Why Did Our Founders Sign Their Own Death Warrant?

My VIPs for this week are the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Americans celebrated Independence Day last Friday and all weekend, a celebration that will continue for the next year until July 4, 2026 – the 250^th anniversary of our national independence.

It is easy to think of Independence Day as just a national holiday that is celebrated with barbeques, parades, and fireworks. However, we must remember and teach the rising generation that we celebrate on July 4^th because we are celebrating our “hard-won independence from Great Britain and the establishment of our great nation founded on freedom” (Mark Levin). 

One way for us to remember the importance of this day and to teach the rising generation about its importance is to revisit “the timeless principles outlined in the document that defined America’s identity and declared her sovereignty.” Mark Levin shares with Blaze Media key phrases from the Declaration of Independence and explains them to help us to remember what it means to be American citizens.

“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands, which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel to the separation,” he reads.

“Why do they keep talking about the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God? Because these were men of faith,” he says, noting that even Jefferson and Franklin, who were “deists,” still “embraced Judeo-Christian values” as well as the philosophies of John Locke, who declared that “your right to life, your right to be free doesn’t come from any government” or “from any man” but “from God Almighty.”

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”

“In other words, your natural rights, your unalienable rights belong to you, no matter what – even if you life in a tyranny because they’re God-given,” Levin explains.

“That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among men, that whenever any form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness,” he continues reading.

Many today have forgotten that this “is the purpose of government – to secure your unalienable rights, to provide order and law so you can exercise your free will and so your voluntary participation in the civil society increases the benefit of the whole community,” Levin says. And while “we don’t rebel at the drop of a hat” – as “prudence indeed will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes” – we will never “acquiesce to tyranny.”

Levin reminds that, originally, there was a clause in the Declaration of Independence condemning slavery, but it was removed to maintain unity among the colonies, particularly to avoid alienating Southern states where slavery was entrenched, as the revolution required a united front against Britain.

When the founders signed the Declaration of Independence, they knew the risk. “All signed their death warrant because the British wanted to collect every one of them up and execute them,” says Levin, but they signed anyway, “[putting] their lives on the line” to make the America we love today a possibility.

“This is what Independence Day, July 4, is all about.” [Emphasis added.]

This is what the year-long celebration will be all about – a celebration of the men and women who brought about the founding of the United States of America and all those who have defended independence and freedom throughout the 250-year history of America.

Who Signed the Declaration of Independence?

My VIPs for this week are the 56 delegates to the Second Continental Congress who signed the Declaration of Independence. They represented the thirteen colonies that rebelled against British rule. We know some of the famous signers, such as John Hancock, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Samuel Adams.

The brave men signed the Declaration, and it was adopted on July 4, 1776. The Declaration of Independence told Great Britain and the world that the American colonies were free and independent states. Matthew Spalding wrote the following about the men who signed the Declaration of Independence. 

So, for the record, here's a portrait of the men who pledged "our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor" for liberty 225 years ago:

Fifty-six men from each of the original 13 colonies signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. Nine of the signers were immigrants, two were brothers and two were cousins. One was an orphan. The average age of a signer was 45. Benjamin Franklin was the oldest delegate at 70. The youngest was Thomas Lynch Jr. of South Carolina at 27.

Eighteen of the signers were merchants or businessmen, 14 were farmers, and four were doctors. Twenty-two were lawyers — although William Hooper of North Carolina was "disbarred" when he spoke out against the king — and nine were judges. Stephen Hopkins had been governor of Rhode Island. Forty-two signers had served in their colonial legislatures.

John Witherspoon of New Jersey was the only active clergyman to attend. (Indeed, he wore his pontificals to the sessions.) Almost all were Protestants. Charles Carroll of Maryland was the lone Roman Catholic.

Seven of the signers were educated at Harvard, four at Yale, four at William & Mary, and three at Princeton. Witherspoon was the president of Princeton, and George Wythe was a professor at William & Mary. His students included Declaration scribe, Thomas Jefferson.

Seventeen signers fought in the American Revolution. Thomas Nelson was a colonel in the Second Virginia Regiment and then commanded Virginia military forces at the Battle of Yorktown. William Whipple served with the New Hampshire militia and was a commanding officer in the decisive Saratoga campaign. Oliver Wolcott led the Connecticut regiments sent for the defense of New York and commanded a brigade of militia that took part in the defeat of General Burgoyne. Caesar Rodney was a major general in the Delaware militia; John Hancock held the same rank in the Massachusetts militia.

The British captured five signers during the war. Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, and Arthur Middleton were captured at the Battle of Charleston in 1780. George Walton was wounded and captured at the Battle of Savannah. Richard Stockton of New Jersey never recovered from his incarceration at the hands of British Loyalists. He died in 1781.

Thomas McKean of Delaware wrote John Adams that he was "hunted like a fox by the enemy — compelled to remove my family five times in a few months …". Abraham Clark of New Jersey had two of his sons captured by the British during the war.

Eleven signers had their homes and property destroyed. Francis Lewis's New York home was razed and his wife taken prisoner. John Hart's farm and mills were destroyed when the British invaded New Jersey, and he died while fleeing capture. Carter Braxton and Nelson, both of Virginia, lent large sums of their personal fortunes to support the war effort but were never repaid.

