"What Happened to the Signers of the Declaration of Independence?"

On July 4, 1776, delegates to the Continental Congress voted to accept the
Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia’s Independence Hall. On August 2,
fifty-six men signed their names to the historic document, giving birth to a new
nation as they declared their independence from Great Britain. 
Have you ever wondered what happened to the men who signed the
Declaration of Independence? Who were these "super-patriots"? 
Most were well-educated, prosperous businessmen and professionals. 
Two dozen were lawyers or judges; nine were farmers or plantation owners; 
eleven were merchants. Among them were also physicians, politicians, 
educators, and a minister; several were sons of pastors. 

Here is the documented fate of that gallant fifty-six. 

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 Nelson, Jr., of Virginia, raised $2 million to supply our French allies 
by offering his property as collateral. Because he was never reimbursed by 
the struggling new government, he was unable to repay the note when it came 
due – wiping out his entire estate. In the final battle of Yorktown, Nelson urged 
George Washington to fire on his home as it was occupied by British General 
Cornwallis. Nelson’s home was destroyed, leaving him bankrupt when he died. 

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 and enemy soldiers looted the properties of Bartlett, Ellery, Clymer, 
Hall, Gwinnet, Walton, Heward, Rutledge, and Middleton; the latter four 
captured and imprisoned. 

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife,
and she died within a few months. 

After signing the Declaration, Richard Stockton, a State Supreme Court Justice, 
rushed back to his estate near Princeton in an effort to save his wife and children. 
Although he and his family found refuge with friends, a Tory betrayed him. Judge 
Stockton was pulled from bed in the night and beaten by British soldiers. Then he 
was jailed and deliberately starved. After his release, with his home burned and 
all of his possessions destroyed, he and his family were forced to live on charity. 

John Hart was driven from his wife’s bedside as she was dying. Their thirteen 
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 

Lewis Morris and Philip Livingston suffered fates similar to Hart’s. 

John Hancock, one of the wealthiest men in New England, stood outside Boston 
one terrible evening of the war and said, "Burn, Boston, though it makes
John Hancock a beggar, if the public good requires it." He lost most of his 
fortune during the war, having given over $100,000 to the cause of freedom. 

Caesar Rodney, Delaware statesman, was gravely ill with facial cancer. Unless he 
returned to England for treatment, his life would end. Yet Rodney sealed his fate by 
signing the Declaration of Independence. He was one of several who fulfilled their 
pledge with their lives. 

In all, five of the fifty-six were captured by the British and tortured. Twelve had their 
homes ransacked, looted, confiscated by the enemy, or burned to the ground. 
Seventeen lost their fortunes. Two lost their sons in the army; another had two 
sons captured. Nine of the fifty-six lost their lives in the war, from wounds or 
hardships inflicted by the enemy. 

It is important to remember that despite the hardships, not a single one of them 
defected or failed to honor his pledge. They paid their price and freedom was born. 


Article from: Alliance For Life Ministries, Alliance4LifeMin.org
"What Happened to the Signers?"

Five signers were captured by the British and brutally tortured as traitors. Nine
fought in the War for Independence and died from wounds or from hardships 
they suffered. Two lost their sons in the Continental Army. Another two had sons
captured. At least a dozen Of the fifty-six had their homes pillaged and burned.

What kind of men were they? Twenty-five were lawyers or jurists. Eleven were 
merchants. Nine were farmers or large plantation owners. One was a teacher,
one a musician, and one a printer. These were men of means and education, 
yet they signed the Declaration of Independence, knowing full well that the 
penalty could be death if they were captured.

In the face of the advancing British Army, the Continental Congress fled from 
Philadelphia to Baltimore on December 12, 1776. It was an especially anxious 
time for John Hancock, the President, as his wife had just given birth to a baby
girl. Due to the complications stemming from the trip to Baltimore, the child 
lived only a few months.

William Ellery's signing at the risk of his fortune proved only too realistic. 
In December 1776, during three days of British occupation of Newport, 
Rhode Island, Ellery's house was burned, and all his property destroyed.

Richard Stockton, a New Jersey State Supreme Court Justice, had rushed 
back to his estate near Princeton after signing the Declaration of Independence 
to find that his wife and children were living like refugees with friends. 
They had been betrayed by a Tory sympathizer who also revealed Stockton's 
own whereabouts. British troops pulled him from his bed one night, beat him 
and threw him in jail where he almost starved to death. When he was finally 
released, he went home to find his estate had been looted, his possessions 
burned, and his horses stolen. Judge Stockton had been so badly treated in 
prison that his health was ruined and he died before the war's end. 
His surviving family had to live the remainder of their lives off charity.

Carter Braxton was a wealthy planter and trader. One by one his ships were 
captured by the British navy. He loaned a large sum of money to the American 
cause; it was never paid back. He was forced to sell his plantations and 
mortgage his other properties to pay his debts.

Thomas McKean was so hounded by the British that he had to move his family 
almost constantly. He served in the Continental Congress without pay, and kept 
his family in hiding.  Vandals or soldiers or both looted the properties of Clymer, 
Hall, Harrison, Hopkinson and Livingston. Seventeen lost everything they owned.

Thomas Heyward, Jr., Edward Rutledge and Arthur Middleton, all of South Carolina,
were captured by the British during the Charleston Campaign in 1780. They were 
kept in dungeons at the St. Augustine Prison until exchanged a year later.

At the Battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr. noted that the British General Cornwallis
had taken over the family home for his headquarters. Nelson urged General George 
Washington to open fire on his own home. This was done, and the home was destroyed.
Nelson later died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis also had his home and properties destroyed. The British jailed his wife 
for two months, and that and other hardships from the war so affected her health that 
she died only two years later.

"Honest John" Hart, a New Jersey farmer, was driven from his wife's bedside when 
she was near death. Their thirteen children fled for their lives. Hart's fields and his 
gristmill were laid waste. For over a year he eluded capture by hiding in nearby forests. 
He never knew where his bed would be the next night and often slept in caves.  
When he finally returned home, he found that his wife had died, his children disappeared, 
and his farm and stock were completely destroyed. Hart himself died in 1779 without 
ever seeing any of his family again.

Such were the stories and sacrifices typical of those who risked everything to sign the 
Declaration of Independence. These men 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 a firm reliance on the protection of the 
Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, 
and our sacred honor."