1.
John Trumbull
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John Trumbull was an American artist during the period of the American Revolutionary War and was notable for his historical paintings. His Declaration of Independence was used on the reverse of the two-dollar bill, Trumbull was born in Lebanon, Connecticut, in 1756, to Jonathan Trumbull and his wife Faith Trumbull. His father served as Governor of Connecticut from 1769 to 1784, both sides of his family were descended from early Puritan settlers in the state. The young Trumbull entered the 1771 junior class at Harvard College at age fifteen, due to a childhood accident, Trumbull lost use of one eye, which may have influenced his detailed painting style. As a soldier in the American Revolutionary War, Trumbull rendered a service at Boston by sketching plans of the British works. He witnessed the Battle of Bunker Hill and he was appointed second personal aide to General George Washington, and in June 1776, deputy adjutant-general to General Horatio Gates. He resigned from the army in 1777 after a dispute over the dating of his officer commission, in 1780 he traveled to London, where he studied under Benjamin West. At Wests suggestion, Trumbull painted small pictures of the War of Independence and he painted about 250 in his lifetime. On September 23,1780, British agent Major John André was captured by Continental troops in North America, after news reached Great Britain, outrage flared and Trumbull was arrested, as having been an officer in the Continental Army of similar rank to André. He was imprisoned for seven months in Londons Tothill Fields Bridewell, after being released, Trumbull returned to the United States. In 1784, following the British recognition of the United States independence, while working in his studio, Trumbull painted Battle of Bunker Hill and Death of General Montgomery in the Attack on Quebec. Both works are now in the Yale University Art Gallery, in 1785 Trumbull went to Paris, where he made portrait sketches of French officers for the Surrender of Lord Cornwallis. With the assistance of Thomas Jefferson, serving there as the US minister, while in Paris, Trumbull is credited with having introduced Jefferson to the Italian painter Maria Cosway, they became lifelong intimate friends. Trumbulls painting became widely known due to an engraving of it by Asher Brown Durand. All now hang in rotunda of the United States Capitol, congress reportedly authorized only funds sufficient to purchase these four paintings. Trumbulls The Sortie Made by the Garrison of Gibraltar,1789, in 1831 Trumbull sold a series of 28 paintings and 60 miniature portraits to Yale University for an annuity of $1,000. This is by far the largest single collection of his works, the collection was originally housed in a neoclassical art gallery designed by Trumbull on Yales Old Campus, along with portraits by other artists. His portraits include full lengths of General Washington and George Clinton, New York also bought his full-length paintings of Alexander Hamilton and John Jay
2.
United States Capitol
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The United States Capitol, often called the Capitol Building or Capitol Hill, is the home of the United States Congress, and the seat of the legislative branch of the U. S. federal government. It sits atop Capitol Hill at the end of the National Mall in Washington. Though not at the center of the Federal District, the Capitol forms the origin point for the Districts street-numbering system. The original building was completed in 1800 and was subsequently expanded, like the principal buildings of the executive and judicial branches, the Capitol is built in a distinctive neoclassical style and has a white exterior. Both its east and west elevations are referred to as fronts, though only the east front was intended for the reception of visitors. In 2014, scaffolding was erected around the dome for a project scheduled to be completed by early 2017. All exterior scaffolding was removed by the end of summer 2016, prior to establishing the nations capital in Washington, D. C. the United States Congress and its predecessors had met in Philadelphia, New York City, and a number of other locations. In September 1774, the First Continental Congress brought together delegates from the colonies in Philadelphia, followed by the Second Continental Congress, Congress requested that John Dickinson, the Governor of Pennsylvania, call up the militia to defend Congress from attacks by the protesters. In what became known as the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, Dickinson sympathized with the protesters and refused to remove them from Philadelphia. As a result, Congress was forced to flee to Princeton, New Jersey, on June 21,1783, and met in Annapolis, Maryland, the United States Congress was established upon ratification of the United States Constitution and formally began on March 4,1789. New York City remained home to Congress until July 1790, when the Residence Act was passed to pave the way for a permanent capital. As part of the legislation, Philadelphia was chosen as a capital for ten years, until the nations capital in Washington. Pierre Charles LEnfant was given the task of creating the city plan for the new capital city, in reviewing LEnfants plan, Thomas Jefferson insisted the legislative building be called the Capitol rather than Congress House. The word Capitol comes from Latin and is associated with the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on Capitoline Hill, the connection between the two is not, however, crystal clear. In spring 1792, United States Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson proposed a competition to solicit designs for the Capitol and the Presidents House. The prize for the competition was $500 and a lot in the Federal City, the most promising of the submissions was by Stephen Hallet, a trained French architect. However, Hallets designs were overly fancy, with too much French influence, a late entry by amateur architect William Thornton was submitted on January 31,1793, to much praise for its Grandeur, Simplicity, and Beauty by Washington, along with praise from Thomas Jefferson. Thornton was inspired by the east front of the Louvre, as well as the Paris Pantheon for the portion of the design
3.
Washington, D.C.
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Washington, D. C. formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D. C. is the capital of the United States. The signing of the Residence Act on July 16,1790, Constitution provided for a federal district under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Congress and the District is therefore not a part of any state. The states of Maryland and Virginia each donated land to form the federal district, named in honor of President George Washington, the City of Washington was founded in 1791 to serve as the new national capital. In 1846, Congress returned the land ceded by Virginia, in 1871. Washington had an population of 681,170 as of July 2016. Commuters from the surrounding Maryland and Virginia suburbs raise the population to more than one million during the workweek. The Washington metropolitan area, of which the District is a part, has a population of over 6 million, the centers of all three branches of the federal government of the United States are in the District, including the Congress, President, and Supreme Court. Washington is home to national monuments and museums, which are primarily situated on or around the National Mall. The city hosts 176 foreign embassies as well as the headquarters of international organizations, trade unions, non-profit organizations, lobbying groups. A locally elected mayor and a 13‑member council have governed the District since 1973, However, the Congress maintains supreme authority over the city and may overturn local laws. D. C. residents elect a non-voting, at-large congressional delegate to the House of Representatives, the District receives three electoral votes in presidential elections as permitted by the Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1961. Various tribes of the Algonquian-speaking Piscataway people inhabited the lands around the Potomac River when Europeans first visited the area in the early 17th century, One group known as the Nacotchtank maintained settlements around the Anacostia River within the present-day District of Columbia. Conflicts with European colonists and neighboring tribes forced the relocation of the Piscataway people, some of whom established a new settlement in 1699 near Point of Rocks, Maryland. 43, published January 23,1788, James Madison argued that the new government would need authority over a national capital to provide for its own maintenance. Five years earlier, a band of unpaid soldiers besieged Congress while its members were meeting in Philadelphia, known as the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, the event emphasized the need for the national government not to rely on any state for its own security. However, the Constitution does not specify a location for the capital, on July 9,1790, Congress passed the Residence Act, which approved the creation of a national capital on the Potomac River. The exact location was to be selected by President George Washington, formed from land donated by the states of Maryland and Virginia, the initial shape of the federal district was a square measuring 10 miles on each side, totaling 100 square miles. Two pre-existing settlements were included in the territory, the port of Georgetown, Maryland, founded in 1751, many of the stones are still standing
4.
Oil painting
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Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. Commonly used drying oils include linseed oil, poppy seed oil, walnut oil, the choice of oil imparts a range of properties to the oil paint, such as the amount of yellowing or drying time. Certain differences, depending on the oil, are visible in the sheen of the paints. An artist might use different oils in the same painting depending on specific pigments and effects desired. The paints themselves also develop a particular consistency depending on the medium, the oil may be boiled with a resin, such as pine resin or frankincense, to create a varnish prized for its body and gloss. Its practice may have migrated westward during the Middle Ages, Oil paint eventually became the principal medium used for creating artworks as its advantages became widely known. In recent years, water miscible oil paint has come to prominence and, to some extent, water-soluble paints contain an emulsifier that allows them to be thinned with water rather than paint thinner, and allows very fast drying times when compared with traditional oils. Traditional oil painting techniques often begin with the artist sketching the subject onto the canvas with charcoal or thinned paint, Oil paint is usually mixed with linseed oil, artist grade mineral spirits, or other solvents to make the paint thinner, faster or slower-drying. A basic rule of oil paint application is fat over lean and this means that each additional layer of paint should contain more oil than the layer below to allow proper drying. If each additional layer contains less oil, the painting will crack. This rule does not ensure permanence, it is the quality and type of oil leads to a strong. There are many media that can be used with the oil, including cold wax, resins. These aspects of the paint are closely related to the capacity of oil paint. Traditionally, paint was transferred to the surface using paintbrushes. Oil paint remains wet longer than other types of artists materials, enabling the artist to change the color. At times, the painter might even remove a layer of paint. This can be done with a rag and some turpentine for a time while the paint is wet, Oil paint dries by oxidation, not evaporation, and is usually dry to the touch within a span of two weeks. It is generally dry enough to be varnished in six months to a year, art conservators do not consider an oil painting completely dry until it is 60 to 80 years old
5.
United States Declaration of Independence
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Instead they formed a new nation—the United States of America. John Adams was a leader in pushing for independence, which was passed on July 2 with no opposing vote cast, a committee of five had already drafted the formal declaration, to be ready when Congress voted on independence. The term Declaration of Independence is not used in the document itself, John Adams persuaded the committee to select Thomas Jefferson to compose the original draft of the document, which Congress would edit to produce the final version. The next day, John Adams wrote to his wife Abigail, The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, but Independence Day is actually celebrated on July 4, the date that the Declaration of Independence was approved. After ratifying the text on July 4, Congress issued the Declaration of Independence in several forms and it was initially published as the printed Dunlap broadside that was widely distributed and read to the public. The source copy used for printing has been lost. Jeffersons original draft, complete with changes made by John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, the best known version of the Declaration, a signed copy that is popularly regarded as the official document, is displayed at the National Archives in Washington, D. C. This engrossed copy was ordered by Congress on July 19, the sources and interpretation of the Declaration have been the subject of much scholarly inquiry. Having served its purpose in announcing independence, references to the text of the Declaration were few in the following years. Abraham Lincoln made it the centerpiece of his rhetoric, and his policies and this has been called one of the best-known sentences in the English language, containing the most potent and consequential words in American history. The passage came to represent a standard to which the United States should strive. Believe me, dear Sir, there is not in the British empire a man who more cordially loves a union with Great Britain than I do. But, by the God that made me, I will cease to exist before I yield to a connection on such terms as the British Parliament propose, and in this, I think I speak the sentiments of America. By the time that the Declaration of Independence was adopted in July 1776, relations had been deteriorating between the colonies and the mother country since 1763. Parliament enacted a series of measures to increase revenue from the colonies, such as the Stamp Act of 1765, Parliament believed that these acts were a legitimate means of having the colonies pay their fair share of the costs to keep them in the British Empire. Many colonists, however, had developed a different conception of the empire, the colonies were not directly represented in Parliament, and colonists argued that Parliament had no right to levy taxes upon them. This tax dispute was part of a divergence between British and American interpretations of the British Constitution and the extent of Parliaments authority in the colonies. In the colonies, however, the idea had developed that the British Constitution recognized certain fundamental rights that no government could violate, after the Townshend Acts, some essayists even began to question whether Parliament had any legitimate jurisdiction in the colonies at all
6.
Second Continental Congress
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The Second Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that started meeting in the spring of 1775, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It succeeded the First Continental Congress, which met between September 5,1774 and October 26,1774, also in Philadelphia, the second Congress managed the colonial war effort, and moved incrementally towards independence, adopting the United States Declaration of Independence on July 4,1776. When the Second Continental Congress came together on May 10,1775 it was, in effect, many of the same 56 delegates who attended the first meeting were in attendance at the second, and the delegates appointed the same president and secretary. Notable new arrivals included Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania and John Hancock of Massachusetts, within two weeks, Randolph was summoned back to Virginia to preside over the House of Burgesses, he was replaced in the Virginia delegation by Thomas Jefferson, who arrived several weeks later. Henry Middleton was elected as president to replace Randolph, but he declined, Hancock was elected president on May 24. Delegates from twelve of the Thirteen Colonies were present when the Second Continental Congress convened, Georgia had not participated in the First Continental Congress and did not initially send delegates to the Second Continental Congress. On May 13,1775, Lyman Hall was admitted as a delegate from the Parish of St. Johns in the Colony of Georgia, not as a delegate from the colony itself. The Second Continental Congress would meet on May 10,1775, by the time the Second Continental Congress met, the American Revolutionary War had already started with the Battles of Lexington and Concord. The Congress was to charge of the war effort. For the first few months of the struggle, the Patriots had carried on their struggle in an ad-hoc and they had seized arsenals, driven out royal officials, and besieged the British army in the city of Boston. On July 6,1775 Congress approved a Declaration of Causes outlining the rationale, on July 8, Congress extended the Olive Branch Petition to the British Crown as a final attempt at reconciliation. However, it was received too late to do any good, silas Deane was sent to France as a minister of the Congress. American ports were reopened in defiance of the British Navigation Acts, the Congress had no authority to levy taxes, and was required to request money, supplies, and troops from the states to support the war effort. Individual states frequently ignored these requests, Congress was moving towards declaring independence from the British Empire in 1776, but many delegates lacked the authority from their home governments to take such a drastic action. Advocates of independence in Congress moved to have reluctant colonial governments revise instructions to their delegations, on May 10,1776, Congress passed a resolution recommending that any colony lacking a proper government should form such. The resolution of independence was delayed for weeks as revolutionaries consolidated support for independence in their home governments. The records of the Continental Congress confirm that the need for a declaration of independence was intimately linked with the demands of international relations, on June 7,1776, Richard Henry Lee offered a resolution before the Continental Congress declaring the colonies independent. He also urged Congress to resolve to take the most effectual measures for forming foreign Alliances, Lee argued that independence was the only way to ensure a foreign alliance, since no European monarchs would deal with America if they remained Britains colonies
7.
