Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?
Five signers were captured by the British as traitors and were tortured before they died.
Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.
Nine of the men fought and died from wounds or hardships from the Revolutionary War.
Two lost sons serving in the war, two others had sons captured.
What kind of men were these to do such things?
24 were lawyers or jurists. 11 were merchants, 9 were farmers and large plantation owners, men of means, well educated for the day, but they signed knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.
Carter Braxton of Virgina, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and he died in rags.
Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge and Middleton.
Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, where she died a few months later.
At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire with cannons. The home was destroyed and Nelson died bankrupt.
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, upon returning home he found his wife dead and his children vanished.
Its just food for thought, when you observe holidays like the 4th of July, when we celebrate our Independence, we can remember what it costs to be free. We need to remember : Freedom is Never Free!