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  tortured before they
died.

Twelve had their homes  ransacked and burned.
Two  lost their
sons serving in the Revolutionary Army;
another  had two sons
captured.

Nine of the 56 fought and died  from wounds or
hardships  of
the Revolutionary War.

They signed and they pledged  their lives, their
fortunes,
and  their sacred honor.

What kind of men were
 they?

Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists.
Eleven  were
merchants,
nine  were farmers and large plantation owners;
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.
Carter
 Braxton of Virginia, 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 died in rags.

Thomas McKeam was so  hounded by the
British
that  he was forced to move his family almost  constantly.
He
 served in the Congress without pay, and his family
was  kept in hiding. His
possessions were taken from  him,
and  poverty was his reward.

Vandals
or soldiers looted the  properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer,
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. He quietly urged
General
George  Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed,
and
 Nelson died bankrupt.

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

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, returning home to find his wife dead and
 his
children  vanished.
So,  take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th
of July holiday  and
silently  thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for
the price they  paid.

Remember: freedom is never free!