Thomas McKean - Signer of the Declaration

Quotes

Thomas McKean, as Pennsylvania Supreme Court Chief Justice, at the conclusion of the case Respublica vs. John Roberts. Being found guilty of treason, Roberts was condemned to death. Chief Justice McKean spoke these words to the condemned man:

You will probably have but a short time to live. Before you launch into eternity, it behooves you to improve the time that may be allowed you in this world. It behooves you most seriously to reflect upon your conduct, to repent of your evil deeds, to be incessant in prayers to the great and merciful God to forgive your manifold transgressions and sins, to teach you to rely upon the merit and passion of a dear Redeemer and thereby to avoid those regions of sorrow, those doleful shades where peace and rest can never dwell, where even hope cannot enter. It behooves you to seek the fellowship, advice and prayers of pious and good men, to be persistent at the throne of grace and to learn the way that leadeth to happiness. May you reflecting upon these things and pursuing the will of the great Father of Light and Life, be received into the company and society of angels and archangels and the spirits of just men made perfect and may you be qualified to enter into the joys of heaven, joys unspeakable and full of glory.

Tibits

Thomas McKean along with James Wilson, co-authored America’s first Commentaries on the Constitution.

Memorial of Robert Aitken to Congress, 21 January 1781.
AND
Journals of . . . Congress (1914), Vol. XXIII, p. 572, September 12, 1782

As the war [for independance] prolonged, the shortage of Bibles remained a problem. Consequently, Robert Aitken, publisher of The Pennsylvania Magazine, petitioned Congress on January 21, 1781, for permission to print the Bibles on his presses here in America rather than import them. He pointed out to Congress that his Bible would be “a neat edition of the Holy Scriptures for the use of schools.” Congress approved his request and appointed a committee of James Duane, Thomas McKean, and John Witherspoon to oversee the project.

Bio

Congressional Biographical Directory

McKEAN, Thomas, a Delegate from Delaware; born in New London, Chester County, Pa., March 19, 1734; was privately taught; engaged as clerk to the prothonotary of the court of common pleas for two years; deputy prothonotary and register for the probate of wills for New Castle County, studying law at the same time; was admitted to the bar in 1755 and commenced practice in New Castle, Del.; appointed deputy attorney general for Sussex County in 1756 and served until 1758 when he resigned; went to England and resumed the study of law at the Middle Temple in London; member of the Delaware House of Assembly 1762-1775 and served as speaker in 1772; appointed one of the three trustees of the loan office for New Castle County in 1764 and served until 1776; member of the Stamp-Act Congress in 1765; appointed by the Governor sole notary for the lower counties of Delaware July 10, 1765; in the same year received the commission of a justice of the peace, of the court of common pleas and quarter sessions, and of the orphans’ court for New Castle County; appointed collector of the port of New Castle in 1771; Member of the Continental Congress 1774-1776, 1778-1782 and served as President of Congress in 1781; a signer of the Declaration of Independence; member of the State house of representatives in 1776 and 1777 and served as speaker in the latter year; President of the State of Delaware in 1777; chief justice of Pennsylvania 1777-1799; served in the Revolutionary War; member of the convention of Pennsylvania which ratified the Constitution of the United States December 12, 1787; delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1789; Governor of Pennsylvania 1799-1808; died in Philadelphia, Pa., June 24, 1817; interment in Laurel Hill Cemetery.

Thomas Lynch Jr. - Signer of the Declaration

Quotes

Tibits

Thomas Lynch, Sr was also a member of the Continental Congress. They were the only father-son team. Failing health in the elder Lynch did not allow him to be a signer of the declaration.

Thomas Lynch, Jr. was the second youngest signer next to Edward Rutledge. At age 30 he was alto the youngest to die. In 1779 he and his wife left for France by way of the West Indies to improve his failing health. Their ship was lost at sea with all passengers. He and his wife had no children.

Bio

Congressional Biographical Directory

LYNCH, Thomas, Jr., (son of Thomas Lynch [1727-1776]), a Delegate from South Carolina; born in Prince George’s Parish, Winyah, S.C., August 5, 1749; educated at Eton and Cambridge, England, and studied law at the Middle Temple in London, 1764-1772; returned to America in 1772; became a planter on the North Santee River; member of the First and Second Provincial Congresses of South Carolina 1774-1776; member of the constitutional committee in 1776; member of the State general assembly in 1776; served as a captain in the First South Carolina Regiment, subsequently of the Continental Line, in the Revolutionary War from June 1775 until his election as a Delegate to the Continental Congress on February 1, 1776, and served in 1776; signer of the Declaration of Independence; did not seek reelection to the Continental Congress owing to ill health; embarked on an ocean voyage to France in 1779 and was lost at sea in that year.

