Wow! They don't teach you that in History class! Thank you for this moving and insightful piece of information. tonya harris ----- Original Message ----- From: Jim Turner <jnturner@gte.net> To: <TXGALVES-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, July 04, 1999 12:22 PM Subject: [TXGALVES-L] 4th of July > 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. 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." > > Have a happy, safe, and thoughtful 4th of July. > > >