Fifteen of the signers participated in their states' constitutional conventions, and six — Roger Sherman, Robert Morris, Franklin, George Clymer, James Wilson, and George Reed — signed the U.S. Constitution.

After the Revolution, 13 signers went on to become governors. Eighteen served in their state legislatures. Sixteen became state and federal judges. Seven became members of the U.S. House of Representatives. Six became U.S. senators. James Wilson and Samuel Chase became Supreme Court justices. Jefferson, Adams, and Elbridge Gerry each became vice president. Adams and Jefferson later became president.

Five signers played major roles in the establishment of colleges and universities: Franklin and the University of Pennsylvania; Jefferson and the University of Virginia; Benjamin Rush and Dickinson College; Lewis Morris and New York University; and George Walton and the University of Georgia.

Adams, Jefferson, and Carroll were the longest surviving signers. Adams and Jefferson both died on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Carroll was the last signer to die — in 1832 at the age of 95. (Emphasis added.)

 

Men Who Signed the Declaration of Independence

                Most Americans know that Independence Day is commemorated and celebrated on the Fourth of July every year. Far too many Americans consider the day to be just another holiday - a day to go camping or fishing or an excuse to get drunk. Lest forgetfulness sets in on the subject, I want to remind my readers of the sacrifices made by the men who signed the Declaration of Independence.

                Michael Sabo posted an interesting article on this topic in July 2016.  I believe that all Americans should review this information at least annually.

                Most Americans remember the statement about “unalienable rights” – “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Sabo reminds us of the easiness of focusing on the second paragraph without paying little attention to the concluding paragraphs and signatures. He declares that the opening paragraphs enunciate important principles that we should remember and live, but principles alone do not bring security.

Principles need to be enforced by individuals who have the habits of character necessary to fight for them, and perhaps even die for them, if need be. In a time where talk of rights dominates our political discourse, a focus on duties is indispensable in order to each citizen the responsibilities they owe toward each other and their posterity.

The signers’ mutual pledge to themselves to sacrifice their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor for the cause of independence shows that these men took seriously their duties to the people of the new nation….

Of the 56 men who signed the declaration, 12 fought in battles as members of state militias, five were captured and imprisoned during the Revolutionary War, 17 lost property as a result of British raids, and five lost their fortunes in helping fund the Continental Army and state militias battle the redcoats.

                Sabo continues his article with more details about some of the sacrifices made by these men who were willing to give “their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor” for independence. The details tell of men serving in the armies, homes being destroyed, and fortunes being spent for the cause of liberty.

                Rush H. Limbaugh, Jr. also penned an article about the 56 signers.  He writes that the signers took “three days of wrangling” before adopting the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.

There were no trumpets blown. No one stood on his chair and cheered. The afternoon was waning and Congress had no thought of delaying the full calendar of routine business on its hands. For several hours they worked on many other problems before adjourning for the day.

What kind of men were the 56 signers who adopted the Declaration of Independence and who, by their signing, committed an act of treason against the crown? To each of you the names Franklin, Adams, Hancock, and Jefferson are almost as familiar as household words. Most of us, however, know nothing of the other signers. Who were they? What happened to them?

I imagine that many of you are somewhat surprised at the names not there: George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Patrick Henry. All were elsewhere.

Ben Franklin was the only really old man. Eighteen were under 40; three were in their 20s. Of the 56 almost half – 24 – were judges and lawyers. Eleven were merchants, 9 were landowners and farmers, and the remaining 12 were doctors, ministers, and politicians.

With only a few exceptions, such as Samuel Adams of Massachusetts, these were men of substantial property. All but two had families. The vast majority were men of education and standing in their communities. They had economic security as few men had in the 18^th century.

Each had more to lose from revolution than he had to gain by it. John Hancock, one of the richest men in America, already had a price of 500 pounds on his head. He signed in enormous letters so “that his Majesty could now read his name without glasses and could now double the reward.” Ben Franklin wryly noted: “Indeed we must all hang together, otherwise we shall most assuredly hang separately.” …

These men knew what they risked. The penalty for treason was death by hanging. And remember: a great British fleet was already at anchor in New York Harbor.

They were sober men. There were no dreamy-eyed intellectuals or draft card burners here. They were far from hot-eyed fanatics, yammering for an explosion. They simply asked for the status quo. It was change they resisted. It was equality with the mother country they desired. It was taxation with representation they sought. They were all conservatives, yet they rebelled.

It was principle, not property, that had brought these men to Philadelphia….

                Limbaugh used the same word that Sabo used to describe why the men met in Philadelphia. They were taking a stand for principles – conservative principles. They each understood that independence would not come simply by principle, and they pledged “their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor” to win it. The Signers paid dearly for signing the declaration, but they considered independence to be worth their sacrifices.

                Do Americans today realize the value of independence? There are large numbers of people living in America who do not want independence but would rather live under different laws – such as socialism, communism, and Sharia law. However, there are vast numbers of Americans who desire independence and who are willing to do something to keep Americans free and independent. These numbers are shown by the rise of the TEA Party after the presidential election of Barack Obama and the election of Donald Trump. In spite of all the negative news reports about Trump and his administration, the people who put him in office are still standing with him. The majority of Americans still desire independence and liberty and are willing to sacrifice their own lives and fortunes to fight for it as their honor is dragged through the mud by the lame stream media.