Yale University Art Gallery
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The Yale University Art Gallery houses a significant and encyclopedic collection of art in several buildings on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Although it embraces all cultures and periods, the gallery emphasizes early Italian painting, African sculpture, the Yale University Art Gallery is the oldest university art museum in the western hemisphere. The gallery was founded in 1832, when patriot-artist, John Trumbull, donated more than 100 paintings of the American Revolution to Yale College and this building, on the universitys Old Campus, was razed in 1901. The gallerys main building was built in 1953, and was among the first designed by Louis Kahn, a complete renovation, which returned many spaces to Kahns original vision, was completed in December 2006, by Polshek Partnership Architects. The older Tuscan romanesque portion was built in 1928, and was designed by Egerton Swartwout, the Gallery reopened on December 12,2012, after a 14-year renovation and expansion project at a cost of $135 million. The expanded space totals 69,975 sq ft, the museum is a member of the North American Reciprocal Museums program. On the second floor was a valuable collection of paintings by John Trumbull. Among them were his paintings of the Battle of Bunker Hill, Death of Montgomery before Quebec, Surrender of Lord Cornwallis, Declaration of Independence. Trumbull gave the paintings to Yale in consideration of an annuity of $1,000 and subject to the condition that he, the Gallery’s encyclopedic collections number more than 185,000 objects ranging in date from ancient times to the present day. The permanent collection includes, African Art, over 1000 objects in wood, metal, ivory, American Decorative Arts, about 18,000 objects in silver, glass, wood, porcelain, and textile with an emphasis on the colonial and early federal periods. Ancient Art, over 13,000 objects from the Near East, Egypt, Greece, Etruria, Art of the Ancient Americas, Mayan and Olmec figurines, vessels and sculptures. Prints, Drawings, and Photographs In 2005, the announced that it had acquired 1,465 gelatin silver prints by the influential American landscape photographer. In 2009, the museum mounted an exhibition of its collection of Picasso paintings and drawings. For the first time, portions of the Yale University Librarys, as an affiliate of Yale University, the gallery maintains a robust roster of education programs for university students, New Haven schools, and the general public. One such program is the Gallery Guide program, founded in 1998, the Yale Art Gallery charges no admission
8.
Independence Hall
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Independence Hall is the building where both the United States Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were debated and adopted. It is now the centerpiece of the Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the building was completed in 1753 as the colonial legislature for the Province of Pennsylvania. It became the meeting place of the Second Continental Congress from 1775 to 1783 and was the site of the Constitutional Convention in the summer of 1787. The building is part of Independence National Historical Park and is listed as a World Heritage Site, by the spring of 1729 the citizens of Philadelphia were petitioning to be allowed to build a state house. Two thousand pounds were committed to the endeavor, by October 1730 they had begun purchasing lots on Chestnut Street. By 1732, even though Hamilton had acquired the deed for Lot no.2 from surveyor David Powell, dr. John Kearsley and Hamilton disagreed on a number of issues concerning the state house. Kearsley, who is credited with the designs of both Christ Church and St. Peters Church, had plans for the structure of the building, the two men also disagreed on the buildings site, Kearsley suggested High Street, now Market Street, and Hamilton favored Chestnut Street. Lawrence said nothing on the matter, matters reached a point where arbitration was needed. On August 8,1733, Hamilton brought the matter before the House of Representatives and he explained that Kearsley did not approve of Hamilton’s plans for the location and architecture of the state house and went on to insist the House had not agreed to these decisions. In response to this, Hamilton, on August 11, showed his plans for the house to the House. Ground was broken for construction soon after, Independence Hall is a red brick building designed in the Georgian style. It consists of a building with belltower and steeple, attached to two smaller wings via arcaded hyphens. The highest point to the tip of the spire is 168 ft. The State House was built between 1732 and 1751, designed by Edmund Woolley and Andrew Hamilton, and built by Woolley and its construction was commissioned by the Pennsylvania colonial legislature which paid for construction as funds were available, so it was finished piecemeal. It was initially inhabited by the government of Pennsylvania as its State House. In 1753 Thomas Stretch erected a giant clock at the buildings west end that resembled a tall clock, the 40-foot-tall limestone base was capped with a 14-foot wooden case surrounding the clocks face, which was carved by Samuel Harding. The giant clock was removed about 1830, the clock’s dials were mounted at the east and west ends of the main building connected by rods to the clock movement in the middle of the building. The acquisition of the clock and bell by the Pennsylvania Colonial Assembly is closely related to the acquisition of the Liberty Bell
9.
Committee of Five
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The Committee of Five of the Second Continental Congress were a team of five men who drafted and presented to the Congress what would become Americas Declaration of Independence of July 4,1776. This Declaration committee operated from June 11,1776 until July 5,1776, the proposal was moved in Congress on June 7 by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia, known as the Lee Resolution. The actual declaration of American Independence is precisely the text comprising the final paragraph of the broadside of July 4. The broadsides final paragraph repeated the text of the Lee Resolution as adopted by the declaratory resolve voted on July 2, certainly the committee, after discussing the general outline that the document should follow, decided that Jefferson would write the first draft. With Congresss busy schedule, Jefferson had limited time to write the draft over the ensuing 17 days and he then consulted with the others on the committee, who reviewed the draft and made extensive changes. Jefferson then produced another copy incorporating these alterations, among the changes was the simplification of the phrase Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness, which Jefferson had phrased preservation of life, & liberty, & the pursuit of happiness. This was a return to wording closer to John Lockes original description of private property as a right, in the phrase life, liberty. On June 28,1776, the committee presented this copy to the Committee of the Whole Congress, the title of the document was A Declaration by the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress assembled. Although not officially noted, the time was 18,26 LMT for the recording of this historic vote. The Congress then heard the report of the Committee of the Whole and declared the status of the United Colonies the following day. The Committee of the Whole then turned to the Declaration, on Wednesday, July 3, the Committee of the Whole gave the Declaration a third reading and commenced scrutiny of the precise wording of the proposed text. Two passages in the Committee of Fives draft were rejected by the Committee of the Whole, one was a critical reference to the English people and the other was a denunciation of the slave trade and of slavery itself. The text of the Declaration was otherwise accepted without any major changes. However, the formal adoption was deferred until the following morning. And so the Committee of Five convened in the evening of July 4 to complete its task. Historians have had no means by which to determine the identity of the authenticating party. Upon the July 5 release of the Dunlap broadside, the public could read who had signed the Declaration, just one signature as attested by Secretary Charles Thomson. Memories of the proved to be very short on this particular historic moment
10.
John Dickinson
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When these failed, he reworked Thomas Jeffersons language and wrote the final draft of the 1775 Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms. Dickinson later served as President of the 1786 Annapolis Convention, which called for the Constitutional Convention of 1787, John Dickinson High School was opened/dedicated in 1963 as part of the public schools in northern Delaware. Dickinson was born at Croisadore, his familys plantation near the village of Trappe in Talbot County. There, with 400 acres on the banks of the Choptank River, Walter began a plantation, Croisadore, Walter also bought 800 acres on St. Jones Neck in what became Kent County, Delaware. Croisadore passed through Walters son, William, to his grandson, Samuel, each generation increased the landholdings, so that Samuel inherited 2,500 acres on five farms in three Maryland counties and over his lifetime increased that to 9,000 acres. He also bought the Kent County property from his cousin and expanded it to about 3,000 acres, there he began another plantation and called it Poplar Hall. These plantations were large, profitable agricultural enterprises worked by slave labor, Samuel Dickinson first married Judith Troth on April 11,1710. They had nine children, William, Walter, Samuel, Elizabeth, Henry, Elizabeth Betsy, Rebecca, the three eldest sons died of smallpox while in London seeking their education. Widowed, with two children, Henry and Betsy, Samuel married Mary Cadwalader in 1731. She was the daughter of Martha Jones and the prominent Quaker John Cadwalader who was grandfather of General John Cadwalader of Philadelphia. Their sons, John, Thomas, and Philemon were born in the few years. For three generations the Dickinson family had been members of the Third Haven Friends Meeting in Talbot County, but in 1739, John Dickinsons half-sister, Betsy, was married in an Anglican church to Charles Goldsborough in what was called a disorderly marriage by the Meeting. The couple would be the grandparents of Maryland governor Charles Goldsborough, leaving Croisadore to elder son Henry Dickinson, Samuel moved to Poplar Hall, where he had already taken a leading role in the community as Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Kent County. The move also placed Mary nearer her Philadelphia relations, Poplar Hall was situated on a now-straightened bend of the St. Jones River. There was plenty of activity delivering the necessities, and shipping the products produced. Much of this product was wheat that along with wheat from the region, was milled into a superfine flour. Most people at this plantation were servants and slaves of the Dickinsons, Dickinson was educated at home, by his parents and by recent immigrants employed for that purpose. Among them was the Presbyterian minister Francis Alison, who later established New London Academy in Chester County, most important was his tutor, William Killen, who became a lifelong friend and who later became Delaware’s first Chief Justice and Chancellor
11.
Thomas Jefferson
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Thomas Jefferson was an American Founding Father who was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence and later served as the third President of the United States from 1801 to 1809. Previously, he was elected the second Vice President of the United States, Jefferson was primarily of English ancestry, born and educated in colonial Virginia. He graduated from the College of William & Mary and briefly practiced law and he became the United States Minister to France in May 1785, and subsequently the nations first Secretary of State in 1790–1793 under President George Washington. Jefferson and James Madison organized the Democratic-Republican Party to oppose the Federalist Party during the formation of the First Party System, as President, Jefferson pursued the nations shipping and trade interests against Barbary pirates and aggressive British trade policies. He also organized the Louisiana Purchase, almost doubling the countrys territory, as a result of peace negotiations with France, his administration reduced military forces. Jeffersons second term was beset with difficulties at home, including the trial of former Vice President Aaron Burr, American foreign trade was diminished when Jefferson implemented the Embargo Act of 1807, responding to British threats to U. S. shipping. In 1803, Jefferson began a process of Indian tribe removal to the newly organized Louisiana Territory. Jefferson mastered many disciplines, which ranged from surveying and mathematics to horticulture and he was a proven architect in the classical tradition. Jeffersons keen interest in religion and philosophy earned him the presidency of the American Philosophical Society and he shunned organized religion, but was influenced by both Christianity and deism. He was well versed in linguistics and spoke several languages and he founded the University of Virginia after retiring from public office. He was a letter writer and corresponded with many prominent and important people throughout his adult life. His only full-length book is Notes on the State of Virginia, Jefferson owned several plantations which were worked by hundreds of slaves. Most historians now believe that, after the death of his wife in 1782, he had a relationship with his slave Sally Hemings and fathered at least one of her children. Various modern scholars are more critical of Jeffersons private life, pointing out the discrepancy between his ownership of slaves and his political principles, for example. Presidential scholars, however, consistently rank Jefferson among the greatest presidents, Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13,1743, at the family home in Shadwell in the Colony of Virginia, the third of ten children. He was of English and possibly Welsh descent and was born a British subject and his father Peter Jefferson was a planter and surveyor who died when Jefferson was fourteen, his mother was Jane Randolph. Peter Jefferson moved his family to Tuckahoe Plantation in 1745 upon the death of a friend who had named him guardian of his children, the Jeffersons returned to Shadwell in 1752, where Peter died in 1757, his estate was divided between his sons Thomas and Randolph. Thomas inherited approximately 5,000 acres of land, including Monticello and he assumed full authority over his property at age 21
12.
John Adams
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John Adams was an American patriot who served as the second President of the United States and the first Vice President. He was a lawyer, diplomat, statesman, political theorist, and, as a Founding Father and he was also a dedicated diarist and correspondent, particularly with his wife and closest advisor Abigail. He collaborated with his cousin, revolutionary leader Samuel Adams, Adams was a delegate from Massachusetts to the Continental Congress, where he played a leading role in persuading Congress to declare independence. He assisted Thomas Jefferson in drafting the Declaration of Independence in 1776, as a diplomat in Europe, he helped negotiate the eventual peace treaty with Great Britain, and acquired vital governmental loans from Amsterdam bankers. Adams was the author of the Massachusetts Constitution in 1780 which influenced American political theory. Adamss credentials as a revolutionary secured for him two terms as President George Washingtons vice president and also his own election in 1796 as the second president. In his single term as president, he encountered fierce criticism from the Jeffersonian Republicans, as well as the dominant faction in his own Federalist Party, led by his rival Alexander Hamilton. Adams signed the controversial Alien and Sedition Acts, and built up the army, the major accomplishment of his presidency was a peaceful resolution of the conflict in the face of Hamiltons opposition. Due to his strong posture on defense, Adams is often called the father of the American Navy and he was the first U. S. president to reside in the executive mansion, now known as the White House. In 1800, Adams lost re-election to Thomas Jefferson and retired to Massachusetts and he eventually resumed his friendship with Jefferson upon the latters own retirement by initiating a correspondence which lasted fourteen years. He and his wife established a family of politicians, diplomats, Adams was the father of John Quincy Adams, the sixth President of the United States. He died on the anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Modern historians in the aggregate have favorably ranked his administration, John Adams was born on October 30,1735 to John Adams Sr. and Susanna Boylston. He had two brothers, Peter and Elihu. Adams birthplace was then in Braintree, Massachusetts, and is preserved at Adams National Historical Park, Adams mother was from a leading medical family of present-day Brookline, Massachusetts. His father was a Congregationalist deacon, a farmer, a cordwainer, the Deacon also served as a selectman and supervised the building of schools and roads. Adams often praised his father and recalled their close relationship, though raised in modest surroundings, Adams felt an acute responsibility to live up to his familys heritage of reverence. Journalist Richard Brookhiser wrote that Adams Puritan ancestors believed they lived in the Bible, England under the Stuarts was Egypt, they were Israel fleeing
13.
