Who were the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence?
by David Barth, written May 13, 2008
From page 60 of Wired, March 2008
What happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence? The signers pledged their
lives, their fortunes, and their honor.
Five signers were captured by the British as traitors and were tortured to death.
Twelve signers had their homes ransacked and burned.
Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army.
Another had two sons captured.
Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.
Who were they?
Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists.
Eleven were merchants.
Nine were farmers and large plantation owners, men of means, well educated, but they signed the Declaration of
Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.
Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He
sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.
Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the
Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his
reward.
Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and
Middleton.
At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr. noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over his home
for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died
bankrupt.
Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few
months.
John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his
gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead
and his children vanished.
We shouldn't take our liberty and freedom for granted.