Food for thought on a wonderful day.
Linda CG for Ben 68/3

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> From: Doris Werner <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Cc: 'CATHY' <[log in to unmask]>; 'Dorothy Lassiter' <[log in to unmask]>;
[log in to unmask]
> Subject: FW: The Price They Paid
> Date: Saturday, July 04, 1998 2:06 PM
>
> Happy 4th of July!
>
> ----------
> From:         [log in to unmask][SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent:         Saturday, July 04, 1998 11:23 AM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      The Price They Paid
>
> The Price They Paid & A Happy Independence Day To All
>
>
>       Have you ever wondered what happened to those men who signed
> the Declaration of Independence?
>
> 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 in the Revolutionary Army, another
> had two sons captured. Nine of the fifty-six fought and died
> from wounds or the hardship 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, all men of means, well educated. But they
> signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that
> the penalty would be death if they were captured.
>
> They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and
> their sacred honor.
>
> Carter Braxton of Virginia, wealthy planter and trader, saw his
> ships swept from the sea by the British navy. He sold his home
> and properties to pay his debts, 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 Congress
> without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions
> were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.
>
> Vandals or soldiers or both, looted the properties of Ellery,
> Clymer, Hall, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge and Middleton.
>
> At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr. noted that the
> British General Cornwallis, had taken over the Nelson home for
> his headquarters. The owner quietly urged General George
> Washington to open fire, which was done. The home was destroyed,
> and Nelson died bankrupt.
>
> Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy
> jailed his wife, and soon after she died.
>
> John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying.
> Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his grist
> mill were laid waste. For more than a year he lived in forests
> and caves, returning home after the war to find his wife dead,
> his children vanished. A few weeks later he died from exhaustion
> and a broken heart.
>
> Morris and Livingston suffered similar fates.
>
> Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution.
> These were not wild-eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. There were
> soft-spoken men of means and education. They had security, but
> they valued liberty more Standing tall, straight, and
> unwavering, they pledged:
>
> "For the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on
> the protection of the Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to
> each other, our lives, our fortune and our sacred honor."
>
> They gave us an Independent America.
>
>
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