Political Fact Sheets -Signers of the Declaration of Independence

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Signers of the Declaration of Independence

Fact Sheet

Name	State Rep.	Date of Birth	Date of Death	Birthplace	Occupation
Adams, John	MA	10/30/1735	7/4/1826	Quincy, MA	Lawyer
Adams, Samuel	MA	9/27/1722	10/2/1803	Boston, MA	Merchant
Bartlett, Joshiah	NH	11/21/1729	5/19/1795	Amesbury, MA	Physician
Braxton, Carter	VA	9/10/1736	10/10/1797	Newington, VA	Plantation Owner
Carroll, Charles	MD	9/19/1737	11/14/1832	Annapolis, MD	Merchant
Chase, Samuel	MD	4/17/1741	6/19/1811	Somerset Co., MD	Lawyer
Clark, Abraham	NJ	2/15/1726	9/15/1794	Elizabethtown, NJ	Lawyer, Surveyor
Clymer, George	PA	3/16/1739	1/24/1813	Philadelphia, PA	Merchant
Ellery, William	RI	12/22/1727	2/15/1820	Newport, RI	Lawyer, Merchant
Floyd, William	NJ	12/17/1734	8/4/1821	Brookhaven, NY	Land Speculator
Franklin, Benjamin	PA	1/17/1706	4/17/1790	Boston, MA	Scientist, Printer
Gerry, Elbridge	MA	7/17/1744	11/23/1814	Marblehead, MA	Merchant
Gwinnett, Button	GA	c. 1735	5/15/1777	Gloucester, ENG.	Plantation Owner
Hall, Lyman	GA	4/12/1724	10/19/1790	Wallingford, CT	Physician, Minister
Hancock, John	MA	1/12/1737	10/8/1793	Quincy, MA	Merchant
Harrison, Benjamin	VA	4/7/1726	4/24/1791	Charles City Co. VA	Farmer
Hart, John	NJ	c. 1711	5/11/1779	Hunterdon Co. NJ	Land Owner
Hewes, Joseph	NC	1/23/1730	10/10/1779	Kingston, NJ	Merchant
Heyward Jr. Thomas	SC	7/28/1746	3/6/1809	St. Helena Parish, SC	Lawyer, Plantation Owner
Hooper, William	NC	6/17/1742	10/14/1790	Boston, MA	Lawyer
Hopkins, Stephen	RI	3/7/1707	4/13/1785	Providence, RI	Merchant
Hopkinson, Francis	NJ	10/2/1737	5/9/1791	Philadelphia, PA	Lawyer, Musician
Huntington, Samuel	CT	7/3/1731	1/5/1796	Windham, CT	Lawyer
Jefferson, Thomas	VA	4/13/1743	7/4/1826	Albemarle Co. VA	Lawyer, Plantation Owner
Lee, Francis Lightfoot	VA	10/14/1734	1/11/1797	Mt. Pleasant, VA	Plantation Owner
Lee, Richard Henry	VA	1/20/1732	6/19/1794	Stratford, VA	Plantation Owner, Merchant
Lewis, Francis	NY	3/21/1713	12/30/1802	Llandaff, Wales	Merchant
Livingston, Philip	NY	1/15/1716	6/12/1778	Albany, NY	Merchant
Lynch Jr. Thomas	SC	8/5/1749	c.1779	Prince George's Par. SC	Lawyer
McKean, Thomas	DE	3/19/1735	6/24/1817	Chester Co. PA	Lawyer
Middleton, Authur	SC	6/26/1742	1/1/1787	Charleston, SC	Plantation Owner
Morris, Lewis	NY	4/8/1726	1/22/1798	W. Chester Co. NY	Plantation Owner
Morris, Robert	PA	1/31/1734	5/8/1806	Liverpool, ENG.	Land Speculator, Merchant
Morton, John	PA	c. 1724	c. 1777	Ridley Township, PA	Farmer
Nelson Jr., Thomas	VA	12/26/1738	1/4/1789	Yorktown, VA	Plantation Owner, Merchant
Paca, William	MD	10/31/1740	10/13/1799	Abington, MD	Lawyer, Plantation Owner
Paine, Robert Treat	MA	3/11/1731	5/12/1814	Boston, MA	Lawyer, Scientist
Penn, John	NC	5/6/1740	9/14/1788	Carolina Co. VA	Lawyer
Read, George	DE	9/18/1733	9/21/1798	Northeast MD	Lawyer
Rodney, Caesar	DE	10/7/1728	6/29/1784	Dover, DE	Plantation Owner
Ross, George	PA	5/10/1730	7/14/1779	New Castle, DE	Lawyer
Rush, Benjamin Dr.	PA	1/4/1746	4/19/1813	Philadelphia, PA	Physician
Rutledge, Edward	SC	11/23/1749	1/23/1800	Christ's Church Par. SC	Lawyer, Plantation Owner
Sherman, Roger	CT	4/19/1721	7/23/1793	Newton, MA	Lawyer
Smith, James	PA	c. 1719	7/11/1806	Northern Ireland	Lawyer
Stockton, Richard	NJ	10/1/1730	2/28/1781	Princeton, NJ	Lawyer
Stone, Thomas	MD	c. 1743	10/5/1787	Charles Co. MD	Lawyer
Taylor, George	PA	c. 1716	2/23/1781	Ireland	Merchant
Thornton, Matthew	NH	c. 1714	6/24/1803	Ireland	Physician
Walton, George	GA	c. 1741	2/2/1804	Cumberland Co. VA	Lawyer
Whipple, William	NH	1/14/1730	11/28/1785	Kittery, ME	Merchant
Williams, William	CT	4/18/1731	8/2/1811	Lebanon, CT	Merchant
Wilson, James	PA	9/14/1742	8/21/1798	Carskerdo, Scotland	Lawyer
Witherspoon, James	NJ	2/5/1723	11/15/1794	Gifford, Scotland	Minister
Wolcott, Oliver	CT	11/20/1726	12/1/1797	Windsor, CT	Lawyer
Whythe, George	VA	c. 1726	6/8/1806	Elizabeth Cith Co. VA	Lawyer

