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Food for thought on a wonderful day. Linda CG for Ben 68/3 ---------- > 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. > > > ==== NORWAY Mailing List ==== > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >