I stumbled across this piece of research by Garry Hildreth,
Erie, Pennsylvania
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 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
Ellery, 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."
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