Greatness of John Hancock

                    John Hancock can be considered great for several reasons.  He inherited a "profitable shipping business from his uncle" and became "one of the wealthiest men in the American Colonies before the American Revolutionary War."  He served as the president of the Second Continental Congress and also as the first and third Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

                    Hancock became active in politics in Boston with the help of Samuel Adams, an "influential local politician."  Hancock used his wealth to support the colonial independence effort and was very popular in Massachusetts - particularly after his sloop named Liberty was confiscated by the British and he was charged with smuggling.  He was one of the leading Bostonians during the crisis that set off the American Revolution.

                    John Hancock's main claim to fame is the fact that he was serving as president of Congress when the Declaration of Independence was adopted and signed.  As president, he was the first to sign the new document and is best remembered for his "large, flamboyant signature."  His name later became "an informal synonym for signature."  I remember many times hearing the term or being told to sign my "John Hancock."  "According to legend, Hancock signed his name largely and clearly so that King George could read it without his spectacles, but this fanciful story did not appear until many years later."

                    The Signer has the distinction of having many places and things in the United States named in his honor.  The U.S. Navy named two vessels after him:  USS Hancock and USS John Hancock.  A third ship was named Liberty in his honor during World War II.  There are ten states that have a Hancock County named in his honor.  There are also the following places with his name:  Hancock, Massachusetts; Hancock, Michigan; Hancock, New York; and Mount Hancock in New Hampshire.  Although it has no connection to his business, the John Hancock Insurance company was founded in Boston in 1862.  The insurance company passed his name on to famous office buildings:  the John Hancock Tower in Boston, the John Hancock Center in Chicago, and the John Hancock Student Village at Boston University. 

                   

Dorothy Camber Walton

                    There is little known about the life or personality of Dorothy Camber, the wife of George Walton, signer of the Declaration of Independence.  She was the daughter of an English gentlemen living in Chatham County, Georgia, when she married the young patriot and signer.

                    About a year after Dorothy and George were married, George was Colonel Walton and was leading his regiment in the defense of Savannah.  He was wounded in that battle and captured by the enemy.  Because he was a member of the Continental Congress and a signer of the Declaration of Independence, the British would not exchange him for any prisoner with a rank lower than brigadier-general. 

While George was in prison and thinking that his wound would be fatal, he wrote the following to his wife:  "Remember that you are the beloved wife of one who has made honour and reputation the ruling motive in every action of his life."

George never accumulated property, but he and Dorothy were happy on their little farm near Augusta.  They had only one child, a son named after his father.  The son served as Secretary of State for Andrew Jackson when he was governor of West Florida.

George died in 1804 and was buried in Augusta.  He was survived by his widow and son.  More information on George Walton can be obtained here.  http://causeofliberty.blogspot.com/2012/01/george-walton.html

Facts for this article are from Wives of the Signer - The women behind the Declaration of Independence, pp 278-279.

                    

George Walton

                    George Walton, signer of the Declaration of Independence, was born in 1740 in Frederick County, Virginia.  Any "glory" that came to him was due to his own making because his "parentage" was "quite obscure."   He had limited education and was apprenticed to a carpenter when he was fourteen years old.  He had "an inquiring mind" and "an ardent thirst for knowledge," but he was not able to study as much as he would like because of his apprenticeship.  His "master" was an ignorant man and considered studious boys to be idle and reading to be a waste of time.  George was allowed no time for reading during daylight hours and no lights to study at night.  George wanted to study so badly that he used "torch-wood for light" so that he could study in the evenings.  He was so diligent in his studies that he had a "well-stored mind" by the time he completed his apprenticeship.  He moved to Georgia where he began studying law with a Mr. Young.

                    When George started practicing law in 1774, the patriot cause of liberty was "ablaze."  Residents of Georgia, however, were either "very apathetic" or "very timid" because they did not agree on the necessity of holding a Continental Congress and did not send any delegates to it.

                    George soon became acquainted with Doctor Lyman Hall and other patriots and became "an apt pupil in the school of patriotism."  George's law tutor was "an ardent patriot" and had great influence on George also.  Due to these influences and his "own natural bias, George grasped the cause of liberty with "hearty zeal."  He was so bold in his opposition to the movements of the people loyal to the crown that he was denounced by the "ruling powers."  He worked diligently to convince the residents of Georgia to join the cause of liberty along with the parish of St. John, but his labors were in vain.  Finally, in the winter of 1776, Georgia joined the patriot cause and appointed five delegates to the Continental Congress.  George Walton and Doctor Lyman Hall were two of the five delegates appointed.  The "royal governor" of Georgia was so upset with this act of treason that he threatened to send the military against them.  The patriots did not pay the governor any concern and simply organized a new government.

                    George joined the session of the Continental Congress in Baltimore where the delegates had moved due to the threat of an attack on Philadelphia by British Lord Cornwallis.  Within three days he was appointed to join Robert Morris and George Clymer to go back to Philadelphia and "act as circumstances might require."  This committee had almost unlimited power and was a position of "great trust and danger;" they were entrusted with all the finances of Congress.

                    When the discussion turned to independence, George was strongly in favor of the proposition and used his influence in support of it.  He voted for and signed the Declaration of Independence; he used his fortune and honor freely in support of gaining independence.  George remained a member of the Congress until the end of 1778 when he was appointed by the legislature to be a colonel of a Georgia regiment. 

