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Archiver > PABUCKS > 1999-07 > 0930980240


From: "Morrow" <>
Subject: Re: [PABUCKS-L] Re: Unidentified subject!
Date: Sat, 3 Jul 1999 01:37:20 -0400


I'm sorry, but the first obligation in historical research, including
genealogy, is to get the facts right. I've gotten this from three sources,
today. It isn't right, but the truth is as worthy. These were great and
important men. I don't know why their legitimate stories need to be
exaggerated.

As we turn our thoughts to Independence Day and all that it symbolizes, let
us keep truth as one of the essential elements of the story.

The Thomas Nelson House still stands, I've been there. The allegation that
his home was destroyed is clearly false. It is owned by the National Park
Service at Yorktown. That made me go get my copy of "Signers of the
Declaration," a book that was published by the Park Service in 1973 in
conjunction with the American Revolution Bicentennial. Curiously, the three
South Carolinians who were British captives are mentioned in the email story
only among those whose property was looted.

This is what I find about those mentioned (all quotations from the same
book; parenthetical notes are mine):
Carter Braxton. He was elected to the "State legislature, in which he
sat for the rest of his life. . . .
"The War for Independence brought financial hardships to Braxton. . .
.the British captured most of his vessels and ravaged some of his
plantations. . . .Commercial setbacks in later years ruined him. In 1786,
though he retained Chericoke (the home he began building in 1767), he moved
to Richmond, where he died in 1797 . . . he was buried in the family
cemetery adjacent to Chericoke."
Thomas McKean. ". . .in September-November 1777, he temporarily replaced
the president of Delaware, whom the British had captured. In vain they also
pursued McKean, who was forced to move his family several times. Meantime,
in July, he had been appointed chief justice of the Pennsylvania Superior
Court, a position he was to hold for 22 years. . . .
"While governor (of Pennsylvania) for three terms (1799-1808), McKean's
. . . imperiousness infuriated the Federalists, alienated many members of
his own party, and resulted in an attempt to impeach him. . . .
"McKean lived out his life quietly in Philadelphia. He died in 1817 at
the age of 83 .. His substantial estate consisted of stocks, bonds, and
huge tracts of land."
William Ellery.British troops in 1778, during their 3-year occupation of
Newport (R.I.), had destroyed his home and property . . . . In 1790,
president Washington appointed Ellery as customs collector for the district
of Newport, a position he held for three decades. . . .
"In later years, Ellery prospered. . . . Living to 92, . . He died in
1820 in Newport."
George Clymer. In December 1776, when Congress fled from Philadelphia to
Baltimore, he . . . remained behind to carry on congressional business.
Within a year, . . . British troops advancing on Philadelphia detoured for
the purpose of vandalizing Clymer's home in Chester County, about 25 miles
outside the city, while his wife and children hid nearby in the woods.. . .
During his retirement, Clymer advanced various community projects,
including the Philadelphia Agricultural Society, the Philadelphia Academy of
fine Arts, and the Philadelphia Bank
Lyman Hall. ". . . he had moved his family somewhere to the north just
before British troops ravaged and conquered the Georgia coast. In the
process, the destroyed Hall's Knoll and Hall's Sunbury residence and
confiscated his property." he later served a term as governor and sold the
land that had been confiscated, but restored to him. It notes that "his
duties as executor of Button Gwinnett's tangled estate required year of
legal wrangling."
George Walton. "He was wounded in the British siege of Savannah late in
1778 and endured captivity for almost a year. . . .
"About 1790 while Governor. . . Walton built "Meadow Garden" cottage on
the northern edge of the city (Augusta) on confiscated Loyalist lands he had
acquired."
Button Gwinnett. "Tempestuousness and ill-fortune marked the destiny of
uniquely named Button Gwinnett . . . he met his tragic end in a duel while
only in his forties. the only highlight of his brief tour in the Continental
Congress was signing the Declaration. Even in Georgia, where he rose to the
acting governorship, controversy and failure usually dogged him. Financial
misfortunes were continual distractions, and he found that his paltry
rewards as a merchant and planter matched his disappointments in politics. .
"Gwinnett's land, slaves, and other possessions were . . . gobbled up by
creditors. finally, in 1773, they took over the (St. Catherine's) island,
but allowed Gwinnett to maintain his home there. He did so for the rest of
his life. During the war, however, the approach of British vessels, who
replenished their food from the livestock on the exposed island, sometimes
forced him and his family to scurry over in their boat to Sunbury (see Lyman
Hall, above) for temporary refuge."
Thomas Heyward, Jr. "In 1779 Heyward was wounded during Brig. Gen.
William Moultrie's repulse of a British attack on Port Royal Island. . . .
The following year, the British plundered White Hall (his plantation) and
carried off all the slaves. When they took Charleston, they captured
Heyward, who was helping defend the city. He was imprisoned at St.
Augustine, Fla., until July 1781.
Edward Rutledge. "... at the age of 26, was the youngest of the signers.
. . . As a militia captain, in February 1779 he took part in Gen. William
Moultrie's defeat of the British at Port Royal Island, S.C. but in May,
1780, during the siege of Charleston, the redcoats captured Rutledge, as
well as Heyward and Middleton, and imprisoned them at St. Augustine, Fla.,
until July 1781.
Arthur Middleton (Rutledge's brother-in-law). ". . . he advocated the
tarring and feathering of Loyalists and confiscation of the estates of those
who had fled the country. . .. The British captured him . . . and ravished
his estate."
Thomas Nelson, Jr. ". . .he made great financial sacrifices during the
war and won fame as a militia commander and State politician. . .
"In September-October 1781, while taking part in the Yorktown siege,
according to family tradition he ordered troops to shell his own mansion
when he learned it was a British headquarters.
". . . In financial distress from his wartime sacrifices, . . . Nelson
lacked money to renovate his Yorktown home . . . he devoted the rest of his
life to business affairs."
"The historical record indicates both British and French military likely
used it . . . the southeast face does show evidence of damage from cannon
fire. the house remained in possession of the Nelson family until 1914."
Francis Lewis. "Few other signers felt the tragedy of the War for
independence more directly than Francis Lewis, whose wife died as a result
of British imprisonment. To further the cause, he also expended a
considerable portion of the fortune he had acquired as a merchant.
". . . when the British invaded Long Island, they destroyed Lewis' home
in Whitestone and took his wife into custody. . . . the hardships she
endured ruined her health and brought about her death in 1779. The
grief-stricken Lewis immediately left Congress . . ."
John Hart. ". . . he and his family directly experienced the tragedy of
the war. Unfortunately, he died before the attainment of victory.
"That winter (1776-7) . . . the redcoats wreaked havoc on his farm and
mills and drove him into hiding . . . When he ended his exile . . ., he
discovered that his wife, ill at the time of the attack, had died and his
family scattered. In 1777-78 he sat again on the council of safety, but
failing health forced his retirement. He died the next year, at the age of
69. . ."