United States two-dollar bill
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The United States two-dollar bill is a current denomination of U. S. currency. The third U. S. President, Thomas Jefferson, is featured on the obverse of the note, the reverse features the painting The Declaration of Independence by John Trumbull. Throughout the $2 bills pre-1929 life as a note, it was issued as a United States Note, National Bank Note, silver certificate. When U. S. currency was changed to its current size, production went on until 1966, when the series was discontinued. Ten years went by before the $2 bill was reissued as a Federal Reserve Note with a new reverse design, $2 bills are seldom seen in circulation as a result of banking policies with businesses which has resulted in low production numbers due to lack of demand. The denomination of two dollars was authorized under an act, and first used in March 1862. The denomination was continuously used until the 1960s, by time the United States Note was the only remaining class of U. S. currency the two dollar bill was assigned to. In 1966 it was decided to discontinue all two dollar United States Notes from production and it has remained a current denomination since then. However, due to its use, two-dollar bills are not frequently reissued in a new series like other denominations which are printed according to demand. Though some cash registers accommodate it, its slot is used for things like checks. Some bill acceptors found in vending machines, self checkout lanes, although they usually are not handed out arbitrarily, two-dollar bills are usually available at banks. Many banks stocking $2 bills will not use them except upon specific request by the customer, the seeming rarity of a $2 bill can be attributed to its low printing numbers as a Federal Reserve Note. Hoarding of the due to lack of public knowledge of the $2 bill has resulted in very few bills seen in circulation. After its initial release, supplies of the Series 1976 $2 bill were allowed to dwindle until August 1996 when a new series dated 1995 began to be printed and this series was only printed for the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Today, there is a misconception by the general public that the $2 bill is no longer in production. According to the Treasury, it receives many letters asking why the $2 bill is no longer in circulation, in response, the Treasury stated, The $2 bill remains one of our circulating currency denominations. As of April 30,2007 there were $1,549,052,714 worth of $2 bills in circulation worldwide. Another popular misconception is that the average $2 bill is more than its face value
14.
George Wythe
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George Wythe was the first American law professor, a noted classics scholar and Virginia judge, as well as a prominent opponent of slavery. Wythe taught and was a mentor to Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall, Henry Clay, Wythe was born in 1726 at Chesterville, the plantation operated by three generations of the Wythe family in what was then Elizabeth City County but is now Hampton, Virginia. His mother, Margaret Walker of Kecoughtan, a learned woman probably raised as a Quaker, in his later years, Wythe became known for his outdated Quaker dress, as well as his gentle manner, which could cause even a surly dog to unbend and wag his tail. After the early death of his father, Wythe probably attended grammar school in Williamsburg before beginning training in the office of his uncle, Stephen Dewey. Wythe was admitted to the bar in Elizabeth City County in 1746 and he then moved to Spotsylvania County to begin legal practice in several Piedmont counties. He soon married the daughter of his mentor, Zachary Lewis, however, Ann Wythe died on August 10,1748, about eight months after their Christmas season marriage. The childless and bereaved widower soon returned to Williamsburg, there, Wythe made law and scholarship his life, as he began what would become a distinguished career in public service. His motto was Secundis dubiisque rectus, translated as Upright in prosperity, Wythe also continued to practice law before those committees and the General Court in Williamsburg, as was permitted at the time. In 1750, Wythe was first elected as one of Williamsburgs aldermen, Wythe resigned when Randolph returned from his unsuccessful mission. Lieutenant governor Robert Dinwiddie returned to England less than three years after Peyton Randolphs return, meanwhile, Wythe began his legislative career, while still maintaining a private law practice. In the session of August 22,1754, Wythe replaced the deceased Armistead Burwell as the burgess representing Williamsburg, in 1755, Wythes elder brother, Thomas, died, childless. Wythe inherited the familys Chesterville plantation, and was appointed to his brothers place on the Elizabeth City County court. However, Wythe probably continued to live in Williamsburg, for his work continued. Wythe served as Williamsburgs delegate through the sessions of 1754 and 1755, in 1759, The College of William and Mary elected Wythe as its burgess to replace Peyton Randolph, and reelected Wythe in 1760 and 1761. For the Assemblies of 1761,1765 and 1767, Wythe was one of the two burgesses representing Elizabeth City County, meanwhile, Wythe maintained close friendships with successive Governors, Francis Fauquier and Norborne Berkeley, 4th Baron Botetourt. Wythe also earned a reputation for integrity, which years later led Rev. Lee Massey to call Wythe the only honest lawyer I ever knew. Fauquier, Wythe and college professor William Small often socialized together—conversing about philosophy, natural history, languages, history, in 1762, Small suggested Wythe supervise the legal training of a star student, Thomas Jefferson, which had profound impact that went beyond their lives. When John Robinson, the speaker of the House of Burgesses, died, his estate was nearly insolvent
15.
William Whipple
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(January 25,1731 NS was a signatory of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of New Hampshire. Whipple was a member of the Continental congress from 1776 through 1779, before becoming a politician, Whipple worked as both a ships captain and a merchant. He studied in college to become a judge, Whipple died of heart complications in 1785, aged 55. He became a Ships Master at the age of 21 and he married his first cousin Catherine Moffat in 1767. Whipple and his wife moved into the now historic Moffatt-Ladd House on Market Street in Portsmouth in 1769 and they had a son, William Whipple III, who died in infancy. Whipple was an member of the Freemasons. Whipple was a member of the St. Johns Masonic Lodge while he was an active mason and he was one of nine signatories of the Declaration of Independence who were masons. Whipple earned his fortune participating in the Triangle trade of the West Indies, Whipple became an established and affluent captain, with cargo such as wood, rum, and on at least one occasion, slaves. His trading activities may have been confined to the West Indies. In 1759 he landed in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and in partnership with his brother established himself as a merchant. Whipple, a trusted and well respected member of society, was elected to the New Hampshire Provincial Congress before being selected as a representative of New Hampshire in the Continental Congress, there, Whipple was a signatory of the Declaration of Independence. Whipple was appointed New Hampshire tax collector in 1782 by the Superintendent of Finance Robert Morris, in 1775, New Hampshire dissolved the British Royal government and organized a House of Representatives and an Executive Council known collectively as a Provincial Congress. In 1775, Whipple was elected to represent his Portsmouth, New Hampshire at the Provincial Congress that met in Exeter, Whipple became a Council member, and a member of the Committee of Safety. Whipple was elected to the Continental Congress, serving through 1779, Whipple signed the Declaration of Independence while representing New Hampshire at the Continental Congress. Whipple was also the cousin of fellow signatory, Stephen Hopkins. Whipple took his duty seriously, and was known around New Hampshire for his dependability. In January 1776, Whipple wrote to fellow signatory Josiah Bartlett of the convention, “This year. Whipple was known for his beliefs that all men were created equal and this, I suppose will lay a foundation for the emancipation of those wretches in that country
16.
Josiah Bartlett
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Josiah Bartlett was an American physician and statesman, delegate to the Continental Congress for New Hampshire, and signatory of the Declaration of Independence. He was later Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Superior Court of Judicature, Josiah Bartlett was born in Amesbury, in the Province of Massachusetts Bay, to Stephen and Hannah-Mary Bartlett. His father Stephen was the son of Richard and Hannah Bartlett and he was their fifth child and fourth son. By age 17, he had learned some of both Latin and Greek and he also began the study of medicine, working in the office of Dr. Ordway of Amesbury at the same time. Before Bartlett turned 21, in 1750, he moved to Kingston, New Hampshire, in Rockingham County, Kingston at that time was a frontier settlement of only a few hundred families, and Bartlett was the only doctor in that part of the county at the time. He purchased land and a farm, on January 15,1754, he married Mary Bartlett of Newton, New Hampshire. She was his cousin, the daughter of his uncle, Joseph and they would remain married until her death on July 14,1789. Josiah and Mary had three sons and seven daughters, Mary, Lois, Miriam, Rhoda, Hannah, Levi, Josiah, Ezra, Sarah, all three of his sons and seven of his grandsons would follow him as physicians. Bartlett became active in the affairs of Kingston, and in 1765 he was elected to the colonial assembly. In 1767 he became the colonel of his countys militia and Governor John Wentworth appointed him justice of the peace, as the Revolution neared, his Whig policies brought him into opposition with the Royal Governor, John Wentworth. In 1774, Bartlett joined the Assemblys Committee of Correspondence and began his work with the leaders of the other 12 colonies. Later that year, when Wentworth dismissed, or prorogued, the Assembly, Josiah was elected to its revolutionary successor and he also suffered the loss of his home by fire, alleged to have been set by opposition Tories. He moved his family out to the farmhouse and began rebuilding immediately, when the assembly appointed Bartlett and John Pickering as delegates to the Continental Congss, he declined because he wished to attend to his family, but remained active in New Hampshires affairs. In one of Governor Wentworths last acts before being expelled from New Hampshire in 1775, he revoked Bartletts commissions as Justice, Militia Colonel, Bartlett was selected as a delegate again in 1775, and attended that session as well as the meetings in 1776. Indeed, for a time in late 1775 and early 1776, much of the work of the Congress was carried out in Committees. The most important of these had a delegate from each state, which meant that Bartlett served on all of them, including those of Safety, Secrecy, Munitions, Marine, and Civil Government. Eventually, after his continued letters home to the Assembly and Committee of Safety in New Hampshire, William Whipple and he eventually became one of the delegates to sign the Declaration of Independence. In 1777, he declined a return to the congress, citing fatigue due to earlier efforts, but when trouble threatened, he used his medical skills and accompanied John Starks forces to the Battle of Bennington in August
17.
Thomas Lynch Jr.
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Thomas Lynch Jr. was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of South Carolina, his father was unable to sign the Declaration of Independence because of illness. He was born in Hopseewee Plantation in Prince George Parish, Winyah, in what is now Georgetown, South Carolina, before Thomas Lynch Jr. was born, his parents had two daughters named Sabina and Esther who were born in 1747 and 1748. After his mother’s death in 1755, his father remarried Hannah Motte, in this marriage, they gave birth to a daughter named Elizabeth in 1755. Lynch Jr. s family originally emigrated from Austria to Kent, from there, they moved to Ireland and continued to South Carolina. His father was a prominent figure in South Carolina politics which contributed to access of opportunity in high education and wealth. He was schooled at the Indigo Society School in Georgetown before his parents sent him to England and he studied law and political philosophy at the Middle Temple in London. His father admired his English education and encouraged him to remain in Great Britain to study law, after eight years away from the America, he returned to South Carolina in 1772. Although it was his fathers dream, Thomas Lynch Jr. decided to end his pursuit of a profession in law, high school sweethearts, Lynch Jr. and Elizabeth Shubrick were married on May 14,1772. Following their marriage, the couple lived at Peach Tree Plantation which was located in proximity to his homeland plantation. Lynch Jr. enjoyed cultivating the land and remained active in political dialogue in his community, after his fathers death due to a stroke, his widowed mother married another influential political figure, South Carolina Governor William Moultrie. Thomas sister Elizabeth Lynch married James Hamilton, one of their sons was James Hamilton Jr. who became governor in the state in 1830 and he was elected a member of the Provincial Congress on February 11,1775. This committee was formed to prepare a plan of government and represent the people of South Carolina, Lynch Jr. in the Provincial Congress. This group formed the South Carolina constitution, many people objected to this document including The Continental Congress. It stood as a constitution as many believed there would be reconciliation with Great Britain. Lynch became a commander in the First South Carolina regiment on June 12,1775. He was commissioned by the Provincial Congress, after being appointed, he gathered men and led a march into Charlestown, South Carolina. Amid the march, he became sick with a bilious fever which prevented him from continuing. When he recovered, he was unable to fulfill his position in a proper way, during his recovery, he received news about his fathers declining health
18.
Benjamin Harrison V
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Benjamin Harrison V, from Charles City County, Virginia, was an American politician, planter, and merchant, a revolutionary leader and a Founding Father of the United States. He received his education at the College of William and Mary. Harrison was a representative to the Virginia House of Burgesses for Surry County, Virginia and he was a Virginia delegate to the Continental Congress from 1774 to 1777 and, during the Second Continental Congress, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Harrison later served as Virginias fifth governor and his direct descendants include two U. S. Presidents, his son William Henry Harrison and great-grandson Benjamin Harrison. Harrison was the eldest child of Benjamin Harrison IV and Anne Carter, the first Benjamin Harrison is said to have arrived in the colonies around 1630. British historian F. A. Inderwick contends that Benjamin IV is also descended from Thomas Harrison, a participant in the regicide of Charles I, but this is disputed. Benjamin IV and Anne built the house at Berkeley Plantation in Virginia and he served as a Justice of the Peace. Benjamin V, one of ten children, was described in his youth as tall and powerfully built, with features that were defined. His next younger brother, Carter Henry, became a leader in Cumberland County, brother Nathaniel settled in Prince George County, became sheriff, and was later elected to the House of Burgesses. Another brother, Henry, fought in the French and Indian War, the youngest brother Charles joined the Continental Army and rose to the rank of brigadier general. It is known that in the division of slaves among his children, the Harrisons also assumed a sense of duty to indoctrinate their slaves in Christianity. In this light, Benjamin IVs decision to ignore primogeniture subjected his younger children, there are no known specific instances of abuse by the Harrisons of their slaves, beyond the opprobrious conduct inherent in their claim to ownership of them. Benjamin V followed his father in representing the counties of Charles City and Surry in the House of Burgesses, in 1770 Benjamin was among the first signers of an agreement among Virginia lawmakers and merchants boycotting British imports until the British Parliament repealed its taxes on tea. Harrison also joined in sponsoring a bill that declared certain laws passed by Parliament affecting Virginia to be illegal without the consent of His Majestys subjects in the colony. Late in 1773 the famous Boston Tea Party occurred and the British Parliament enacted punitive measures which were called by the colonies Intolerable Acts, on August 5,1774 Harrison was selected by convention as one of seven delegates to represent Virginia at the Congress. He set out that month, leaving his state for the first time. Harrison gravitated to the older and more conservative of his fellow delegates in Philadelphia, and was distant with the New Englanders. Their dislike for one another was primarily due to differences in lifestyle, Party factionalism also accounted for the divide, Harrison aligned with John Hancock, and Adams with Richard Henry Lee, whom Harrison had adamantly opposed in the House of Burgesses
19.
