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From: <>
Subject: [RHEA-L] What happened to the men who signed the Declaration of Independence
Date: Fri, 3 Jul 1998 23:27:01 EDT

My mother asked me today, why do you keep on with the research on these people
who we never even knew, and why do they mean so much to you. I have thought
about this for along time, and now I know what it is . They had Strength,
Courage, and Love.
Pat

From: (Sandi Gorin)
To:

The Price They Paid

Have you ever wondered what happened to those 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 in the Revolutionary Army, another
had two sons captured. Nine of the fifty-six fought and died
from wounds or the hardship of the Revolutionary War.

What kind of men were they? Twenty-four were lawyers and
jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large
plantation owners, all 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.

They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and
their sacred honor.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, wealthy planter and trader, saw his
ships swept from the sea 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 Congress
without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions
were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers or both, looted the properties of Ellery,
Clymer, Hall, 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. The owner quietly urged General George
Washington to open fire, which was done. The home was destroyed,
and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy
jailed his wife, and soon after she died.

John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying.
Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his grist
mill were laid waste. For more than a year he lived in forests
and caves, returning home after the war to find his wife dead,
his children vanished. A few weeks later he died from exhaustion
and a broken heart.

Morris and Livingston suffered similar fates.

Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution.
These were not wild-eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. There 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 a firm reliance on
the protection of the Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to
each other, our lives, our fortune and our sacred honor."

They gave us an Independent America. Can we keep it?

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