George "hastened to join his regiment" as Georgia was threatened with a British invasion from the sea.  He arrived in time to join General Robert Howe in defending Savannah when British Colonel Campbell landed there from New York.  General Howe was commanding about eight hundred men and might have defended Savannah successfully if it weren't for a "treacherous negro" who showed the enemy an unknown path to the rear of the Americans.  The Americans were then surrounded and forced to surrender themselves as prisoners of war.  George was shot in the thigh and fell from his horse.  He was taken prisoner but was soon exchanged.  Due to his military rank and the fact that he signed the Declaration of Independence, a brigadier general was demanded in exchange for him.  Eventually, he was exchanged for a naval captain.

The Legislature of Georgia appointed George to be the governor of the state in October 1779, but he held the position for only a short period of time.  In January 1780 he was elected as a delegate to the Continental Congress for two years.  He resigned the position in October and was again elected to be governor of Georgia and held the position for a full term.  Near the end of his term as governor, the Legislature appointed him to be Chief Justice for the State; he held this office until his death.  Meanwhile, he was elected to the U.S. Senate where he served for one year before retiring to private life except for his service as a judge.  He died on February 2, 1804, at age 64.  He left his widow, Dorothy Camber Walton, and an only child, a son named after his father.  The son was a "great solace" to his father in his older years and served as Secretary of State when General Andrew Jackson was governor of West Florida.

"Judge Walton was universally beloved by those who knew him intimately, and the carpenter's apprentice became the most exalted citizen of the Commonwealth in which he resided.  Even at this late day, the remembrance of his services and exalted character, is fresh in the hearts of the people."

Facts and quotes are from Lives of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, pp 234-237.

Two Wives for Hall

                    Lyman Hall, signer of the Declaration of Independence, married twice.  He was well educated and had earned medical doctor status prior to his first marriage.

                    Dr. Hall married Abigail Burr, daughter of Thaddeus Burr, Esq., of Wallingford, Connecticut, in May 1752.  Abigail was described as being "beautiful and accomplished."  She died in July 1753, about fourteen months after her marriage.

                    Approximately four years after the death of his first wife, Dr. Hall married Mary Osborne (1757).  The Halls moved to Dorchester, South Carolina, and lived there only a few months before moving to Georgia.  Dr. Hall established a medical practice in Sunbury, St. John's Parish, and purchased a rice plantation on the Savannah road a few miles from Midway.  Dr. Hall became a "leading physician" in Georgia and thus "highly prosperous."

                    Lyman achieved a high level of influence in his new area and was the leader in the local patriotic movement.  The cause of liberty movement in St. John's Parish eventually pressured Georgia to join the other Colonies in the fight for independence.  Georgia elected five delegates to the Continental Congress, but only three delegates actually attended the Congress.  One of the delegates opposed the movement for independence and therefore did not take his seat in the Congress.  Another delegate, Archibald Bulloch, was a patriot but couldn't leave Georgia at the time.  The three delegates representing Georgia at the Continental Congress and signing the Declaration of Independence were Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, and George Walton.

                    Lyman returned from Congress just in time to move his family north to safety, leaving his home unprotected from the invading British army.  The British confiscated his property.  Lyman returned to Georgia and was elected Governor in 1782.  After his term as Governor, he retired to a home in Burke County where he passed away.  Lyman's only son passed away a few years previous to his own death, but his widow survived him several years and died childless. 

                    Wallingford, Connecticut, the native town of Lyman Hall, erected a monument to his memory.  "Upon a mound of earth, handsomely turfed, is a large flat freestone, nearly nine feet long by six feet wide.  Upon this rests a block of freestone, nearly three feet high, with rounded corners and handsome mouldings; on the fourth side of which is this inscription:  `The State of Georgia having removed to Augusta, the remains of Lyman Hall, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and there erected a monument to his memory, the original tablet covering his grave was, in 1857, presented by William D'Antignac to this State, by whose order it is deposited in his native town.'"

                    The white marble tablet, about three inches thick, is inscribed with the following information:  "Beneath this stone rest the remains of the Hon. Lyman Hall, Formerly Governor of this State, who departed this life the 19th of Oct., 1790, in the 67th year of his age.  [There is some confusion about Lyman's death date.  One source about him listed his death at age 63 in 1784.  The source from which this article is taken listed his death as occurring at age 60 in 1790.  His tombstone listed his death as 1790 at age 67.]

                    "In the cause of America he was uniformly a patriot.  In the incumbent duties of a husband and a father he acquitted himself with affection and tenderness.  But, reader, above all, know from this inscription that he left the probationary scene as a true Christian and an honest man."

                    The following poem written by his widow was also included: 

                                        To those so mourned in death, so loved in life,

                                        The childless parent, the widowed wife,

                                        With tears inscribes this monumental stone

                                        That holds his ashes and expects her own.

                    Facts and quotes for this article are from Wives of the Signers - The women behind the Declaration of Independence, pp. 275-278.  Another article by Lyman Hall can be accessed here.  

Lyman Hall

                    Lyman Hall, signer of the Declaration of Independence, was born in 1721 in Connecticut to a father who "possessed" a "competent fortune."  Lyman received the opportunity to acquire "a good education" and entered Yale College at sixteen years of age.  He graduated four years later and then began a study of medicine.  He embarked on his medical studies with "great ardor" and "pursued them with perseverance."