Richard Henry Lee
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Richard Henry Lee was an American statesman from Virginia best known for the motion in the Second Continental Congress calling for the colonies independence from Great Britain. He was a signatory to the Articles of Confederation, and his resolution for independency of June 1776 led to the United States Declaration of Independence and he was a member of the Lee family, a historically influential family in Virginia politics. He was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia to Col. Thomas Lee and he was raised and came from a line of military officers, diplomats, and legislators. His father, Thomas Lee, was the governor of Virginia before his death in 1750, Lee spent most of his early life in Stratford, Virginia with his family at Stratford Hall. In 1748, at 16, Lee left Virginia for Yorkshire, England, to complete his education at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School. Both of his parents died in 1750 and, in 1753, after touring Europe, in 1757, Lee was appointed justice of the peace in Westmoreland County. In 1758 he was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses, an early advocate of independence, Lee became one of the first to create Committees of Correspondence among the many independence-minded Americans in the various colonies. This resolution was signed by four brothers of George Washington as well as Gilbert Campbell, in August 1774, Lee was chosen as a delegate to the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia. Lee had returned to Virginia by the time Congress voted on and adopted the Declaration of Independence, Lee was elected the sixth President of Congress under the Articles of Confederation on November 30,1784, in the French Arms Tavern, Trenton, New Jersey. On January 11,1785, Congress convened in the old New York City Hall, although, he was not paid a salary for his office as president, his household expenses were paid by Congress in the amount of $12,203.13. Lees Congress was most active in 1785, passing numerous legislation and his most pressing issue, however, was to settle the states territorial disputes over the Northwest Territory. Throughout his term, Lee remained steadfast that the release of states’ territorial claims on the Northwest Territory would enable the government to fund itself with land sales. He believed that the urgency of this measure was paramount because borrowing more foreign money was no longer prudent, the sale of these vast federal lands, he concluded, was the nations only hope to pay off the war debt and adequately fund federal government. On May 3,1785, William Grayson of Virginia made a motion seconded by James Monroe to change “seven miles square” to “six miles square”, and the current US Survey system was born. The states relinquished their right to this test tract of land, and this either required troops to eject the Native Americans or capital to purchase their land fairly, insuring the peaceful sale and settlement. With the states no longer in control of the lands and no federal magistrates or troops to enforce the laws, Lees plan to fill the federal treasury with the proceeds of land sales failed, but the survey system developed under the Land Ordinance of 1785 is still used today. Anne died December 12,1768 at Chantille, Westmoreland Co, the couple had six children, four of whom survived infancy, Elizabeth Virginia Lee, who died in infancy. Thomas Lee, resided at Park Gate from 1790 to 1805, Col. Ludwell Lee, Esq. who married Flora Lee, daughter of Hon. Philip Ludwell Lee, Sr. Esq. and Elizabeth Steptoe, who married secondly, Philip Richard Fendall I
20.
Samuel Adams
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Samuel Adams was an American statesman, political philosopher, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He was a cousin to fellow Founding Father, President John Adams. Adams was born in Boston, brought up in a religious, a graduate of Harvard College, he was an unsuccessful businessman and tax collector before concentrating on politics. His 1768 Massachusetts Circular Letter calling for colonial non-cooperation prompted the occupation of Boston by British soldiers, continued resistance to British policy resulted in the 1773 Boston Tea Party and the coming of the American Revolution. Parliament passed the Coercive Acts in 1774, at which time Adams attended the Continental Congress in Philadelphia which was convened to coordinate a colonial response, Adams returned to Massachusetts after the American Revolution, where he served in the state senate and was eventually elected governor. Samuel Adams later became a figure in American history. Accounts written in the 19th century praised him as someone who had been steering his fellow colonists towards independence long before the outbreak of the Revolutionary War. This view gave way to negative assessments of Adams in the first half of the 20th century, both of these interpretations have been challenged by some modern scholars, who argue that these traditional depictions of Adams are myths contradicted by the historical record. Samuel Adams was born in Boston in the British colony of Massachusetts on September 16,1722, an Old Style date that is sometimes converted to the New Style date of September 27. Adams was one of children born to Samuel Adams, Sr. and Mary Adams in an age of high infant mortality. Adamss parents were devout Puritans and members of the Old South Congregational Church, the family lived on Purchase Street in Boston. Adams was proud of his Puritan heritage, and emphasized Puritan values in his political career, Samuel Adams, Sr. was a prosperous merchant and church deacon. Deacon Adams became a figure in Boston politics through an organization that became known as the Boston Caucus. The Boston Caucus helped shape the agenda of the Boston Town Meeting, Deacon Adams rose through the political ranks, becoming a justice of the peace, a selectman, and a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. In the coming years, members of the party became known as Whigs or Patriots. The younger Samuel Adams attended Boston Latin School and then entered Harvard College in 1736 and his parents hoped that his schooling would prepare him for the ministry, but Adams gradually shifted his interest to politics. After graduating in 1740, Adams continued his studies, earning a degree in 1743. Adamss life was affected by his fathers involvement in a banking controversy
21.
George Clinton (vice president)
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George Clinton was an American soldier and statesman, considered one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He and John C. Calhoun are the people to have served as US Vice President under two different presidents. Clinton was born in Little Britain, Province of New York and his political interests were inspired by his father, who was a farmer, surveyor, and land speculator, and served as a member of the New York colonial assembly. George Clinton was the brother of General James Clinton and the uncle of New Yorks future governor, George was tutored by a local Scottish clergyman. During the French and Indian War he first served on the privateer Defiance operating in the Caribbean, before enlisting in the provincial militia and he and his brother James were instrumental in capturing a French vessel. His fathers survey of the New York frontier so impressed the governor that he was offered a position as sheriff of New York City. After the war, he read law in New York City under the attorney William Smith and he returned home and began his legal practice in 1764. He became district attorney the following year and he was a member of the New York Provincial Assembly for Ulster County from 1768 to 1776, aligned with the anti-British Livingston faction. His brother James was a member of the Provincial Convention that assembled in New York City on April 20,1775, James Clinton and Christopher Tappan, lifetime residents of the area, were sent to scout appropriate locations. In December 1775 the New York Provincial Congress commissioned him brigadier general in the militia tasked with defending the Highlands of the Hudson River from British attack. To this end he built two forts and stretched a giant chain across the river to keep the British forces in New York City from sailing northward, on March 25,1777, he was commissioned a brigadier general in the Continental Army. In June 1777, he was elected at the same time Governor and he formally resigned the Lieutenant Governors office and took the oath of office as Governor on July 30. He was re-elected five times, remaining in office until June 1795, although he had been elected governor, he retained his commission in the Continental Army and commanded forces at Fort Clinton and Fort Montgomery on October 6,1777. He remained in the Continental Army until it was disbanded on November 3,1783 and he was known for his hatred of Tories and used the seizure and sale of Tory estates to help keep taxes down. A supporter and friend of George Washington, he supplied food to the troops at Valley Forge, rode with Washington to the first inauguration, in 1783, Clinton became an original member of the New York Society of the Cincinnati and served as its president from 1794 to 1795. In 1783, at Dobbs Ferry, Clinton and Washington negotiated with General Sir Guy Carleton for the evacuation of the British troops from their posts in the United States. In 1787–88, Clinton publicly opposed adoption of the new United States Constitution, twentieth-century historian Herbert Storing identifies Clinton as Cato, the pseudonymous author of the Anti-Federalist essays which appeared in New York newspapers during the ratification debates. However, the authorship of the essays is disputed, Clinton withdrew his objections after the Bill of Rights was added
22.
William Paca
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William Paca was a signatory to the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Maryland, and later Governor of Maryland and a United States federal judge. Paca was born in Abingdon, in what was then Baltimore County and he was the child of John Paca, a wealthy planter in the area, and his wife Elizabeth Smith. He was the son of the family, after his elder brother Aquila. He was also to receive a master of arts degree from the College in 1762, though this no further study, only that Paca request it. After graduating from college, Paca returned to Maryland, reading law in the capital of Annapolis under the tutelage of a local lawyer named Stephen Bordley. By 1761, he was licensed to practice law, and in 1764 was admitted to the provincial bar, having stayed in Annapolis to establish his practice. Professional success was mingled with personal success, as the year he had courted Mary Chew, the daughter of a prominent Maryland planter. They would go on to have three children, though only their son John Philemon survived into adulthood, among the other young lawyers in Annapolis at the time was Samuel Chase, who would become a close friend and political colleague of Paca. Together, Paca and Chase led local opposition to the British Stamp Act of 1765, Paca was elected to the Maryland legislature in 1771 and appointed to the Continental Congress in 1774. He was reelected, serving until 1779, when he became justice of the state of Maryland. In 1780, he was elected to serve as a judge on the Court of Appeals in Cases of Capture. In 1782 he was elected governor of Maryland, formally nominated on February 8,1790, he was confirmed by the United States Senate on February 10,1790, and received his commission the same day, serving as such until his death. As the first Federal judge for the District Court of Maryland he rendered an opinion on the case of Betsey that would have far reaching consequences when it was overturned by the Supreme Court. Paca died in 1799 at his estate of Wye River in Queen Annes County, in Maryland, three elementary schools are named for him, one in Landover, one in Baltimore city and the other in his home town of Abingdon. A prominent street in Downtown Baltimore bears his name, as does a dormitory on the campus of St. Johns College in Annapolis as well as one on the campus of Towson University. Outside of Maryland, a Middle School in Mastic Beach, New York,155 in New York City are also named after him. In August 2008 the House was added as a new hall in Towson University. His Annapolis home, the House and Garden, was added to the National Register of Historic Places, Paca has been described as being of Italian ancestry
23.
Samuel Chase
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Samuel Chase was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court and earlier was a signatory to the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Maryland. Early in life, Chase was a firebrand states-righter and revolutionary and he was acquitted by the Senate and remained in office. Samuel Chase was the child of the Reverend Thomas Chase and his wife, Matilda Walker, born near Princess Anne. His father was a clergyman who immigrated to Somerset County to become a priest in a new church and he was eighteen when he left for Annapolis where he studied law under attorney John Hall. He was admitted to the bar in 1761 and started a law practice in Annapolis and it was during his time as a member of the bar that his colleagues gave him the nickname of Old Bacon Face. In May 1762, Chase married Ann Baldwin, daughter of Thomas, Samuel and Ann had had three sons and four daughters, with only four surviving to adulthood. In 1784, Chase traveled to England to deal with Marylands Bank of England stock, where he met Hannah Kilty, daughter of Samuel Giles and they were married later that year and had two daughters, Hannah and Elisa. In 1762, Chase was expelled from the Forensic Club, an Annapolis debating society, for extremely irregular, in 1764, Chase was elected to the Maryland General Assembly where he served for twenty years. In 1766, he became embroiled in a war of words with a number of loyalist members of the Maryland political establishment, in 1769, he started construction of the mansion that would become known as the Chase–Lloyd House, which he sold unfinished in 1771. The house is now a National Historic Landmark and he co-founded Anne Arundel Countys Sons of Liberty chapter with his close friend William Paca as well as leading opposition to the 1765 Stamp Act. From 1774 to 1776, Chase was a member of the Annapolis Convention and he represented Maryland at the Continental Congress, was re-elected in 1776 and signed the United States Declaration of Independence. He remained in the Continental Congress until 1778, in 1786, Chase moved to Baltimore, which remained his home for the rest of his life. In 1788, he was appointed Chief justice of the District Criminal Court in Baltimore, in 1791, he became Chief Justice of the Maryland General Court, again serving until 1796. On January 26,1796, President George Washington appointed Chase as a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Chase served on the Court until his death on June 19,1811, virginia Congressman John Randolph of Roanoke took up the challenge and took charge of the impeachment. The House of Representatives served Chase with eight articles of impeachment in late 1804, two more focused on his conduct in the political libel trial of James Callender. All the counts involved Chases work as a judge in lower circuit courts. The heart of the allegations was that political bias had led Chase to treat defendants, Chases defense lawyers called the prosecution a political effort by his Republican enemies
24.
Lewis Morris
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Lewis Morris was an American landowner and developer from Morrisania, New York. Declaration of Independence as a delegate to the Continental Congress from New York, Lewis Morris was born on April 8,1726 at his familys Morrisania estate, in what was then the Province of New York. He was the third Lewis Morris in the Morris family and he was the son of Lewis Morris and Katrintje Catherine Staats. After his mother died, his father married Sarah Gouverneur and he graduated from Yale College in 1746, and upon his fathers death in 1762, he inherited the bulk of the estate. Morris father had seven children, including his siblings, Staats Long Morris and Richard Morris and his uncle was Robert Hunter Morris, the Governor of Pennsylvania. His cousin by marriage was William Paterson, the Governor of New Jersey and father-in-law of Stephen Van Rensselaer, Governor of New York, who was the brother of Philip Schuyler Van Rensselaer, Mayor of Albany, New York. Anthony Walton White, a Continental General, was his cousin through Morris aunt and his great-grandfather, Richard Morris, had immigrated to New York through Barbados after being part of Oliver Cromwells army in the English Civil War of 1648. He purchased the first tract of land in the Bronx that became the basis for the Morrisania manor, when Richard and his young wife died, they left behind an infant son, the also Lewis Morris. Richards brother, Colonel Lewis Morris, also of Barbados, came to Morrisania to help manage the estate belonging to his late-brother. After Col. Morris and his wifes death, who were childless, Lewis Morris, inherited the estate, expanded it and he married a woman named Isabella and went on to serve as the 8th Colonial Governor of New Jersey. As a prominent land owner in colonial New York, Lewis was appointed as a judge of the Admiralty Court for the province in 1760, in 1769, he was elected to the Colonial Assembly. In 1774, as the Revolution drew near, he resigned from the Admiralty Court, when active revolution began, he was a member of the New York Provincial Congress, the revolutionary government, from 1775 until 1777. That body, in turn, sent Morris to the Continental Congress for those same years, while in Congress, he was an active supporter of independence, and signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776. When warned by his half-brother, Gouverneur Morris, of the consequences that would follow his signing of the document, Morris stated. He served in the 1st New York State Legislature, which began on September 9,1777, until the end of the 4th Legislature and his eldest three sons served during the Revolutionary war, and had distinguished military careers. Beginning on July 1,1783, he returned to the New York State Senate, in 1788, when the New York convention met to ratify the U. S. Constitution, he was one of the delegates. Morris was a Federalist presidential elector in 1796, and cast his votes for John Adams, in 1784, Morris was elected an honorary member of the New York Society of the Cincinnati. On May 1 of the year, he was appointed to the first Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York and served until his death
25.
