Declaration of Independence

Three months older than co-signer Edward Rutledge, Thomas Lynch, Jr., at age 26 was the second youngest signer of the Declaration of Independence.  However, when Thomas Lynch, Jr.’s life tragically ended at age 30, he was the youngest of the signers at their deaths.

The story of Thomas Lynch, Jr., an Episcopalian, is really the story of father and son, for it was Thomas Lynch, Sr. who, had he not suffered a cerebral hemorrhage in early 1776, from which he never sufficiently recovered, would have signed the Declaration of Independence, along with his son.  He is the only Founding father whose son was elected to replace his father.  Lynch, Sr. was a prominent politician who played a pivotal role in events leading up to the American Revolution. 

"And 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."  Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776 

Thomas Heyward, Jr.:  South Carolina

An Episcopalian, The eldest son of a wealthy planter, Thomas Heyward, Jr., was born in Old House, in St. Luke’s Parish (now Jasper County) in the Province of South Carolina, about 25 miles north of Savannah, Georgia, on July 28, 1746. His father was Colonel Daniel Heyward, his mother, Mary Butler Heyward.  They were among those to grow rice, the “golden seed from Madagascar” which became the big money crop of “low country” South Carolina. Thomas used the “junior” suffix to differ him from his father’s younger brother of that name.

Education 

"And 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."  Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776 

Edward Rutledge: South Carolina

An Episcopalian, Edward Rutledge was born in Charleston, South Carolina on November 23, 1749.  He was the youngest son of Dr. John Rutledge, who emigrated from Ireland to South Carolina about the year 1735.  Edward’s mother was Sarah Hert, a “lady of respectable family, and large fortune.”

At age 26, he was the youngest delegate to sign the Declaration of Independence.  (The accomplishments of Edward’s older brother, John Rutledge, rivaled those of Edward’s. John was an early delegate to the Continental Congress, President of South Carolina from 1776 to 1778, Governor of South Carolina in 1779, a member of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, a signer of the U.S. Constitution, a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1789 to 1791 and was appointed Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court by President George Washington in 1795.)

Education and Law Practice

"And 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."  Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776 

John Penn: North Carolina. 

An Episcopalian, John Penn was born on May 17, 1741, at Port Royal, Caroline County, Virginia.  John was the only child of a farmer, Moses Penn, and Catherine Taylor Penn.  On his mother’s side, two descendants of his great-grandfather James Taylor became presidents of the United States—James Madison and Zachary Taylor. 

John’s father died suddenly when John was 18 years old.  Even though John was left with a modest fortune, his parents didn’t believe in the value of an education.  John had spent only two-three years at a country common school.    

John could have led an unprincipled life of foolishness and dissipation, but instead he took advantage of the tutelage and vast library of his cousin, Edmund Pendleton.   Pendleton was well known as one of the most accomplished statesmen of Virginia.  His library was described by both Jefferson and Adams as having no equal in the colonies.

"And 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."  Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776 

William Hooper, North Carolina.  

William Hooper has often been called the "Prophet of Independence."  His prophetic observation was recorded in a letter of 26 April 1774 to his friend James Iredell, stating: “The Colonies are striding fast to independence, and ere long will build an empire upon the ruins of Great Britain; will adopt its Constitution, purged of its impurities, and from an experience of its defects, will guard against those evils which have wasted its vigor”.  

Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, and William Hooper were called the “Orators of the Congress” by John Adams.