Philip Livingston - Signer of the Declaration

Quotes

Tibits

In the book Lives of the Signers to the Declaration of Independence (1856), Rev. Charles A. Goodrich states:

"He was a firm believer in the great truths of the Christian system, and a sincere and humble follower of the divine Redeemer."

Virtualology.com states the following about Philip Livingston:

"Livingston was reelected to congress by the state convention and in May 1777 he was chosen a senator for the southern district of the first legislature of the state of New York. In October of the same year, he was reelected to Congress and on May 5, 1778 he took his seat. This was a critical and dismal period in the history of the Revolution. The British had taken Philadelphia, requiring congress to hold their sessions at York. At this time, Livingston's health was severely unstable. His health was so compromised that his doctors gave him no hope of recovery. Yet, his patriotic spirit was so strong that he did not hesitate to attend the sessions of Congress. Prior to his departure for York, he visited his friends in Albany and gave them his final farewell as he did not expect to see them again. His family, at this time were at Kingston, and he also said his good-byes and told them that he would not return. Livingston's sad anticipation proved true. On May 5, 1778, he took his seat in congress and his health deteriorated rapidly. He died on June 12, 1778 at the age of sixty-two. He was buried in York."

Bio

Congressional Biographical Directory

Philip Livingston, (brother of William Livingston, cousin of Edward Livingston and Robert R. Livingston, and uncle of Walter Livingston), a Delegate from New York; born in Albany, N.Y., January 15, 1716; was graduated from Yale College in 1737; engaged in the mercantile business in New York City; member of the board of aldermen 1754-1762; member of the provincial house of representatives 1763-1769 and served as speaker in 1768; member of the New York Committee of Correspondence; delegate to the Stamp Act Congress in October 1765; register in chancery in 1768 and 1769; Member of the Continental Congress from 1775 until his death; a signer of the Declaration of Independence; president of the New York Provincial Convention in 1775; member of the State assembly in 1776; served in the State senate in 1777; prominent in commercial and educational societies; died while attending the sixth session of the Continental Congress in York, Pa., June 12, 1778; interment in a tomb in Prospect Hill Cemetery, York, York County, Pa.

Francis Lewis - Signer of the Declaration

Quotes

Tibits

Lewis also signed the Articles of Confederation.

In the war for independance Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within two years of her release.

Newsday.com reports that Francis Lewis Put Patriotism Before Wealth.

Francis Lewis served as a vestryman for many years at St. George's Episcopal Church originally bult in 1704 in Flushing, NY.

Bio

biographic sketch at U.S. Congress website

Francis Lewis (March 21, 1713 – December 30, 1803), a Delegate from New York; born in Llandaff, Wales, March 21, 1713; attended Westminster School, London; entered the countinghouse of a London merchant; immigrated to the United States in 1735 and established mercantile houses in New York and Philadelphia; secured a contract to clothe the British Army in America in 1753; participated in the French and Indian War as an aide to General Mercer; was captured in Oswego, N.Y., and taken as a prisoner to France; on his return the colonial government gave him 5,000 acres of land in recognition of his services; delegate in the Stamp Act Congress that met in New York City in 1765; retired from business in 1765 and located in Whitestone, Long Island, N.Y.; Member of the Continental Congress 1775-1779; was a signer of the Declaration of Independence; delegate to the provincial convention in 1775; member of the Committee of One Hundred in 1775; served in the Provincial Congress in 1776 and 1777; commissioner of the board of admiralty in 1779; died in New York City on December 30, 1803; interment in Trinity Churchyard.

Christmas With The Founding Fathers

John Quincy Adams
Sixth President of the United States

July 4th, 1837 – from a Fourth of July speech at Newburyport, Massachusetts

"Why is it that, next to the birthday of the Savior of the world, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on this day [the Fourth of July]?" "Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? That it forms a leading event in the progress of the Gospel dispensation? Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer's mission upon earth? That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity?"