William Floyd
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William Floyd was an American politician from New York, and a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence. Floyd was born in Brookhaven, New York on Long Island, into a family of English and Welsh origins, the William Floyd Estate consists of the home, grounds and a cemetery of the Floyd family. Over the course of 200 years, eight generations of Floyds have managed the 25-room mansion, prior to the 20th century, the estate was much larger. Williams great-grandfather Richard Floyd was born in Brecknockshire, Wales in about 1620 and his grandfather Richard after 1688 purchased 4,400 acres from the Tangier Smith family in the Mastic Neck of the Town of Brookhaven. He was a delegate from New York in the First Continental Congress from 1774 to 1776 and he was a member of the New York State Senate from 1777 to 1788. On July 4,1787, he was elected an Honorary Member of the New York Society of the Cincinnati, in March 1789, he was elected to the 1st United States Congress under the new Constitution as an Anti-Administration candidate and served until March 3,1791. Floyd was an elector in 1792, voting for George Washington. Floyd, for whom the town of Floyd, New York is named and he is buried at the Westernville Cemetery in Oneida County. In 1795, Floyd ran for Lieutenant Governor of New York with Robert Yates on the Democratic-Republican ticket, Floyd was again a presidential elector in 1800, voting for Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, and in 1804, voting for Thomas Jefferson and George Clinton. Floyd was again a member of the State Senate in 1808, in 1820, Floyd was again chosen a presidential elector, but did not attend the meeting of the electoral college, and Martin Van Buren was appointed to fill the vacancy. In the 1820 Census, when Floyd was 86, he had 6 slaves and 2 free black residents lived in his household at the General William Floyd House in Westernville, New York. The William Floyd House, the home, is located in Mastic Beach, is part of Fire Island National Seashore and is open to visitors. William Floyd Parkway in the Town of Brookhaven, Town of Floyd in Oneida County. General William Floyd Elementary School in the Holland Patent School District in Oneida County Floyd Memorial Library in Greenport, Suffolk County, biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Biography by Rev. Charles A. Goodrich,1856 The New York Civil List compiled by Benjamin Franklin Hough
26.
Arthur Middleton
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Arthur Middleton, of Charleston, South Carolina, was a signatory of the United States Declaration of Independence. His parents were Henry Middleton and Mary Baker Williams, both of English descent and he was educated in Britain, at Harrow School, Westminster School, and Trinity Hall, Cambridge. He studied law at the Middle Temple and traveled extensively in Europe where his taste in literature, music, in 1764, Arthur and his bride Mary Izard settled at Middleton Place. Keenly interested in Carolina, Middleton was a radical thinker than his father. He was a leader of the American Party in Carolina and one of the boldest members of the Council of Safety, in 1776, Arthur was elected to succeed his father in the Continental Congress and subsequently was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence. Also in 1776, he and William Henry Drayton designed the Great Seal of South Carolina, despite the time he spent in England, his attitude toward Loyalists was said to be ruthless. During the American Revolutionary War, Middleton served in the defense of Charleston, after the citys fall to the British in 1780, he was sent as a prisoner of war to St. Augustine, Florida, until exchanged in July the following year. Middleton died on January 1,1787 at the age of 44 and was buried in the tomb in the Gardens at Middleton Place. The death notice from the State Gazette of South-Carolina, Jan,4,1787, described him as a tender husband and parent, humane master, steady unshaken patriot, the gentleman, and the scholar. The plantation then passed to Henry, his eldest son, later Governor of South Carolina, Arthur Middleton was also an ancestor of actor Charles B. Middleton, who played Ming the Merciless in the Flash Gordon movies of the 1930s, Arthur Middletons son-in-law was Congressman Daniel Elliott Huger who was the grandfather-in-law of Confederate General Arthur Middleton Manigault who was also a descendant of Henry Middleton. The United States Navy ship, USS Arthur Middleton, was named for him, biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Middleton Place Biography by Rev. Charles A. Goodrich,1856
27.
Thomas Heyward Jr.
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Thomas Heyward Jr. was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence and of the Articles of Confederation as a representative of South Carolina. He was born in St. Lukes Parish, South Carolina and educated at home and he was elected to the Continental Congress in 1775 and signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Heyward returned to South Carolina in 1778 to serve as a judge, in command of a militia force, he was taken prisoner by the British during the siege of Charleston. He continued to serve as a judge after the war, retiring from the bench in 1798 and he is buried at Old House Plantation near Ridgeland, Jasper County, South Carolina. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997, located in Hilton Head Island there is a school named after him called Thomas Heyward Academy. Their nickname is the rebels and colors are maroon and white, Heyward was married twice, at age 26 and at age 40, and each wife was named Elizabeth. The first Elizabeth, daughter of Col and she is buried there in St. Peter’s Episcopal Church yard. They had six children, but only one son, Daniel, the second Elizabeth, 1769-1833, daughter of Col. Thomas and Mary Elliott Savage of Charleston, S. C. had three children to live to adulthood, Thomas, William and Elizabeth. There are a number of descendants today in the 21st century surviving his four children, on August 27,1780, Heyward was taken from his Charleston home by British troops and detained in the Old Exchange Building. Just hours after being arrested, he and 28 other ringleaders of the rebellion were relocated to a ship in the harbor. On September 4, they were transported to St. Augustine, Florida, Thomas Heyward Jr. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Rev. Charles A. Goodrich, Thomas Heyward Jr. in Lives of the Signers to the Declaration of Independence, New York,1856, pp. 440–443 Thomas Heyward Jr. at Find a Grave
28.
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
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He served as a delegate to the Continental Congress and Confederation Congress and later as first United States Senator for Maryland. He was the only Catholic and the signatory of the Declaration of Independence. The Carroll family were descendants of the Ó Cearbhaill lords of Éile in Kings County, Charles Carroll the Settler was the son of Daniel OCarroll of Litterluna. The O in Irish surnames was often dropped due to the Anglicisation policy of the occupying English, Charles Carroll the Settler had a son, born in 1702 and also named Charles. To distinguish himself from his father he was known as Charles Carroll of Annapolis, Carroll was born on September 19,1737, in Annapolis, Maryland, the only child of Charles Carroll of Annapolis and Elizabeth Brooke. He was born illegitimate, as his parents were not married at the time of his birth, the young Carroll was educated at a Jesuit preparatory school known as Bohemia Manor in Cecil County on Marylands Eastern Shore. At the age of eleven, he was sent to France where he continued in Jesuit schools, first at the College of St. Omer and he continued his studies in Europe, and read for the law in London before returning to Annapolis in 1765. Charles Carroll of Annapolis granted Carrollton Manor to his son, Charles Carroll of Carrollton and it is from this tract of land that he took his title, Charles Carroll of Carrollton. Like his father, Carroll was a Roman Catholic, and as a consequence was barred by Maryland statute from entering politics, practicing law, but, as the dispute between Great Britain and her colonies intensified in the early 1770s, Carroll became a powerful voice for independence. In 1772 he engaged in a debate conducted through anonymous newspaper letters, writing in the Maryland Gazette under the pseudonym First Citizen, he became a prominent spokesman against the governors proclamation increasing legal fees to state officers and Protestant clergy. Opposing Carroll in these debates and writing as Antillon was Daniel Dulany the Younger. Eventually word spread of the identity of the two combatants, and Carrolls fame and notoriety began to grow. Following these written debates, Carroll became an opponent of British rule. The day of the burning is commemorated in Maryland by a holiday and historical event commemorating the American Revolution. In the early 1770s Carroll appears to have embraced the idea that violence could break the impasse with Great Britain. According to legend, Carroll and Samuel Chase had the exchange, Chase, We have the better of our opponents. Carroll, And do you think that writing will settle the question between us, Chase, To be sure, what else can we resort to. Our arguments will only raise the feelings of the people to that pitch, beginning with his election to Marylands committee of correspondence in 1774, Carroll represented the colony in most of the pre-revolutionary groups
29.
George Walton
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George Walton signed the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Georgia and also served as the second Chief Executive of Georgia. George Walton was born in Cumberland County, Virginia. The exact year of Waltons birth is unknown, some research has placed it as early as 1740, others as late as 1749 and 1750. The biographer of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, Della Gray Bartholomew and his parents died when he was an infant, resulting in his adoption by an uncle with whom he entered apprenticeship as a carpenter. Walton was a young man, but his uncle actively discouraged all study. Walton continued studying and once his apprenticeship ended, he moved to Savannah, Georgia, in 1769 to study law under a Mr. Young, by the eve of the American Revolution he was one of the most successful lawyers in Georgia. He became an advocate of the cause and was elected Secretary of the Georgia Provincial Congress. In 1776 he served as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia, on July 2,1776, he voted in favor of the Declaration of Independence for Georgia along with Button Gwinnett and Lyman Hall. During the American Revolutionary War, he was in the battalion of General Robert Howe, on January 9,1778, Walton received a commission as colonel of the First Georgia Regiment of Militia. During the Battle of Savannah in 1778 led by Archibald Campbell, Walton was injured in the battle and he was hit in the thigh by a ball that threw him from his horse. He was subsequently captured by the British, who allowed his wound to heal before sending him to Sunbury Prison, Walton was eventually exchanged in October 1779. Waltons brother, John, signed the Articles of Confederation for Georgia in 1778, along with Edward Telfair, in October 1779, Walton was elected Governor of Georgia for the first time, a position he held for only two months. In November 1795, he was appointed to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of James Jackson. Walton only served in that position from November 16,1795, to February 20,1796, until a successor and he was a political ally of the Scottish General Lachlan McIntosh and a foe of Button Gwinnett. He and Gwinnetts political battles resulted in his expulsion from office and he was later censured for his role in a duel which resulted in Button Gwinnetts death. Walton was in favor of the Yazoo land sales, the real estate fraud perpetrated in the mid-1790s by Georgia governor George Mathews. The scandal brought James Jackson home from the U. S. Senate to lead a reform movement, appointed to fill the vacant seat, a feud erupted between Jackson and Walton over the sale of land to speculators. Jackson won, and Walton, who supported the sales, left the office, in 1788, Alexander McGillivray and other Creek Indian leaders met with Georgia leaders at Rock Landing, but the meeting failed to result in a peace treaty. This lead Governor Walton to worry that our prospects of peace have been obliged to yield to the impressions of war, Walton wrote to Colonel Jared Irwin, expressing both his concern and his surprise at the recent Indian depredations near the Oconee River
30.
Robert Morris (financier)
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From 1781 to 1784, he served as the powerful Superintendent of Finance, managing the economy of the fledgling United States. As the central civilian in the government, Morris was, next to General George Washington and his successful administration led to the sobriquet, Financier of the Revolution. At the same time he was Agent of Marine, a position he took without pay and he was one of Pennsylvanias original pair of US senators, serving from 1789 to 1795. After he left prison in 1801, he lived a quiet, Morris was born to Robert Morris, Sr. and Elizabeth Murphet in Liverpool, Lancashire, England, on January 20,1734. At the age of 13, Morris immigrated to Oxford, Maryland, to live with his father, as a youth, Morris was provided a tutor and was a quick learner. His father sent him to Philadelphia to study where he stayed with Charles Greenway, Greenway arranged for young Robert to become an apprentice at the shipping and banking firm of the Philadelphia merchant Charles Willing. A year later, Roberts father died after being wounded in an accident when hit by the wadding of a gun that was fired in his honor. When Charles Willing died in 1754, his son Thomas Willing made Morris his partner at the age 24 and they established the prominent shipping-banking firm of Willing, Morris & Co. on May 1,1757. The partnership lasted until about 1779, on March 2,1769, at age 35, Morris married 20-year-old Mary White. White was the daughter of a wealthy and prestigious Maryland landholder, together they had five sons and two daughters. White came from a prominent family in Maryland, her brother was the well-known Anglican Bishop William White, Morris worshiped in Philadelphia at St. Peters Church on Pine Street and Christ Church on 2nd Street, both of which were run by his brother-in-law, Bishop William White. Morris remained a constant worshipper and supporter at this Anglican Church for his entire life, both Morris and his brother-in-law William White are buried at Christ Church, Philadelphia in the churchyard located at Second and Market. In 1757 Morris became a partner with Thomas Willing. Their partnership was a merchant firm with interests in shipping, real estate, the partnership was forged just after the Seven Years War began, which hindered attracting the usual supply of new indentured servants to the colony. Potential immigrants were conscripted in England to fight in Europe, indentured servants could legally break their contracts to join the British forces to fight against the French and their Indian allies. At the same time, the British Crown wanted to encourage the trade which was profitable for the Kings political allies in the African Company of Merchants. While Morris was a partner and Willing was pursuing a political career. Willing, Morris & Co funded its own slave-trading voyage, the ship did not carry enough to be profitable and, during a second trip, was captured by French privateers
31.
Thomas Willing
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Thomas Willing was an American merchant, a Delegate to the Continental Congress from Pennsylvania and the first president of the First National Bank of the United States. Thomas completed preparatory studies in Bath, England, then studied law in London at the Inner Temple, in 1749, after studying abroad in England, he returned to Philadelphia, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits, in partnership with Robert Morris, until 1793. A member of the council in 1755, he became an alderman in 1759, associate justice of the city court on October 2,1759. Willing then became Mayor of Philadelphia in 1763, in 1767, the Pennsylvania Assembly, with Governor Thomas Penns assent, had authorized a Supreme Court justice to sit with local justices of the peace in a system of Nisi Prius courts. Governor Penn appointed two new Supreme Court justices, John Lawrence and Thomas Willing, Willing served until 1767, the last under the colonial government. A member of the committee of correspondence in 1774 and of the committee of safety in 1775, as a member of the Continental Congress in 1775 and 1776, he voted against the Declaration of Independence. Later, however, he subscribed £5,000 to supply the revolutionary cause, after the war, he became president of the Bank of North America, preceding John Nixon, and then the first president of the Bank of the United States from 1791 to 1807. In August,1807, he suffered a stroke. In 1763, Willing married Anne McCall, daughter of Samuel McCall, Willing died in 1821 in Philadelphia, where he is interred in Christ Church Burial Ground. Willing was the grandfather of John Brown Francis, who was a governor, maria later married the Marquis de Blaisel in 1826. Stephen Simpson, an outspoken journalist and fierce critic of the First National Bank, List of wealthiest historical figures List of richest Americans in history Notes Sources Wright, Robert E. Thomas Willing, Philadelphia Financier and Forgotten Founding Father. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
32.
