Thank you for sharing that with us-truly sad but how beautiful! Frances
----- Original Message -----
From: 
To: 
Sent: Saturday, June 24, 2000 8:17 PM
Subject: RE: Signer's of Declaration of Independence


 I ran across the below info. researching a signer of the Declaration of
> Independence and found it quite interesting.
>
> Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the
Declaration
> of
> Independence?
>
> Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before
> they died.
>
> Twelve 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.
>
> They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred
> honor.  What kind of men 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 the Nelson 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. A few weeks later he
> died from exhaustion and a broken heart.  John Hart died in 1779, without
> ever seeing his family again. Norris and Livingston suffered similar
fates.
>
> Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution.  These
> were not wild-eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of
> means and
> education. They had security, but they valued liberty more.
>
> Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged: "For the support
> of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of the divine
> providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes,
> and our sacred honor."
>
> They gave you and me a free and independent America. The history books
> never told you a lot about what happened in the Revolutionary War.  We
didn't
> fight just the British. We were British subjects at that time and we
fought
> our own government!
>
>
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>


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