Homily for July 4th, 2018.
The 56 men who signed the
Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia
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.
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 if they were
captured, the penalty would be death.
Carter Braxton of
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 Continental 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 8
others [Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and
Middleton].
At the battle of Yorktown
, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British Gene ral
Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly
urged Gene ral 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.
As
we give thanks to God for the courage and generosity of these founders of our beloved
country, we need to remember: Freedom is never free!
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