Benjamin Rush
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Benjamin Rush was a Founding Father of the United States. Rush was a leader in Philadelphia, where he was a physician, politician, social reformer, educator and humanitarian. Rush attended the Continental Congress and signed the Declaration of Independence and his later self-description there was, He aimed right. He served as Surgeon General of the Continental Army, and became a professor of chemistry, medical theory, Rush was a leader of the American Enlightenment, and an enthusiastic supporter of the American Revolution. He was a leader in Pennsylvanias ratification of the Constitution in 1788 and he was prominent in many reforms, especially in the areas of medicine and education. He opposed slavery, advocated free public schools, and sought improved education for women, as a leading physician, Rush had a major impact on the emerging medical profession. As an Enlightenment intellectual, he was committed to organizing all medical knowledge around explanatory theories, Rush argued that illness was the result of imbalances in the bodys physical system and was caused by malfunctions in the brain. His approach prepared the way for medical research, but Rush himself undertook none of it. He promoted public health by advocating clean environment and stressing the importance of personal and his study of mental disorder made him one of the founders of American psychiatry. Benjamin Rush was born to John Rush and Susanna Hall on January 4,1746, the family which included seven children lived on a plantation in the Township of Byberry in Philadelphia County, then about 14 mi outside Philadelphia. Benjamin was the fourth of the seven children, John Rush died in July 1751 at the age of thirty-nine. He went peacefully, saying over and over, Lord, and his wife saw him buried as he wished in the cemetery behind Christ Church. Leaving his mother, who ran a store, to care for the large family. At eight years of age, Benjamin was sent to live with an aunt and uncle, Benjamin and his older brother Jacob attended a school in Cecil County, Maryland, run by the Rev. Samuel Finley, which would later become West Nottingham Academy. In 1760, after studies at the College of New Jersey. From 1761 to 1766, Rush apprenticed under Dr. John Redman in Philadelphia, Redman encouraged him to further his studies at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, where Rush studied from 1766 to 1768 and earned a M. D. degree. Rush became fluent in French, Italian, and Spanish as a result of his studies, while at Edinburgh, he became a friend of the Earl of Leven and his family, including William Leslie. Returning to the Colonies in 1769, Rush opened a practice in Philadelphia
33.
Elbridge Gerry
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Elbridge Thomas Gerry was an American statesman and diplomat. As a Democratic-Republican he was selected as the fifth Vice President of the United States, born into a wealthy merchant family, Gerry vocally opposed British colonial policy in the 1760s, and was active in the early stages of organizing the resistance in the American Revolutionary War. Elected to the Second Continental Congress, Gerry signed both the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation and he was one of three men who attended the Constitutional Convention in 1787 but refused to sign the United States Constitution because it did not then include a Bill of Rights. Gerry was at first opposed to the idea of political parties and he was a member of a diplomatic delegation to France that was treated poorly in the XYZ Affair, in which Federalists held him responsible for the breakdown in negotiations. Gerry thereafter became a Democratic-Republican, running unsuccessfully for Governor of Massachusetts several times before winning the office in 1810, chosen by Madison as his vice presidential candidate in 1812, Gerry was elected, but died a year and a half into his term. He is the only signer of the Declaration of Independence who is buried in Washington, Elbridge Gerry was born on July 17,1744, in Marblehead, Massachusetts. His father, Thomas Gerry, was a merchant operating out of Marblehead. Gerrys first name came from John Elbridge, one of his mothers ancestors, Gerrys parents had eleven children in all, although only five survived to adulthood. Of these, Elbridge was the third and he was first educated by private tutors, and entered Harvard College shortly before turning fourteen. After receiving a B. A. in 1762 and an M. A. in 1765, by the 1770s the Gerrys numbered among the wealthiest Massachusetts merchants, with trading connections in Spain, the West Indies, and along the North American coast. Gerrys father, who had migrated from England in 1730, was active in politics and had a leading role in the local militia. Gerry was from a time an vocal opponent of Parliamentary efforts to tax the colonies after the French. In 1770 he sat on a Marblehead committee that sought to enforce bans on taxed British goods. He frequently communicated with other Massachusetts opponents of British policy, including Samuel Adams, John Adams, Mercy Otis Warren, in May 1772 he won election to the General Court of the Province of Massachusetts Bay. There he worked closely with Samuel Adams to advance colonial opposition to Parliamentary colonial policies and he was responsible for establishing Marbleheads committee of correspondence, one of the first to be set up after that of Boston. However, an incident of mob action prompted him to resign from the committee the next year, Gerry reentered politics after the Boston Port Act closed that citys port in 1774, and Marblehead became a port to which relief supplies from other colonies could be delivered. He was elected as a representative to the First Continental Congress in September 1774, Gerry was elected to the provincial assembly, which reconstituted itself as the Massachusetts Provincial Congress after Governor Thomas Gage dissolved the body in October 1774. He was assigned to its committee of safety, responsible for assuring that the limited supplies of weapons
34.
Robert Treat Paine
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Robert Treat Paine was a Massachusetts lawyer and politician, best known as a signer of the Declaration of Independence as a representative of Massachusetts. He served as the states first attorney general, and served as a justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. Robert Treat Paine was born in Boston, Massachusetts, British America on March 11,1731 and he was one of five children of the Rev. Thomas Paine and Eunice Paine. His father was pastor of Franklin Road Baptist Church in Weymouth but moved his family to Boston in 1730 and his mother was the daughter of Rev. Samuel Treat, whose father Maj. Robert Treat was one of the principal founders of Newark, New Jersey. The Treat family in particular had a history in the British colonies dating back to the Mayflower. Paine attended the Boston Latin School and at the age of fourteen entered Harvard College and he then was engaged in teaching school for several years back at the Boston Latin and at Lunenburg, Massachusetts. He also attempted a merchant career with journeys to the Carolinas, the Azores and he began the study of law in 1755 with his mothers cousin in Lancaster, Massachusetts. Paine was unsuccessful in gaining a commission in that regiment. When he returned from a military campaign to Lake George, he did some occasional preaching. In 1756 he returned to Boston to continue his legal preparations with Samuel Prat and he first considered establishing his law practice at Portland, but instead in 1761 moved to Taunton, Massachusetts, then back to Boston in 1780. John Adams was opposing counsel, and his arguments won the jurys sway, Paine served in the Massachusetts General Court from 1773 to 1774, in the Provincial Congress from 1774 to 1775, and represented Massachusetts at the Continental Congress from 1774 through 1776. He was Massachusetts Attorney General from 1777 to 1790 and prosecuted the treason trials following Shays Rebellion, in 1780, He was a charter member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He later served as a justice of the supreme court from 1790 to 1804 when he retired. When he died at the age of 83 in 1814 he was buried in Bostons Granary Burying Ground, Robert Treat Paine was a Congregationalist and a devout Christian. When his church, the First Church of Boston, moved into Unitarianism, Paine married Sally Cobb, the daughter of Thomas and Lydia Cobb and a sister of General David Cobb, on March 15,1770. She was born May 15,1744 and died June 6,1816 and they were the parents of eight children, Robert Paine, b. December 9,1773, name changed by law in 1801 to Robert Treat Paine, June 8,1814, m. Olive Lyman, daughter of Theodore Lyman. Robert Bob Treat Paine III, Zoologist A statue of Paine by Richard E. Brooks was erected at Tauntons Church Green in 1904, biographical Directory of the United States Congress
35.
Abraham Clark
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Abraham Clark was an American politician and Revolutionary War figure. Abraham was born in Elizabethtown, New Jersey and his father, Thomas Clark, realized that he had a natural grasp for math so he hired a tutor to teach Abraham surveying. While working as a surveyor, he taught law and went into practice. He became quite popular and became known as the poor mans councilor as he offered to defend poor men when they couldnt afford a lawyer, Clark married Sarah Hatfield circa 1749, with whom he had 10 children. While Hatfield raised the children on their farm, Clark was able to enter politics as a clerk of the Provincial Assembly, later he became High Sheriff of Essex County and in 1775 was elected to the Provincial Congress. He was a member of the Committee of Public Safety, early in 1776, the New Jersey delegation to the Continental Congress was opposed to independence from Great Britain. As the issue heated up, the state convention replaced all their delegates with those favoring the separation and they arrived in Philadelphia on June 28,1776, and voted for the Declaration of Independence in early July. Two of Clarks sons were officers in the Continental Army and he refused to speak of them in Congress, even when they both were captured, tortured, and beaten. However, there was one instance when Clark did bring them up, captain Clark was thrown in a dungeon and given no food except that which was shoved through a keyhole. Congress was appalled and made a case to the British and his conditions were improved, the British offered Abraham Clark the lives of his sons if he would only recant his signing and support of the Declaration of Independence, he refused. Clark remained in the Continental Congress through 1778, when he was elected as Essex Countys Member of the New Jersey Legislative Council, New Jersey returned him twice more, from 1780 to 1783 and from 1786 to 1788. Clark was one of New Jerseys three representatives at the aborted Annapolis Convention of 1786, along with William C. Houston, Clark, more than many of his contemporaries, was a proponent of democracy and the common man, supporting especially the societal roles of farmers and mechanics. Clark retired before the states Constitutional Convention in 1794 and he died from sunstroke at his home. Clark Township in Union County is named for him, as is Abraham Clark High School in Roselle, a resident of Rahway, New Jersey, Clark is buried there at the Rahway Cemetery. Abraham Clark and the Quest for Equality in the Revolutionary Era, New Jerseys True Policy, The Radical Republican Vision of Abraham Clark. William and Mary Quarterly, 3d ser, biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Genealogical information for Abraham Clark ColonialHall. com biography of Abraham Clark Abraham Clark at Find a Grave
36.
Stephen Hopkins (politician)
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Stephen Hopkins was a governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, a Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court, and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. From a prominent Rhode Island family, Hopkins was a grandson of William Hopkins who served the colony for 40 years as Deputy, Assistant, Speaker of the House of Deputies, and Major. As a child, Stephen Hopkins was a reader, becoming a serious student of the sciences, mathematics. He became a surveyor and astronomer, and was involved in taking measurements during the 1769 transit of Venus across the sun, Hopkins began his public service at the early age of 23 as a justice of the peace in the newly established town of Scituate, Rhode Island. He soon became a justice of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas, while serving at times as the Speaker of the House of Deputies. While active in affairs, he also was part owner of an iron foundry and was a successful merchant who was portrayed in John Greenwoods 1750s satirical painting Sea Captains Carousing in Surinam. In May 1747, Hopkins was appointed as a justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court, in 1755, he was elected to his first term as governor of the colony, and served a total of nine of the next 15 years in this capacity. One of the most contentious issues of his day was the use of paper money versus hard currency. His bitter political rival Samuel Ward championed hard currency, whereas Hopkins advocated the use of paper money, the rivalry between the two men became so heated that Hopkins sued Ward for £40,000, but lost the case and had to pay costs. By the mid-1760s, the contention between the two men became a distraction to the government of the colony and, realizing this. Ultimately, both agreed to not run for office in 1768, and Josias Lyndon was elected governor of the colony as a compromise candidate. In 1774, he was given an important responsibility as one of Rhode Islands two delegates to the First Continental Congress, Samuel Ward being the other. Hopkins signed the Declaration of Independence in the summer of 1776 with worsening palsy in his hands, holding his hand with his left and saying, my hand trembles. He served in the Continental Congress until September 1776, when failing health forced him to resign and he was a strong backer of the College of the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, one of the schools most ardent supporters, and became the institutions first chancellor. He died in Providence in 1785 at the age of 78, Hopkins has been called Rhode Islands greatest statesman. Hopkins was born in Providence in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations and his grandfather William Hopkins was very prominent in colonial affairs, having served for more than 40 years as a Deputy from Providence, Assistant, Speaker of the House of Deputies, and Major. The early part of Stephen Hopkins life was spent in the northern part of Providence known as Chopmist Hill. Richman called Hopkins a close and severe student, filling up all the hours of his life with reading, while Sanderson wrote, He attached himself in early youth to the study of books
37.
William Ellery
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William Ellery was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Rhode Island. In 1764, the Baptists consulted with Ellery and the Congregationalist Reverend Ezra Stiles on writing a charter for the college that became Brown University. However, Ellery and Stiles attempted to control of the college to the Congregationalists. Neither Ellery nor Stiles accepted appointment to the reserved Congregationalist seats on the board of trustees, the second son of William Ellery, Sr. and Elizabeth Almy, William Ellery was born in Newport on December 2,1727. He received his education from his father, a merchant. In 1747 William Ellery graduated from Harvard College where he had excelled in Greek, Ellery returned to Newport where he worked first as a merchant, next as a customs collector, and then as Clerk of the Rhode Island General Assembly. Ellery started practicing law in 1770 at the age of 43, after Samuel Wards death in 1776, Ellery replaced Ward in the Continental Congress. Ellery was among the signers of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. In terms of square inches, the size of Ellerys signature on the Declaration of Independence was second to only John Hancocks famous signature, Ellery was also a signer of the Articles of Confederation. Ellery also served as a judge of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island and he was the first customs collector of the port of Newport under the Constitution, serving there until his death. Ellery was a worshipper at the Second Congregational Church of Newport. After his death on February 15,1820 at age 92, the Rhode Island Society of the Sons of the Revolution and the William Ellery Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution makes an annual commemoration at his grave on July 4. Ellery married Ann Remington of Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1750 and she was the daughter of Judge Jonathan Remington. She died in 1764 in Cambridge and was buried there and he remarried in 1767 to Abigail Cary. Ellery Avenue in Middletown, Rhode Island is named in his honor and he had 19 children and was married twice in his lifetime. He was the father-in-law of Francis Dana who married his daughter Elizabeth, William Ellery is the namesake of the town of Ellery, New York. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, Ellery at Find a Grave Brown University Charter
38.
