Lydia Broadnax drank. George and Michael both died from the poison, but Lydia survived. There was plenty of evidence against Sweeney, but by Virginia law blacks could not testify against whites in court, so Lydia was not heard, and Sweeney was found "not guilty" of murder. George Wythe died at age 80 from the poison his great-nephew had given him.
George Wythe
1 Arthur Middleton - The Society of the Descendants of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence. December 11, 2011 by DSDI Staff.
2 The Price They Paid - A popular essay outlines the fates of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, but many of its details are inaccurate. June 28, 2005 by David Mikkelson
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