                    Upon the completion of his studies and the receipt of the title of medical doctor, Lyman married Abigail Burr in May 1752.  Abigail died in July 1753.  Lyman married Mary Osborne about 1757 and moved to Dorchester, South Carolina; the Hall family moved to Georgia a few months later where Lyman opened a medical practice in Sunbury, St. John's Parish.  Lyman "purchased and cultivated a rice plantation" on the Savannah Road a "few miles from Midway."  He became one of the "leading physicians" in the area as well as "highly prosperous."  Because of his successful medical practice and his "superior intelligence, probity, and consistency of character," Lyman "won the unbounded esteem and confidence of his fellow citizens." 

                    Lyman was also "a close observer" of what was happening in the Colonies and became one of the first Southern men to voice his feelings about the "oppression and misrule" carried out by the British against the Americans.  He was not alone in his feelings due to the fact that "forty New England families" had accompanied him to Georgia and still "cherished" the "principles of the Pilgrim Fathers."  When the patriot cause of liberty began to sound, it appeared that all the Georgia patriots lived in St. John's Parish; this was due to the fact that most of the older settlers in Georgia came directly from Europe and did not have the "principles of freedom in woven with their character" as did the settlers from New England.

                    In early 1774 Lyman joined other Georgia patriots in trying to "arouse" their fellow Georgians to join the cause of liberty, but they did not have much success.  In July 1774 a meeting was held in Savannah, but there were no real commitments made.  Lyman was very discouraged about the possibility of Georgia being represented at the General Congress meeting in Philadelphia in September and "returned to his constituents with a heavy heart." 

The people living in St. John's Parish were so disgusted with their fellow Georgians and so fired up with "zeal" for the cause of liberty as well as deep sympathy with the New England patriots that they resolved to declare independence from the rest of Georgia.  They elected Lyman in March 1775 to represent them as a delegate to the Continental Congress.  He took his credentials and reported at the Congress on May 13, 1775.  Congress didn't quite know what to do with Doctor Hall until he proposed that he be allowed to debate and listen to the other delegates but not to vote for his colony.

Georgia woke up during the summer of 1775 and decided to join the patriot cause of liberty.  They held a convention in Savannah in July and elected five delegates to Congress with Lyman being one of the five.  He returned to the Continental Congress in May 1776 with his new credentials where he joined the debate about independence.  He was a strong supporter for independence and voted for it on July 4, 1776; he signed the Declaration of Independence on August 2, 1776, and soon returned home for a time.

Lyman continued as a delegate to the Continental Congress until the British invaded Georgia in 1780.  He returned home just in time to move his family to safety but had to leave his property exposed to the enemy.  While he was away from home, his property was confiscated.

Just prior to the British leaving Savannah in 1782, Lyman returned to Georgia and was elected to be the Governor of Georgia the next year.  He held that office for only one term before he retired from public service and returned to domestic life.  He was not allowed to enjoy his private life for very long before his only son died in his youth.  Lyman did not live long after the death of his son and died in 1784 at age 63.

Lyman was "greatly loved and widely lamented."  The 1848 the Georgia Legislature appropriated $1500.00 to erect "a lead monument to the memory of Lyman Hall, and George Walton, two delegates from Georgia, who signed the Declaration of Independence.  Their remains [were] to be removed to Augusta, where the monument [was] to be reared."

Facts and quotes are from Lives of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, pp 230-233.

Mrs. Button Gwinnett

                    There is very little known about Mrs. Button Gwinnett, wife of the signer of the Declaration of Independence.  She was married and had children when she emigrated from Bristol, England, to South Carolina with her husband in 1770.  The Gwinnett family lived for two years in Charleston where they owned a mercantile business.  They sold the business and purchased land on St. Catharine Island in Georgia.  The land included "a stock of horses, cattle, and hogs, some lumber and a plantation boat."  Mr. and Mrs. Gwinnett and their children lived on the island.

                    Mrs. Gwinnett was apparently with her husband when he transferred his loyalty for "natural Tory principles" and joined the patriot cause of liberty.  She apparently supported him in his phenomenal rise in politics as well as supported him when his fall from popularity happened.  She probably tried to comfort him when he made enemies as she was with him after he was fatally shot by Colonel Lachlan McIntosh in a dual.  "All we know of Mrs. Gwinnett at that time is that she nursed him during the twelve days he lay groaning with his shattered hip, and then she and her children drop out of all knowledge, and the chroniclers of the day who mention her simply say that `Mrs. Gwinnett and her children soon followed him.'"  

                    Facts and quotes are from Wives of the Signers - The women behind the Declaration of Independence, pp. 272-275.

Button Gwinnett

                    Button Gwinnett, signer of the Declaration of Independence, was born in 1732 in England.  His parents had limited finances but were able to give Button a good basic education.  Button became an apprentice to a merchant in Bristol.  After he completed his apprenticeship, he married and opened his own business.  He found America attractive due to the "promises of wealth and distinction."  He emigrated from England and settled in Charleston, South Carolina in 1770.  He opened a business in Charleston but sold it two years later.  He "purchased large tracts of land on St. Catharine's Island" off the coast of Georgia; he also purchased slaves and "devoted himself to agricultural pursuits."