George Clymer
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George Clymer was an American politician and founding father. He was one of the first Patriots to advocate independence from Britain. As a Pennsylvania representative, Clymer was, along with five others and he attended the Continental Congress, and served in political office until the end of his life. Clymer was born in Philadelphia on 16 March 1739, orphaned when only a year old, he was apprenticed to his maternal aunt and uncle, Hannah and William Coleman, to prepare to become a merchant. He married Elizabeth Meredith on March 22,1765, George Clymer and Elizabeth Meredith had nine children, four of whom died in infancy. His oldest surviving son, Henry, married the Philadelphia socialite Mary Willing Clymer in 1794, John Meredith, Margaret, George, and Ann also survived to adulthood, though John Meredith was killed in the Whiskey Rebellion in 1787 at the age of 18. Clymer was a patriot and leader in the demonstrations in Philadelphia resulting from the Tea Act and he became a member of the Philadelphia Committee of Safety in 1773, and was elected to the Continental Congress 1776–1780. Clymer shared the responsibility of being treasurer of the Continental Congress with Michael Hillegas and he served ably on several committees during his first congressional term and was sent with Sampson Mathews to inspect the northern army on behalf of Congress in the fall of 1776. When Congress fled Philadelphia in the face of Sir Henry Clintons threatened occupation, Clymer stayed behind with George Walton, clymer’s business ventures during and after war served to increase his wealth. In 1779 and 1780, Clymer and his son Meredith engaged in a trade with St. Eustatius. He resigned from Congress in 1777 and, in 1780, was elected to a seat in the Pennsylvania Legislature. In 1782, he was sent on a tour of the states in a vain attempt to get the legislatures to pay up on subscriptions due to the central government. He was reelected to the Pennsylvania legislature in 1784, and represented his state at the Constitutional Convention in 1787 and he was elected to the first U. S. Congress in 1789. He was the first president of the Philadelphia Bank and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, when Congress passed a bill imposing a duty on spirits distilled in the United States in 1791, Clymer was placed as head of the excise department in the state of Pennsylvania. He was also one of the commissioners to negotiate a treaty with the Creek Indian confederacy at Coleraine and he is considered the benefactor of Indiana Borough, as it was he who donated the property for a county seat in Indiana County, Pennsylvania. Clymer died on January 23,1813 and he was buried at the Friends Burying Ground in Trenton, New Jersey. USS George Clymer was named in his honor, Clymer, Indiana County, Pennsylvania was named in his honor as was Clymer, New York. There is a George Clymer Elementary School in the School District of Philadelphia and this school has educated majority children of color following Clymers legacy of rights for all people
39.
William Hooper
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William Hooper was an American lawyer, politician, and a member of the Continental Congress representing North Carolina from 1774 through 1777. Hooper was also a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, along with fellow North Carolinians Joseph Hewes, Hooper was the first child of five, born in Boston, Massachusetts, on June 28,1742. In 1757, at the age of sixteen, Hooper entered Harvard University where he was considered a student and was highly regarded. In 1760 Hooper graduated from Harvard with honors, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts, however, after graduating, Hooper did not wish to pursue a career in the clergy as his father had hoped. Instead, Hooper decided on a career in law, studying under James Otis, Hooper studied under Otis until 1764, and once completing his bar exam decided to leave Massachusetts in part due to the abundance of lawyers in Boston. In 1764 Hooper moved temporarily to Wilmington, North Carolina, where he began to practice law, Hooper began to build a highly respected reputation in North Carolina among the wealthy farmers as well as fellow lawyers. Hooper increased his influence by representing the government in several court cases. In 1767, Hooper married Anne Clark, the daughter of an early settler to the region. The two had a son, William, in 1768, followed by a daughter, Elizabeth, in 1770 and then another son, Thomas, initially Hooper supported the British colonial government of North Carolina. As Deputy Attorney General in 1768 Hooper worked with Colonial Governor William Tryon to suppress a group known as the Regulators who participated in the War of the Regulation. The Regulators had been operating in North Carolina for some time, Hooper advised that Governor Tryon use as much force as was necessary to stamp out the rebels, and even accompanied the troops at the Battle of Alamance in 1771. Hooper’s support of the governments began to erode, causing problems for him due to his past support of Governor Tryon. Hooper had been labeled a Loyalist, and therefore he was not immediately accepted by Patriots, Hooper eventually was elected to the North Carolina General Assembly in 1773, where he became an opponent to colonial attempts to pass laws that would regulate the provincial courts. This in turn helped to sour his reputation among Loyalists. ”During his time in the assembly Hooper slowly became a supporter of the American Revolution, after the governor disbanded the assembly, Hooper helped to organize a new colonial assembly. Hooper was also appointed to the Committee of Correspondence and Inquiry, in 1774 Hooper was appointed a delegate to the First Continental Congress, where he served on numerous committees. Hooper was again elected to the Second Continental Congress, but much of his time was split between the congress and work in North Carolina, where he was assisting in forming a new government. In 1777, due to continued financial concerns, Hooper resigned from Congress, throughout the Revolution the British attempted to capture Hooper, and with his country home in Finian vulnerable to British attacks, Hooper moved his family to Wilmington. In 1781 the British captured Wilmington, to where Cornwallis and his forces fell back after the Battle of Guilford Court House, after the Revolution Hooper returned to his career in law, but he lost favor with the public due to his political stance
40.
Joseph Hewes
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Joseph Hewes was a native of Princeton, New Jersey, where he was born in 1730. Hewes’s parents were members of the Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers, immediately after their marriage, they moved to New Jersey, which became Joseph Hewes’s home state. Hewes attended Princeton but there is no evidence that he actually graduated, what is known is that he became an apprentice of a merchant and in fact became a very successful merchant. Hewes moved to Edenton, North Carolina at the age of 30 and won over the people of the colony with his charm, Hewes was elected to the North Carolina legislature in 1763, only three years after he moved to the colony. After being re-elected numerous times in the legislature, Hewes was now focused on a new, by 1773, the majority of North Carolina was in favor of independence. North Carolina elected Hewes to become a representative of the Continental Congress in 1774, the people of North Carolina thought that he would best represent them because of his activism for the American cause of independence, which appealed to people in other states as well. However initially, Joseph Hewes was not in favor of independence, in later years John Adams wrote of the struggles that Hewes experienced as he set about serving in the Continental Congress, For many days the majority depended on Mr. Hewes of North Carolina. Hewes, who had constantly voted against it, started suddenly upright and lifting both hands to heaven as if he had been in a trance, cried out, It is done. I would give more for the painting of the terror and horror upon the face of the old majority at that critical moment than for the best piece of Raphael. The question, however, was eluded by a motion for adjournment. Though the people of the United States wanted independence, Hewes found it much harder in Congress to convey his opinion without being laughed at or scolded. Even in the leading up to the revolution, more than two-thirds of the Continental Congress still believed that ties between King George and the colonies could stay intact. Hewes was barely able to speak in Congress because he was interrupted by those who disagreed with him. Nevertheless he was involved in many committees, most of which favored the revolution. One such committee was the Committee of Correspondence, which advocated ideas that supported independence, ironically, Hewes was not only one of the few people in favor of a war against Britain but was one of the few Quakers in Congress. The Quakers not only opposed war, but strongly opposed the committees that supported war too, despite Joseph Hewes obvious departure from Quaker principles, he did continue to have a relationship with his family and visited his mother, a Quaker minister, when he was able. There isnt any record of Mr. Hewes ever relinquishing his Quaker membership nor is any evidence that he was disowned by any Friends Monthly Meeting. Upon his death, he left bequests to not only his family
41.
James Wilson
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James Wilson was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and a signatory of the United States Declaration of Independence. Wilson was elected twice to the Continental Congress, where he represented Pennsylvania, a leading legal theorist, he was one of the six original justices appointed by George Washington to the Supreme Court of the United States. Wilson was one of seven children born into a Presbyterian farming family on September 14,1742 near St. Andrews, Scotland and he studied at the Universities of St. Andrews, Glasgow and Edinburgh, but never obtained a degree. While he was a student, he studied Scottish Enlightenment thinkers, including Francis Hutcheson, David Hume, imbued with the ideas of the Scottish Enlightenment he moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in British America in 1766, carrying valuable letters of introduction. These helped Wilson to begin tutoring and then teaching at The Academy and he petitioned there for a degree and was awarded an honorary Master of Arts several months later. Wilson began to read the law at the office of John Dickinson a short time later, after two years of study he attained the bar in Philadelphia, and in the following year, set up his own practice in Reading, Pennsylvania. His office was successful and he earned a small fortune in a few years. On November 5,1771, he married Rachel Bird, daughter of William Bird and Bridget Hulings, they had six children together, Mary, William, Bird, James, Emily and Charles. Rachel died in 1786, and in 1793 he married Hannah Gray, daughter of Ellis Gray and Sarah DOlbear, the marriage produced a son named Henry, after Wilsons death, Hannah married Thomas Bartlett, M. D. In 1774, Wilson published Considerations on the Nature and Extent of the Legislative Authority of the British Parliament, in this pamphlet, Wilson argued that the Parliament had no authority to pass laws for the American colonies because the colonies had no representation in Parliament. It presented his views that all power derived from the people, scholars considered his work on par with the seminal works of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams of the same year. However, it was penned in 1768, perhaps the first cogent argument to be formulated against British dominance. Some see Wilson as a leading revolutionary while others see him as another reluctant, in 1775 he was commissioned Colonel of the 4th Cumberland County Battalion and rose to the rank of Brigadier General of the Pennsylvania State Militia. As a member of the Continental Congress in 1776, James Wilson was an advocate for independence. Believing it was his duty to follow the wishes of his constituents, only after he received more feedback did he vote for independence. While serving in the Congress, Wilson was clearly among the leaders in the formation of French policy, Wilson also served from June 1776 on the Committee on Spies, along with John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, John Rutledge, and Robert R. Livingston. On October 4,1779, the Fort Wilson Riot began, after the British had abandoned Philadelphia, Wilson successfully defended at trial 23 people from property seizure and exile by the radical government of Pennsylvania. A mob whipped up by liquor and the writings and speeches of Joseph Reed, president of Pennsylvanias Supreme Executive Council, marched on Congressman Wilsons home at Third, Wilson and 35 of his colleagues barricaded themselves in his home, later nicknamed Fort Wilson
42.
Francis Hopkinson
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Francis Hopkinson designed the first official American flag. He was an author, a composer, and one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence as a delegate from New Jersey and he served in various roles in the early United States government including as a member of the Continental Congress and chair of the Navy Board. He also served as a judge in Pennsylvania. Francis Hopkinson was born at Philadelphia in 1737, the son of Thomas Hopkinson and he became a member of the first class at the College of Philadelphia in 1751 and graduated in 1757, receiving his masters degree in 1760, and a doctor in law in 1790. He was secretary to a Provincial Council of Pennsylvania Indian commission in 1761 that made a treaty with the Delaware, in 1763, he was appointed customs collector for Salem, New Jersey. Hopkinson spent from May 1766 to August 1767 in England in hopes of becoming commissioner of customs for North America, although unsuccessful, he spent time with the future Prime Minister Lord North, Hopkinsons cousin James Johnson, and the painter Benjamin West. After his return, Hopkinson operated a dry goods business in Philadelphia, Hopkinson obtained a public appointment as a customs collector for New Castle, Delaware on May 1,1772. He moved to Bordentown, New Jersey in 1774, became a member of the New Jersey Provincial Council and he resigned his crown-appointed positions in 1776 and, on June 22, went on to represent New Jersey in the Second Continental Congress where he signed the Declaration of Independence. He was appointed to Congress’ Marine Committee in that year and he departed the Congress on November 30,1776 to serve on the Navy Board at Philadelphia. The Board reported to the Marine Committee, Hopkinson later became the Navy Board’s chairman. On September 24,1789, President George Washington nominated Hopkinson to the newly created position of judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and he was confirmed by the United States Senate, and received his commission, on September 26,1789. Only a few years into his service as a federal judge and he was buried in Christ Church Burial Ground in Philadelphia. He was the father of Joseph Hopkinson, who was a member of the United States House of Representatives, Hopkinson was the designer of the American flag. He did not get his due in life, at one point, he asked for a quarter cask of wine for his efforts, which he never received. Hopkinson wrote popular airs and political satires in the form of poems, some were widely circulated, and powerfully assisted in arousing and fostering the spirit of political independence that issued in the American Revolution. His principal writings are A Pretty Story, a satire about King George, The Prophecy, and The Political Catechism. Other notable essays are Typographical Method of conducting a Quarrel, Essay on White Washing, many of his writings can be found in Miscellaneous Essays and Occasional Writings, published at Philadelphia in three volumes in 1792. Hopkinson began to play the harpsichord at age seventeen and, during the 1750s, hand-copied arias, songs and he is credited as being the first American born composer to commit a composition to paper with his 1759 composition My Days Have Been So Wondrous Free
43.
Roger Sherman
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Roger Sherman was an early American lawyer and statesman, as well as a Founding Father of the United States. Thomas Jefferson said this of him, That is Mr. Sherman, of Connecticut, Sherman was born into a farm family located in Newton, Massachusetts, near Boston. His father was William and mother Mehetabel Sherman, mehetabels father was Benjamin Wellington and her mother was Elizabeth Sweetman, whose christening date was March 4,1687, and she died on April 12,1776. William and Mehetabel had seven children, William Jr. Mehetabel, Roger, Elizabeth, Nathaniel, Josiah, William married Rebecca Cutler on July 15,1714. Josiah was Chaplain of the 7th Connecticut from January 1 to December 6,1777, the part of Stoughton where Sherman grew up became part of Canton in 1797. Shermans education did not extend beyond his fathers library and grammar school, and his early career was spent as a shoe-maker. However, he had an aptitude for learning, and access to a library owned by his father, as well as a Harvard-educated parish minister, the Rev. Samuel Dunbar. In 1743, due to his fathers death, Sherman moved with his mother and siblings to New Milford, Connecticut and he very quickly introduced himself in civil and religious affairs, rapidly becoming one of the towns leading citizens and eventually town clerk of New Milford. Due to his skill he became county surveyor of New Haven County in 1745. Roger Sherman was married two times and had a total of fifteen children with thirteen reaching adulthood, Sherman married Elizabeth on November 17,1749. She was born August 31,1726, in Stoughton, her father was Deacon Joseph Hartwell and her mother was Mary Hartwell, who was born on October 4,1697 and they were married by Samuel Dunbar and had seven children. Elizabeth died on October 19,1760, Sherman married Rebecca Prescott on May 12,1763. She was born on May 20,1742, in Danvers, Essex County, the first Mehitabel and Oliver both died in infancy. A son, Roger Sherman Jr. a 1787 graduate of Yale College served in the Connecticut General Assembly in 1810–1811, following the death of Rebecca Sherman, Baldwin married another of Roger Shermans daughters, Elizabeth Sherman Burr. His daughter, Mehitabel Sherman Barnes married Jeremiah Evarts, who served as treasurer and his daughter Martha Sherman married Jeremiah Day, who was President of Yale University from 1817 to 1846. Another daughter, Sarah Sherman, married Samuel Hoar, who was a member of the Massachusetts state legislature, grandfathers before Henry Sherman were Thomas, John, and Thomas Sherman. Henry Sherman born about 1512, married Agnes around 1539 died October 14,1580, in Dedham, referred to as Captain John Sherman Joseph Sherman, grandfather, born on May 14,1650, married Elizabeth Winship on April 12,1776. Robert Morris, who did not sign the Articles of Association, John Dickinson also signed three, the Continental Association, the Articles of Confederation and the United States Constitution
44.
