George Wythe - Signer of the Declaration

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Congressional Biographical Directory

WYTHE, George, a Delegate from Virginia; born near Back River, Elizabeth City County, Va., in 1726; privately instructed by his mother and attended the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Va.; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1746 and commenced practice in Elizabeth City County in 1755; moved to Williamsburg about 1755; member of the house of burgesses 1758-1768; appointed a member of the committee of correspondence in 1759; moved to his estate in Elizabeth City County in 1763 and returned to Williamsburg in 1768; clerk of the house of burgesses 1768-1775; Member of the Continental Congress 1775-1776; a signer of the Declaration of Independence; speaker of the house of delegates in 1777; judge of the Virginia Chancery Court in 1777; appointed sole chancellor of Virginia in 1778; professor of law at the College of William and Mary from 1779 to 1791, when he resigned and moved to Richmond, Va.; conducted a private school in Richmond and continued teaching until his death; delegate to the Federal Convention at Philadelphia, Pa., in 1787; a member of the State ratification convention in 1788; died in Richmond, Va., June 8, 1806; interment in St. John’s Churchyard.

Oliver Wolcott - Signer of the Declaration

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Congressional Biographical Directory

WOLCOTT, Oliver, a Delegate from Connecticut; born in Windsor, Conn., November 20, 1726; was graduated from Yale College in 1747; commissioned a captain by the Governor of New York in 1747; raised a company of Volunteers and served on the northwestern frontier until the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle; returned to Connecticut and settled in Litchfield; studied medicine, but did not practice; elected sheriff of the newly organized county of Litchfield, Conn., in 1751; member of the State council 1774-1786 and at the same time judge of the county court of common pleas; judge of probate for the Litchfield district many years; major general of militia; appointed by the Continental Congress in 1775 as one of the commissioners of Indian affairs for the northern department, intrusted with the task of inducing the Iroquois Indians to remain neutral; Member of the Continental Congress 1776-1778 and 1780-1783; a signer of the Declaration of Independence; commander of the fourteen Connecticut regiments sent for the defense of New York in 1776, and divided his time between Army service and service in Congress; commanded a brigade of militia which took part in the defeat of General Burgoyne in 1777; Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut 1786-1796; elected Governor in 1796 and served until his death in Litchfield, Conn., December 1, 1797; interment in the East Cemetery.

John Witherspoon - Signer of the Declaration

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John Witherspoon May 1776 - The Dominion of Providence Over the Passions of Men

"If your cause is just, you may look with confidence to the Lord, and intreat him to plead it as his own. You are all my witnesses, that this is the first time of my introducing any political subject into the pulpit. At this season, however, it is not only lawful but necessary, and I willingly embrace the opportunity of declaring my opinion without any hesitation, that the cause in which America is now in arms, is the cause of justice, of liberty, and of human nature. ... There is not a single instance in history, in which civil liberty was lost, and religious liberty preserved entire. If therefore we yield up our temporal property, we at the same time deliver the conscience into bondage."

John Witherspoon, The Works of John Witherspoon Edinburgh: J. Ogle, 1815), Vol. IV, pp. 266, 277.

"Those who wish well to the State ought to choose to places of trust men of inward principle, justified by exemplary conversation. . . .[And t]he people in general ought to have regard to the moral character of those whom they invest with authority either in the legislative, executive, or judicial branches."

John Witherspoon, The Works of John Witherspoon (Edinburgh: J. Ogle, 1815), Vol. IX, p. 250, “The Druid,” Number III.

"On the part of America, there was not the most distant thought of subverting the government or of hurting the interest of the people of Great Britain; but of defending their own privileges from unjust encroachment; there was not the least desire of withdrawing their allegiance from the common sovereign [King George III] till it became absolutely necessary — and indeed, it was his own choice."

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Congressional Biographical Directory

WITHERSPOON, John, a Delegate from New Jersey; born in Gifford, Haddingtonshire, Scotland, February 5, 1723; completed preparatory studies; was graduated from Edinburgh University in 1739; studied theology at Edinburgh; was licensed in 1743 and ordained minister of the parish of Beith in 1745; was the author of various religious pamphlets; installed pastor at Paisley June 16, 1757; moderator of the synod of Glasgow and Ayr in 1758; became president of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1768; member of the committee on correspondence from Somerset County July 28, 1775; member of the Provincial Congress of New Jersey from June 10 to June 22, 1776; Member of the Continental Congress from 1776-1782; a signer of the Declaration of Independence; member of the secret committee of the Congress on the conduct of the war and member of the board of war in 1778; member of the State council in 1780; drafted the instructions of June 1781 to the American peace commissioners; served in the State general assembly in 1783 and 1789; member of the State ratification convention in 1787; after the war returned to Princeton, where he continued his duties as president; died on his farm near Princeton, N.J., November 15, 1794; interment in the Princeton Cemetery, Princeton, N.J.