                    Mr. Gwinnett cautiously favored the colonists' opposition to the oppressive rule of England, but he considered the move for independence to be "highly problematical."  When Georgia considered joining the patriot cause of liberty in 1774, he was unconvinced of the wisdom of the idea, considering it "fraught with danger and many evils."  Dr. Lyman Hall and other supporters of the cause convinced Mr. Gwinnett that "some powerful movement was necessary."  He eventually became a firm supporter for the Americans' cause.  He became "very popular" with the people because of his "cultivated mind and superior talents."

                    When Mr. Gwinnett openly supported the cause of liberty in 1775, he was elected to represent the St. John parish as a delegate to the Continental Congress.  In the early stages of the revolution, the patriots of St. John parish were the only Georgians to be actively involved.  Georgia as a whole refused to send delegates to the Continental Congress of 1774; therefore, the St. John parish separated themselves and sent their own delegate.  By 1776 the patriot fever had spread throughout Georgia, and Mr. Gwinnett was elected to be Georgia's representative in the Continental Congress.  There he followed the instruction of the General Assembly as well as his own personal feelings and voted for the Declaration of Independence, which he signed on August 2, 1776.

                    Mr. Gwinnett continued as a member of the Continental Congress until 1777 when he became a member of the Convention charged with writing a constitution for Georgia.  Soon after the State Convention adjourned he was elected to be the president of the council due to the death of Mr. Bullock, the previous president.  Mr. Gwinnett enjoyed the "civil honors" that were "rapidly and lavishly bestowed upon him" and decided that he also wanted military honors.  Colonel M'Intosh, "a man highly esteemed for his manly bearing and courageous disposition," and Mr. Gwinnett were competitors for the office of Brigadier General.  When Colonel M'Intosh was selected for the office, Mr. Gwinnett began to look upon him as his personal enemy.  Whereas the two men had previously been friends, the breach between them "constantly widened" due to the "continued irritations which Mr. Gwinnett experienced at the hands of Colonel M'Intosh and his friends."

                    "… native born Englishmen were in the habit of regarding the colonists as inferior to themselves, and they were apt to assume a bearing toward them highly offensive.  In some degree Mr. Gwinnett was obnoxious to this charge, and he looked upon his rapid elevation in public life, as an acknowledgment of his superiority.  These feelings were too thinly covered not to be seen by the people when he was president of the council, and it soon engendered among the natives a jealousy that was fully reciprocated by him.  This was doubtless the prime cause of [his] difficulties…."

                    The irritations and his "thoughts of having his fair fame tarnished in the eyes of the community" drove him to consider challenging Colonel M'Intosh to "single combat."  Both men were injured with the first pistol shots, and Mr. Gwinnett died from his wounds in the prime of his life at age forty-five.  "He could well have said, in the language of the lamented Hamilton, when fatally wounded in a duel by Aaron Burr:  `I have lived like a man, but I die like a fool.'"

                    Mrs. Button Gwinnett nursed her husband for twelve days as he suffered with a shattered hip.  Mr. and Mrs. Gwinnett had several children, but apparently none of them survived for long after Button died.

                    Facts and quotes are from Lives of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, pp. 227-229.

Mary Izard Middleton

                    Mary Izard married Arthur Middleton, signer of the Declaration of Independence in 1764.  She was the daughter of Col. Walter Izard of Cedar Grove - an officer in the militia - and his wife, Elizabeth Gibbs.  Mary was described as being "one of the most beautiful and accomplished young women of her day in South Carolina."  Arthur was the son of Hon. Henry Middleton of The Oaks and Middleton Place and a brother of Mrs. Edward Rutledge, another signer of the Declaration.

                    A portrait of Arthur, Mary and their eldest son Henry (painted by Benjamin West in London when the family was traveling in Europe before the Revolutionary War) hangs at Alverthorpe (near Philadelphia), the country home of a great-grandson, Dr. Henry Middleton Fisher.  A miniature portrait of Mary (set in rubies and diamonds) was inherited by one of her great-great-granddaughters.  "Both pictures show an aristocratic, high-bred face with arched eyebrows, dark hair, white skin, and slender throat."

                    An obituary in the Courier of Charleston in July 1814 described Mary as being an "excellent woman" who was "endeared to society by her Virtues and her good works."

                    The Middleton family suffered greatly from the Revolutionary War.  When the British went to South Carolina, Arthur was with the militia trying to protect their state.  He wrote to Mary and told her to go to the home of a friend who lived about "a day's journey north of Charleston."  Even though the British "spared" the buildings at Middleton Place, they "rifled" the house and barns.  They demolished "everything that could not be converted into lucrative purpose."  They smashed pictures and broke their frames. 

The British carried away 200 slaves from the Middleton estate.  Arthur went "deeply into debt" and had "unceasing struggles" but continued with his "generous hospitality."

                    The Middleton home, located "on the Ashley," was "large and commodious," but two modern wings did not seem to fit the main house.  Arthur talked of tearing the whole building down and replacing it, but he was persuaded by friends to leave it "because it was too large a superstructure to sacrifice to any plan of improvement."  The house caught fire one day when Arthur was out walking, and Mary sent a servant to tell him of the fire.   He looked around and determined that the wings were not in danger; he sent word back to his wife to "let it burn."  Mary didn't agree with her husband's counsel, and the fire was soon extinguished.

