The Declaration of Independence bears the signatures of 56 men.  Many of their names have become world-famous, including 2 American presidents, multiple governors, ambassadors and state leaders.  But for an unlucky few, things turned out quite differently…

Only six weeks after the signing, two members of the New York delegation were caught in the line of fire.  Francis Lewis of Manhattan had been a successful shipping agent who used all his wealth to buy a retirement farm on Long Island.  But in the first major battle of the war, at Brooklyn Heights, the British destroyed it all.  His wife was captured and she died a few months later.  His compatriot, Lewis Morris, suffered a similar fate only days later, when the British swept north and destroyed Morris’ Harlem farm and home.  Though both Lewis and Morris survived the war, neither financially recovered.

Two New Jerseyans were next.  As the British entered the Hopewell Valley, John Hart was forced into hiding, leaving his dying wife behind.  His fellow signer Richard Stockton abandoned his Princeton home with his family, but he was captured and imprisoned.  When Hart returned to his farm, his wife had died.  Later, in 1778, Hart volunteered his property to house over 12,000 American troops.  The resulting damage and stress proved too much for him and he died a year later.  Stockton, meanwhile, was freed after the battle of Princeton, but he also never recovered, and died a pauper in 1781.

Carter Braxton of Virginia was perhaps the most generous signer.  He loaned 10,000 pounds to the government at the war’s outset, and throughout the war supported American shipping.  As the war came south, his plantations were overrun by the British.  Braxton was ruined and forced to sell his family home.  He lived in a modest row house in Richmond until his death in 1786.

The suffering continued right to the end, when for one signer the war literally came home.  Thomas Nelson, Jr. was Commander in Chief of the Virginia Militia.  As the Americans reached Yorktown, they found that British General Cornwallis had taken up residence in Nelson’s own house and that of his uncle Thomas Nelson, Sr. Undeterred, Nelson opened fire, destroying his uncle’s home and severely damaging his own.  The climax of the American Revolution is marked by one of the Founding Fathers voluntarily setting his heritage ablaze.

These men never enjoyed the fruits of their sacrifice.  Nor are they well-remembered by the people of the nation they created.  But they are perhaps the best examples of dedication to the oath that all 56 men took together:  “For the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”