6/24/93 #1   HATONN

PRICES PAID

Do you patriots and Godly citizens seeking freedom and righteousness have it harder than the fathers who, for instance, signed the Declaration of Independence?  Let us share a bit of history and see.

THE PRICE "THEY" PAID

This following is shared with us from The Trumpet, January 1991.  We have offered this before but it stands as a good reminder.

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors.  Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.  Two lost their sons in the Continental Army. Another had two sons captured.  Nine of the fifty-six signers fought and died from wounds or the hardships of the American Revolution.

What kind of men were they?  Twenty five were lawyers and jurists.  Eleven were merchants.  Nine were farmers or large plantation owners.  These were men of means and education.  Yet they signed the Declaration of Independence, knowing full well that the penalty could be death if they were captured.

When these courageous men signed, they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to the cause of freedom and independence.

Carton Braxton was a wealthy planter and trader.  On by one his ships were captured by the British navy.  He was forced to sell his plantation and mortgage his properties to pay his mounting debts.  His remaining estate was finally seized by his creditors.

Thomas McKean was so hounded by the British that he had to move his family almost constantly.  He served in the Continental Congress without pay, and kept his family in hiding.

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 family home for his headquarters.  Nelson urged General George Washington to open fire on his own home.  This was done, and the home was destroyed.  Nelson later died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis also had his home and properties destroyed.  The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

"Honest John" Hart was driven from his wife's bedside when she was near death.  Their thirteen children fled for their lives.  Hart's fields and his grist mill were laid waste.  While eluding capture, he never knew where his bed would be the next night.  He often slept in forests and caves.  When he returned home in December of 1777, he found that his wife had died, and his children had vanished.

Such are the stories and sacrifices typical of those who risked everything to sign The Declaration of Independence.  These men were not wild-eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians.  They 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 fortunes, and our sacred honor."

They gave us an independent America--can we keep it?

Source: CONTACT - THE PHOENIX PROJECT, June 29, 1993, Volume 2, Number 1.

http://www.phoenixarchives.com/contact/1993/0693/062993.pdf

THANK YOU, Rocky Montana

Maarch 8, 2011