Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men,who signed the Declaration of Independence? They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes,and their sacred honor. They signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.
5 signers were captured by the British, labeled traitors,and were tortured before they died.
Twelve signers had their homes ransacked and burned.
Two signers lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another signer had two sons captured.
Nine signers fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.
What kind of men were they…
24 were lawyers and jurists.
11 were merchants.
9 were farmers and plantation owners.
Many were ordained Ministers of the Gospel.
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 topay 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 hischildren vanished.
Some of us take these liberties so much for
granted, but we shouldn’t. Always remember that “Freedom is never Free!”
Steven H. McGarthwaite
Platoon Sergeant, U.S. Army, Retired
1968 -1995
Postscript: “Old Glory” flies every day over my home, in the “land of the Free”!
I also had the honor of serving with the 3rd Infantry Regiment(not to be confused with the 3rd Infantry Divison, which is a different orginzation) “Old Guard” the first infantry unit to be formed by the Continental Congress, first saw battle at Long Island NY, under General George Wasthington. General Washington, named his only Infantry Regiment, the 3rd Infantry, so the British might think there was a 1st and 2nd Infantry Regiment, somewhere in the area.
It still serves our country today (oldest military unit in the U.S. Military, as the Honor Guard at Arlington Military Cementary.
[This message has been edited by Steven H. McGarthwaite (edited 01 July 2005).]