                    Mary and Arthur were parents of nine children, three sons and six daughters.   Their sons were:  Henry Middleton (served in both branches of the Legislature, Governor of his state, member of Congress, and Minister to the Court of St. Petersburg; married Mary Helen Hering, daughter of Julius Hering of Heybridge Hall, Captain in H. M. 34th Regiment), John Izard Middleton (of Cedar Grove; received his mother's large fortune; married Elisa Augusta, daughter of Theodore de Palazieu Falconet; spent most of his life in France and Italy; was devoted to art; was an amateur painter of talent and author of Grecian Remains in Italy), and John (died in infancy in 1787).  Their daughters were:  Maria Henrietta (born 1772; married Joseph Manigault), Elisa Carolina (born 1774, died unmarried), Emma Philadelphia (born 1776, married Henry Izard, eldest son of Hon. Ralph Izard, U.S. Senator), Anne Louise (born 1778, married Daniel Blake), Isabella Johannes (born 1780, married Hon Daniel Elliott Huger, U.S. Senator for South Carolina), and Septima Sexta (born 1783, married Henry Middleton Rutledge).

                    Arthur died on his plantation in 1787.  (Another source listed his date of death as January 1, 1788.)  Mary passed away in 1814, a half century after their marriage and twenty-seven years after the death of her husband.

                    Facts and quotes from Wives of the Signers:  The women behind the Declaration of Independence, pp 270-273.

                    

Arthur Middleton

                    Arthur Middleton, signer of the Declaration of Independence, was born in 1743 at his father's residence - Middleton Place - in South Carolina.  His father was Henry Middleton, who descended from English ancestors and became a wealthy planter.  Henry gave his son "every opportunity for mental and moral culture" available in the area, and then he sent Arthur to England to further his education as was the "prevailing custom among the men of wealth in the southern areas prior to the Revolutionary War.  Their "superior education" consequently made the sons "political and social leaders."

                    Arthur was only twelve years old when he was sent to England to study at Hackney, a preparatory school attended by "several of Southern members of Congress" before they entered Cambridge.  Arthur, however, transferred to a school in Westminster at age fourteen and remained there four years before entering the University of Cambridge.  Arthur was a "very close and thoughtful student" and "shunned the society of the gay and dissipated."  He studied at Cambridge for four years and graduated at age twenty-two with distinguished honors as well as the "sincere respect and esteem" of professors and students.

                    After graduating from Cambridge, Arthur continued to live in England in order to meet relatives living in England and to gain more "self-improvement."  He later traveled on the Continent for two years; he spent several months in Rome studying fine arts and becoming a "proficient" painter.

                    Arthur returned to South Carolina in 1768 and soon married Mary Izard.  After being married for about a year, Arthur and Mary traveled to Europe where they spent a lengthy time in England.  They returned home in 1773 where they began living in the family home.   They had everything - wealth and domestic happiness - for a "bright prospect of worldly happiness," but this was not to be. 

At that time "the dark clouds of the Revolution," and the fury of the great storm "burst" upon the American colonists. 
There was no middle ground because no one could remain neutral; no one could stay on the fence.  Everyone had to decide whether they were loyal to Great Britain or whether they would fight for independence.  Arthur and his father "laid their lives and fortunes upon the altar of patriotism."

Once this decision was made, Arthur put aside his life of ease and became active in the patriot cause of liberty.  He was appointed by the Provincial Congress in 1775 to serve the public as a member of a committee of safety in South Carolina.  In that office he was unyielding on principles.  When the news broke that the Governor, Lord William Campbell, "was acting with duplicity."

Even though there was a close relationship between the Middleton family and the family of Lord Campbell, Arthur put aside his private feelings and recommended that Lord Campbell be arrested.  The majority of the committee was too timid to take such action so they allowed Lord Campbell to "flee" from South Carolina.  The arrest of the governor might have saved much pain and death in South Carolina because he joined Sir Henry Clinton and encouraged him to "ravage the coast" and attack Charleston.  Lord Campbell was killed in the military engagement.

Arthur was appointed in the winter of 1776 to a committee given the responsibility to "form a government for South Carolina."  Early the next spring he was elected to represent South Carolina at the Continental Congress in Philadelphia.  He was "an active promoter" of the proposal to cut national ties with England.  He voted for and signed the Declaration of Independence.  Even though he could lose his life and property for being so patriotic if England won the war, Arthur gave the "consideration" no weight.

Continuing as a member of the Continental Congress until the end of 1777, Arthur then returned to South Carolina where he was elected to be the first governor in 1778 under the newly adopted state constitution.  He declined the appointment because he considered the framing of the constitution to be illegal.

When the British army invaded South Carolina in 1779, the Middleton property was fully "exposed to their ravages."  Arthur instructed his wife to move the family to safety and joined Governor Rutledge in defending their state.  A "large portion" of his "immense estate was sacrificed."  When Charleston surrendered to the British the next year, Arthur was among the prisoners sent to St. Augustine, Florida.  He was in Florida about a year before being sent to Philadelphia as an exchange prisoner.  Upon his return to South Carolina, he was immediately elected to represent his State Legislature in Congress where he remained until November 1782.

                    Arthur served as a representative in his State Legislature until he had to resign due to illness near the end of 1787.  He died on January 1, 1788, from a weakened "constitution" from an "intermittent fever" over a lengthy period of time.  He left Mary a widow with eight children.  Mary lived until 1814, long enough to see her children "among the honored of the land."

                    Facts and quotes are from Lives of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, pp 223-226.

