Richard Stockton - Signer of the Declaration

Quotes

Last Will & Testament of Richard Stockton, attested May 20, 1780

"And as my children will have frequent occasion of perusing this instrument and may probably be particularly impressed with the last words of their father, I think proper here not only to subscribe to the entire belief of the great and leading doctrines of the Christian religion, such as the being of God, the universal defection and depravity of human nature, the divinity of the person and the completeness of the redemption purchased by the blessed Saviour, the necessity of the operations of the Divine Spirit; of Divine faith accompanied with a habitual virtuous life, and the universality of the Divine Providence; but also in the bowels of a father’s affection, to exhort and charge them that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, that the way of life held up in the Christian system is calculated for the most complete happiness that can be enjoyed in this mortal state."

Tibits

Richard Stockton was a member of a society for ending slavery.

Richard Stockton, in 1766, sailed to Scotland to recruit Rev. John Witherspoon for the presidency of the College of New Jersey.

Bio

Congressional Biographical Directory

STOCKTON, Richard, (father of Richard Stockton [1764-1828], grandfather of Richard Stockton Field and Robert Field Stockton, and great-grandfather of John Potter Stockton), a Delegate from New Jersey; born at “Morven,” near Princeton, Somerset County, N.J., October 1, 1730; attended Nottingham Academy in Cecil County, Md., and was graduated in the first class from Princeton College, in 1748; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1754 and commenced practice in Princeton, N.J.; member of the executive council of New Jersey from November 2, 1768, to June 17, 1776; associate justice of the State supreme court from February 28, 1774, to June 17, 1776; Member of the Continental Congress in 1776; a signer of the Declaration of Independence; unsuccessful candidate for Governor of New Jersey on August 31, 1776; elected chief justice of the State supreme court on August 31, 1776, but declined the office; resumed the practice of law; died at “Morven,” near Princeton, N.J., February 28, 1781; interment in Stoney Brook Meeting House Burial Ground near Princeton, N.J.

James Smith - Signer of the Declaration

Quotes

Tibits

Rev. Charles A. Goodrich Lives of the Signers to the Declaration of Independence. New York: William Reed & Co., 1856. Pages 291-296.

"He was for many years a professor of religion, and very regular in his attendance on public worship."

Bio

Congressional Biographical Directory

SMITH, James, a Delegate from Pennsylvania; born in Ireland in 1713; immigrated to the United States with his father in 1727 and settled in Pennsylvania; pursued classical studies; attended the Philadelphia Academy (now the University of Pennsylvania); worked as a surveyor in Cumberland County; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1745 and began practice in Shippensburg, Pa.; moved to York, Pa., and engaged in the manufacture of iron; delegate to the provisional conference in Philadelphia; delegate to the State convention in January 1775; organized the Pennsylvania Militia and the two regiments of the Flying Camp in Perth Amboy, N.J., in 1776; Member of the Continental Congress 1776-1778; a signer of the Declaration of Independence; member of the State house of representatives in 1780; brigadier general of State militia; State councilor; resumed the practice of his profession in York, Pa., and died there on July 11, 1806; interment in the First Presbyterian Churchyard.

Roger Sherman - Signer of the Declaration

Quotes

Lewis Henry Boutell, The Life of Roger Sherman (Chicago: A. C. McClurg and Co., 1896), pp. 272-273.

"I believe that there is one only living and true God, existing in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, the same in substance, equal in power and glory. That the Scriptures of the old and new testaments are a revelation from God and a complete rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy Him."

Tibits

Married twice, Roger Sherman had 15 children.

Roger Sherman and Robert Morris were the only men to sign the three foundational documents of the Republic: the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, and Constitution.

Roger Sherman conceived and introduced the Connecticut, or so-called Great, Compromise, which broke a deadlock between the large and small States by providing for a dual legislative system—representation by proportion of population in the lower house and equal representation in the upper house.

Bio

Congressional Biographical Directory

SHERMAN, Roger, (father-in-law of Samuel Hoar and Simeon Baldwin, grandfather of William Evarts, Roger Sherman Baldwin, George Frisbie Hoar and Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar, great-grandfather of Rockwood Hoar and Sherman Hoar), a Delegate, a Representative, and a Senator from Connecticut; born in Newton, Mass., April 19, 1721; moved with his parents to Stoughton (now Canton), Mass., in 1723; attended the public schools; learned the shoemaker’s trade; moved to New Milford, Conn., in 1743; surveyor of New Haven County in 1745; studied law; admitted to the bar in 1754 and practiced; member, Connecticut assembly 1755-1756, 1758-1761, 1764-1766; justice of the peace for Litchfield County 1755-1761, and of the quorum 1759-1761; moved to New Haven, Conn., in June 1761; justice of the peace and member of the court 1765-1766; member, State senate 1766-1785; judge of the superior court 1766-1767, 1773-1788; member of the council of safety 1777-1779; Member of the Continental Congress 1774-1781, and 1784; a signer of the Declaration of Independence and a member of the committee which drafted it; member of the committee to prepare the Articles of Confederation; the only Member of the Continental Congress who signed the Declaration of 1774, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Federal Constitution; mayor of New Haven from 1784 until his death; delegate to the Federal Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia in 1787; elected to the First Congress (March 4, 1789-March 3, 1791); elected to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of William S. Johnson and served from June 13, 1791, until his death in New Haven, Conn., July 23, 1793; interment in Grove Street Cemetery in New Haven (formerly known as New Haven City Burying Ground).

Edward Rutledge - Signer of the Declaration

Quotes

Tibits

Edward Rutledge, at the age of 26, was the youngest of the signers.

In May of 1780, during the siege of Charleston, the redcoats captured Rutledge and imprisoned him at St. Augustine, FL until July of 1781.

Bio

Congressional Biographical Directory

RUTLEDGE, Edward, (brother of John Rutledge and uncle of John Rutledge, Jr.), a Delegate from South Carolina; born in Christ Church Parish, S.C., November 23, 1749; completed preparatory studies; studied law at the Middle Temple in London; returned to South Carolina; was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in 1773; Member of the Continental Congress 1774-1776; a signer of the Declaration of Independence; was a delegate to the first provincial congress in 1775 and to the second provincial congress 1775-1776; appointed a member of the first board of war in June 1776; member of the general assembly in 1778; elected a Member of the Continental Congress in 1779 but did not take his seat; captain in the Charleston Battalion of Artillery in the Militia of South Carolina in the Revolution; taken prisoner when the British captured Charleston May 12, 1780, imprisoned at St. Augustine until July 1781, when he was exchanged; member of the State house of representatives in 1782, 1786, 1788, and 1792; member of the State constitutional convention in 1790 and was author of the act abolishing the law of primogeniture in 1791; was tendered the appointment of Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court in 1794 by President Washington, but did not accept; elected Governor of South Carolina and served from December 6, 1798, until his death in Charleston, S.C., January 23, 1800; interment in St. Philip’s Churchyard.