Robert R. Livingston (chancellor)
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Robert R Livingston was an American lawyer, politician, diplomat from New York, and a Founding Father of the United States. He was known as The Chancellor, after the high New York state legal office he held for 25 years and he was a member of the Committee of Five that drafted the Declaration of Independence, along with Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Roger Sherman. Livingston was the eldest son of Judge Robert Livingston and Margaret Beekman Livingston and he had nine brothers and sisters, all of whom wed and made their homes on the Hudson River near the family seat at Clermont Manor. Livingston graduated from Kings College, renamed Columbia University following the American Revolution, Livingston was known for continually quarreling with his relatives. Livingston was appointed Recorder of New York City in October 1773 and he was a member of the Committee of Five that drafted the Declaration of Independence, although he was recalled by his state before he could sign the final version of the document. However, he sent his cousin, Philip Livingston, to sign the document in his place, in 1777-1801, Livingston was the first Chancellor of New York, then the highest judicial officer in the state. He became universally known as The Chancellor, retaining the title as a nickname even after he left the office, Livingston was also U. S. Secretary of Foreign Affairs from 1781 to 1783 under the Articles of Confederation. In 1789 as Chancellor of New York, Livingston administered the oath of office to George Washington at Federal Hall in New York City. In 1789 Livingston joined the Jeffersonian Republicans, in opposition to his former colleagues John Jay and he formed an uneasy alliance with his previous rival George Clinton, along with Aaron Burr, then a political newcomer. He opposed the Jay Treaty and other Federalist initiatives, in 1798 Livingston ran for Governor of New York on the Democratic-Republican ticket, but was defeated by incumbent Governor John Jay. Minister to France from 1801 to 1804, Livingston negotiated the Louisiana Purchase, after the signing of the Louisiana Purchase agreement in 1803, Livingston made this memorable statement, We have lived long but this is the noblest work of our whole lives. The United States take rank this day among the first powers of the world, in 1811 Fulton and Livingston became members of the Erie Canal Commission. Livingston was a Freemason, and in 1784 he was appointed the first Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of New York, the Grand Lodges library in Manhattan bears his name. The Bible Livingston used to administer the oath of office to President Washington is owned by St. John’s Lodge No. 1, and is used today when the Grand Master is sworn in, and, by request. After his death, Livingston was buried at St. James Episcopal Churchyard in Hyde Park, the engraved image of Livingston is taken from a Gilbert Stuart oil painting of 1794. Review of a 1960 biography by George Dangerfield Livingston County, Kentucky, the Robert Livingston high rise building at 85 Livingston St. in Brooklyn, NY is named for him. In the 2008 HBO miniseries, John Adams, Livingston is portrayed by actor Alex Draper, Livingston also appears in the Broadway musical 1776, where he is appointed to the committee for drafting the Declaration of Independence
45.
Benjamin Franklin
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Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Franklin was a polymath and a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, freemason, postmaster, scientist, inventor, civic activist, statesman. As a scientist, he was a figure in the American Enlightenment. As an inventor, he is known for the rod, bifocals. He facilitated many civic organizations, including Philadelphias fire department and the University of Pennsylvania, Franklin earned the title of The First American for his early and indefatigable campaigning for colonial unity, initially as an author and spokesman in London for several colonies. As the first United States Ambassador to France, he exemplified the emerging American nation, in the words of historian Henry Steele Commager, In a Franklin could be merged the virtues of Puritanism without its defects, the illumination of the Enlightenment without its heat. To Walter Isaacson, this makes Franklin the most accomplished American of his age, Franklin became a successful newspaper editor and printer in Philadelphia, the leading city in the colonies, publishing the Pennsylvania Gazette at the age of 23. He became wealthy publishing this and Poor Richards Almanack, which he authored under the pseudonym Richard Saunders, after 1767, he was associated with the Pennsylvania Chronicle, a newspaper that was known for its revolutionary sentiments and criticisms of the British policies. He pioneered and was first president of The Academy and College of Philadelphia which opened in 1751 and he organized and was the first secretary of the American Philosophical Society and was elected president in 1769. Franklin became a hero in America as an agent for several colonies when he spearheaded an effort in London to have the Parliament of Great Britain repeal the unpopular Stamp Act. An accomplished diplomat, he was widely admired among the French as American minister to Paris and was a figure in the development of positive Franco-American relations. His efforts proved vital for the American Revolution in securing shipments of crucial munitions from France, during the Revolution, he became the first US Postmaster General. He was active in community affairs and colonial and state politics, from 1785 to 1788, he served as governor of Pennsylvania. He initially owned and dealt in slaves but, by the 1750s, he argued against slavery from an economic perspective, Franklins father, Josiah Franklin, was a tallow chandler, a soap-maker and a candle-maker. Josiah was born at Ecton, Northamptonshire, England on December 23,1657, the son of Thomas Franklin, a blacksmith-farmer, and Jane White. His mother, Abiah Folger, was born in Nantucket, Massachusetts, on August 15,1667, to Peter Folger, a miller and schoolteacher, and his wife, Mary Morrill, Josiah Franklin had seventeen children with his two wives. He married his first wife, Anne Child, in about 1677 in Ecton and emigrated with her to Boston in 1683, after her death, Josiah was married to Abiah Folger on July 9,1689 in the Old South Meeting House by Samuel Willard. Benjamin, their child, was Josiah Franklins fifteenth child and tenth
46.
Richard Stockton (Continental Congressman)
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Richard Stockton was an American lawyer, jurist, legislator, and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Richard was a son of John Stockton the wealthy Princeton landowner who donated land and helped bring what is now Princeton University to Princeton and he studied law with David Ogden, of Newark, who was at that time the head of the legal profession in the province. Stockton was admitted to the bar in 1754 and soon rose to great distinction, in 1763 he received the degree of sergeant at law, the highest degree of law at that time. He was a friend of George Washington. His wife was poet Annis Boudinot Stockton, sister of New Jersey statesman Elias Boudinot and their son Richard Stockton became an eminent lawyer and prominent Federalist leader. Elias Boudinot was married to Stocktons sister Hannah Stockton, Stockton initially showed little interest in politics. He once wrote, The public is generally unthankful, and I never will become a Servant of it, till I am convinced that by neglecting my own affairs I am doing more acceptable Service to God and Man. Stockton did, however, take a role as a trustee of the College of New Jersey. Stockton served the College, afterwards known as Princeton University, as a trustee 26 years, in 1766 and 1767, he gave up his law practice for the purpose of visiting England, Scotland, and Ireland. His fame preceded him and he was received by the most eminent men of the kingdom and he was consulted on the state of American affairs by such notable men as the Marquis of Rockingham with whom he spent a week at his country estate. He met with Edmund Burke, the Earl of Chatham, in Scotland, his personal efforts resulted in the acceptance of the presidency of the College by the Reverend John Witherspoon. Witherspoons wife had opposed her husbands taking the position but her objections were overcome with the aid of his future son-in-law Benjamin Rush and this was an exceedingly important event in the history of higher education in America. One night in Edinburgh, Stockton was attacked by a robber and he defended himself skillfully with a small sword, Stockton returned to America in August 1767. In 1768, Stockton had his first taste of government service when he was elevated to a seat in the New Jersey Provincial Council and he first took a moderate stance in the troubles between the colonies and Great Britain. In 1774 he drafted and sent to Lord Dartmouth a plan of self-government for America, independent of Parliament, without renouncing the Crown. This Commonwealth approach was not acceptable to the King, had it been, in 1776, Stockton was elected to the Second Continental Congress, where he took a very active role. Stockton was the first person from New Jersey to sign the Declaration of Independence. On his return to Princeton, he traveled 30 miles east to the home of a friend, John Covenhoven, to evacuate his family to safety, and away from the path of the British army
47.
Francis Lewis
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Francis Lewis was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of New York. Born in Llandaff, Wales, he was the child of Morgan Lewis and he was educated in Scotland and attended Westminster School in England. He entered a house in London, then moved to Whitestone. He was taken prisoner while serving as a British mercantile agent in 1756, on his return to America, he became active in politics. He was a member of the Committee of Sixty, a member of the New York Provincial Congress, in 1778, he signed the United States Articles of Confederation. From 1779 to 1780, Lewis served as the Chairman of the Continental Board of Admiralty and her hardships in captivity ruined her health and led to her death in 1779. His son Morgan Lewis served in the army during the Revolutionary War and later held many offices in New York State, Lewis died on December 31,1802, although his memorial in Trinity Church Cemetery gives his year of death as 1803. In Queens, New York, Francis Lewis High School and P. S,79 The Francis Lewis School are named after Lewis. The Francis Lewis Boulevard, which tend to refer to as Franny Lew. Francis Lewis Park is located under the Queens approach of the Bronx Whitestone Bridge, a Masonic Lodge, Francis Lewis #273, is located in Whitestone. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, Francis Lewis at Find a Grave Google Maps – Francis Lewis Boulevard Google Maps – Francis Lewis Park
48.
John Witherspoon
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John Witherspoon was a Scottish-American Presbyterian minister and a Founding Father of the United States. Politically active, Witherspoon was a delegate from New Jersey to the Second Continental Congress and he was the only active clergyman and the only college president to sign the Declaration. Later, he signed the Articles of Confederation and supported ratification of the Constitution, in 1789 he was Convening Moderator of the First General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. This latter claim of Knox descent though ancient in origin is long disputed and he attended the Haddington Grammar School, and obtained a Master of Arts from the University of Edinburgh in 1739. He remained at the University to study divinity, in 1764, he was awarded an honorary doctorate degree in divinity by the University of St. Andrews. Witherspoon was a staunch Protestant, nationalist, and supporter of republicanism, consequently, he was opposed to the Roman Catholic Legitimist Jacobite rising of 1745–1746. Following the Jacobite victory at the Battle of Falkirk, he was imprisoned at Doune Castle. He became a Church of Scotland minister at Beith, Ayrshire and they had ten children, with five surviving to adulthood. From 1758–1768, he was minister of the Laigh kirk, Paisley, Witherspoon became prominent within the Church as an Evangelical opponent of the Moderate Party. During his two pastorates he wrote three works on theology, notably the satire Ecclesiastical Characteristics, which opposed the philosophical influence of Francis Hutcheson. Thus, Witherspoon and his emigrated to New Jersey in 1768. At the age of 45, he became the sixth President of the college, upon his arrival, Witherspoon found the school in debt, with weak instruction, and a library collection which clearly failed to meet student needs. He immediately began fund-raising—locally and back home in Scotland—added three hundred of his own books to the library, and began purchasing scientific equipment. Witherspoon also instituted a number of reforms, including modeling the syllabus and university structure after that used at the University of Edinburgh and he also firmed up entrance requirements, which helped the school compete with Harvard and Yale for scholars. Witherspoon taught personally courses in Eloquence or Belles Lettres, Chronology, however, none was more important than Moral Philosophy. An advocate of Natural Law within a Christian and republican Cosmology, Witherspoon considered Moral Philosophy vital for ministers, lawyers, firm but good-humored in his leadership, Witherspoon was very popular among both faculty and students. Witherspoon had been a prominent evangelical Presbyterian minister in Scotland before accepting the Princeton position, as the Colleges primary occupation at the time was training ministers, Witherspoon became a major leader of the early Presbyterian church in America. He also helped organize Nassau Presbyterian Church in Princeton, N. J, nonetheless, Witherspoon transformed a college designed predominantly to train clergymen into a school that would equip the leaders of a new Protestant country
49.
Samuel Huntington (Connecticut politician)
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Samuel Huntington was a jurist, statesman, and Patriot in the American Revolution from Connecticut. As a delegate to the Continental Congress, he signed the Declaration of Independence, Samuel was born to Nathaniel and Mehetabel Huntington on July 16,1731 in Windham, Connecticut. His house is now currently accessible off of Route 14 and he was the fourth of ten children, but the oldest son. He had an education in the common schools, then was self-educated. When Samuel was 16 he was apprenticed to a cooper, and his education came from the library of Rev. Ebenezer Devotion and books borrowed from local lawyers. In 1754 Samuel was admitted to the bar, and moved to Norwich and he married Martha Devotion in 1761. They remained together until her death in 1794, while the couple would not have children, when his brother died they adopted their nephew and niece. They raised Samuel H. Huntington and Frances as their own, after brief service as a selectman, Huntington began his political career in earnest in 1764 when Norwich sent him as one of their representatives to the lower house of the Connecticut Assembly. He continued to be returned to that each year until 1774. In 1775 he was elected to the house, the Governors Council. In addition to serving in the legislature, he was appointed Kings attorney for Connecticut in 1768 and in 1773 was appointed to the supreme court. He was chief justice of the Superior Court from 1784 until 1787, Huntington was an outspoken critic of the Coercive Acts of the British Parliament. As a result, the assembly elected him in October 1775 to become one of their delegates to the Second Continental Congress, in January 1776 he took his place with Roger Sherman and Oliver Wolcott as the Connecticut delegation in Philadelphia. He voted for and signed the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation and he suffered from an attack of smallpox while in Congress. While not known for learning or brilliant speech, Huntingtons steady hard work. As a result, when John Jay left to become minister to Spain, the President of Congress was a mostly ceremonial position with no real authority, but the office did require Huntington to handle a good deal of correspondence and sign official documents. He spent his time as president urging the states and their legislatures to support the levies for men, supplies, the Articles of Confederation were finally ratified during his term. Huntington remained as President of Congress until July 9,1781, in 1782, Connecticut again named him as a delegate, but his health and judicial duties kept him from accepting
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- Not a signer of the final Declaration of Independence but depicted in painting. Although Charles Thomson was one of two members listed by name in the earlier Dunlap Broadside as having attested to the Declaration, and many historians believe he had signed the original document that was lost.)
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