Elizabeth Shubrick Lynch

                    The life of Elizabeth Shubrick Lynch is "another chapter to the tragic story of the Carolina signers and their families.  Elizabeth Shubrick and Thomas Lynch, Jr., future signer of the Declaration of Independence, were childhood sweethearts.  Thomas was the son of a wealthy planter and spent eight years in England obtaining his education at Eton, his degree at Cambridge, and studying law at The Temple.  He returned to America in 1772 determined to follow in his father's footsteps in advancing the patriot cause of liberty. 

                     Elizabeth was the beautiful daughter of "an old and prominent family."  Elizabeth and Thomas were married in 1773 and begin their marriage on a plantation given to them by Thomas's father.  Thomas became a militia captain in 1774 and was elected to fill his father's seat in Congress a year later.  Thomas remained in Congress long enough to support the proposal of gaining independence and to sign the Declaration of Independence.  Thomas resigned his seat in Congress due to his own failing health as well as that of his father.  Father and son were traveling slowly home when the father suffered a stroke in Annapolis and died. 

                    Thomas, upon the advice of his physicians and friends, decided to go to southern Europe with the hope of regaining his health.  Thomas and Elizabeth sailed to the West Indies in 1779 in order to secure a neutral ship to take them to Europe.  The ship with Thomas and Elizabeth aboard apparently sunk because it was never heard from again. 

                    Facts and quotes are from Wives of the Signers:  The women behind the Declaration of Independence, pp 268-270.

Thomas Lynch, Jr.

                    Thomas Lynch, Junior, signer of the Declaration of Independence, was born August 5, 1749, in the Prince George parish, located upon the North Santee River in South Carolina.  He descended from an ancient Austrian family who were natives of Lintz.  His branch of the family moved to the county of Kent in England and then to Connaught in Ireland.  Thomas's great-grandfather emigrated from Ireland to America where he settled in South Carolina where he purchased large tracts of land.  When Thomas's father inherited these tracts of land, they were of great value and gave him a "splendid fortune."  He "was a man of great influence" and was an early supporter of the cause of liberty.  He was elected to be a delegate to the first Continental Congress, meeting with that body of men in Philadelphia in 1774 and continuing as a member there until his death.

                    Thomas received a good education at Georgetown, South Carolina, before being sent to England at age thirteen to further his education.  He entered Eton School, a "seminary of preparation for higher instruction" that educated many eminent men.  I believe that this is the same school that Prince William and Prince Harry attended.  After Thomas completed his "preparatory studies" at Georgetown, he entered the University of Cambridge.  After receiving a degree there, he left the university "bearing the highest respect of the tutors, because of his studious and virtuous career while there."

                    When Thomas left Cambridge, he embarked upon the study of law in one of the inns of the Temple where he became a "finished lawyer."  He also became acquainted with some of the "leading politicians of the day" and gained knowledge of the workings of the government.  He felt "an irrepressible desire to return home" after hearing the "murmur of discontent" from America and the "haughty tone of British statesmen, when speaking of the colonies."  With his father's permission, Thomas left England and arrived in South Carolina in 1772. 

                    Soon after Thomas returned to America, he married a "beautiful young lady" named Elizabeth Shubrick.  Thomas and Elizabeth had a "mutual attachment" from the time they were children.  Thomas could have enjoyed a life of ease and enjoyment with the love of his life and his ample fortune, but he "had caught the spirit of his patriotic father" and made his stand in the "storm of the Revolution."

                    Thomas first came into the public eye in Charleston in 1773 when he spoke about the "injuries Great Britain was inflicting on her colonies."  He spoke with such "patriotic eloquence" that he won the hearts of the people who considered him to be "an efficient instrument in working out the freedom of his country."  Thomas was elected to "many civil offices of trust" and was commissioned as a captain in South Carolina's "first provincial regiment" in 1775.   Thomas's father, then a member of Congress in Philadelphia, wanted his son to receive a higher rank, but Thomas thought his experience warranted a rank of captain.

                    As a captain, Thomas accompanied General C. C. Pinckney into North Carolina to recruit a company for Thomas.  Exposure to the weather on this trip caused some health problems for Thomas from which he never recovered.  He recruited his company and joined his regiment just a few days before learning that his father was suddenly and severely ill from paralysis at Philadelphia. 

Thomas requested leave from his military duties to visit his father but was denied.  The problem was solved, however, when his father resigned his seat in Congress and Thomas was elected to fill it.  He accepted the appointment with joy and hurried to Philadelphia where he was seated in Congress in 1776.   Thomas supported the proposal for independence from England and signed the Declaration of Independence.

Due to his own declining health as well as that of his father, Thomas resigned his seat in Congress, and the two of them traveled towards home slowly.  His father suffered another "paralytic stroke" and died in Annapolis.  Bereaved and ill, Thomas returned home.  Upon the advice of physicians, he decided to travel to southern Europe with the hope of gaining better health near the end of 1779.  At that time it was "perilous" to travel in an American ship so he and Elizabeth sailed for the West Indies expecting to find a neutral ship on which to travel to Europe.  Apparently their ship "foundered at sea" because it was never heard from again.

"Thus, at the early age of thirty years, terminated the life of one of that sacred band who pledged life, fortune and honor, in defence of American freedom.  Like a brilliant meteor, he beamed with splendor for a short period, and suddenly vanished forever." 

Facts and quotes are from Lives of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, pp