In summary, these stories are as worthy as the concocted accounts that were
posted. Some of these men look more worthy, some less so than in that story,
but the truth does not diminish my appreciation of them and what they
achieved.

Duncan Morrow

-----Original Message-----
From: Jeff Smith <>
To: <>
Date: Saturday, July 03, 1999 12:03 AM
Subject: [PABUCKS-L] Re: Unidentified subject!

>Vicky -
>
>Bravo!!! I'm speechless.
>
>Jeff Smith
>Fairfax, Virginia
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Vicky <>
>To: <>
>Sent: Friday, July 02, 1999 1:48 PM
>Subject: Unidentified subject!
>
>
>> Men of Conscience and Principles
>> Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men
>> who signed the Declaration of Independence?
>>
>> Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured
>before
>> they died.
>>
>> Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.
>> Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army, another had two
>sons
>> captured.
>> Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the
>> Revolutionary
>> War.
>> They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their
>sacred
>> honor.
>>
>> What kind of men were they?
>> Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists.
>> Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men
>> of
>> means, well educated.
>>
>> But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that
the
>> penalty
>> would be death if they were captured. Carter Braxton of Virginia, a
>wealthy
>> planter and
>> trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold
>his
>> home and properties
>> to pay his debts, and died in rags. Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the
>> British that he
>> was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the
>Congress
>> without pay,
>> and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him,
>> and
>> poverty was his reward.
>> Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer,
>Walton,
>> Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.
>> At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British
>> General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters.
He
>> quietly urged General George Washington to open fire.
>> The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.
>> Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed
his
>> wife, and she died within a few months.
>> John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13
>> children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to
>> waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning
>home
>> to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later he
died
>> from exhaustion and a broken heart. Norris and Livingston
>> suffered similar fates.
>>
>> Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution. These
>> were not wild eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians.
>> They were soft-spoken men of means and education. They had security, but
>> they valued liberty more. Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they
>> pledged: "For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the
>> protection of
>> the divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our
>> fortunes, and our sacred honor."
>> They gave you and me a free and independent America. The history books
>> never told you a lot of what happened in the
>> Revolutionary War. We didn't just fight the British. We were British
>> subjects at that time and we fought our own government! Some of us
take
>> these liberties so much for granted...We shouldn't. So, take a couple
of
>> minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these
>> patriots. It's not much to ask for the price they paid..............
>>
>>
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>>
>
>
>
>
>==== PABUCKS Mailing List ====
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>
>

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