Fifty-six individuals from each of the original 13 colonies participated in the Second Continental Congress and signed the Declaration of Independence. Pennsylvania sent nine delegates to the congress, followed by Virginia with seven and Massachusetts and New Jersey with five. Connecticut, Maryland, New York, and South Carolina each sent four delegates. Delaware, Georgia, New Hampshire, and North Carolina each sent three. Rhode Island, the smallest colony, sent only two delegates to Philadelphia.

Nine of the signers were immigrants, two were brothers, two were cousins, and one was an orphan. The average age of a signer was 45. The oldest delegate was Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, who was 70 when he signed the Declaration. The youngest was Thomas Lynch, Jr., of South Carolina, who was 27.

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

Although two others had been clergy previously, John Witherspoon of New Jersey was the only active clergyman to attend--he wore his pontificals to the sessions. Almost all were Protestant Christians; Charles Carroll of Maryland was the only Roman Catholic signer.

Seven of the signers were educated at Harvard, four each at Yale and William & Mary, and three at Princeton. John Witherspoon was the president of Princeton and George Wythe was a professor at William & Mary, where his students included the author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson.

Seventeen of the signers served in the military during 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 one of the commanding officers 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 and John Hancock was the same in the Massachusetts militia.

Five of the signers were captured by the British during the war. Captains Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, and Arthur Middleton (South Carolina) were all captured at the Battle of Charleston in 1780; Colonel 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 and died in 1781.

Colonel 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, and at last fixed them in a little log house on the banks of the Susquehanna . . . and they were soon obliged to move again on account of the incursions of the Indians." Abraham Clark of New Jersey had two of his sons captured by the British during the war. The son of John Witherspoon, a major in the New Jersey Brigade, was killed at the Battle of Germantown.

Eleven signers had their homes and property destroyed. Francis Lewis's New York home was destroyed and his wife was 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 Thomas 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, Benjamin Franklin, George Clymer, James Wilson, and George Reed--signed the United States Constitution. Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts attended the federal convention and, though he later supported the document, refused to sign the Constitution.

After the Revolution, 13 of the signers went on to become governors, and 18 served in their state legislatures. Sixteen became state and federal judges. Seven became members of the United States House of Representatives, and six became United States Senators. James Wilson and Samuel Chase became Justices of the United States Supreme Court.

Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Elbridge Gerry each became Vice President, and John Adams and Thomas Jefferson became President. The sons of signers John Adams and Benjamin Harrison also became Presidents.

Five signers played major roles in the establishment of colleges and universities: Benjamin Franklin and the University of Pennsylvania; Thomas 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.

John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Charles Carroll were the longest surviving signers. Adams and Jefferson both died on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Charles Carroll of Maryland was the last signer to die--in 1832 at the age of 95.

Sources: Robert Lincoln, Lives of the Presidents of the United States, with Biographical Notices of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence (Brattleboro Typographical Company, 1839); John and Katherine Bakeless, Signers of the Declaration (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1969); Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-1989 (Washington, D.C.: U.S.Government Printing Office, 1989).

http://www.heritage.org/Research/AmericanFoundingandHistory/BG1451.cfm

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