Thomas Lynch Jr. (August 5, 1749 – December 17, 1779) was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of South Carolina and a Founding Father of the United States. His father Thomas Lynch was a member of the Continental Congress and had signed the 1774 Continental Association. When he had to step down because of illness, Thomas Lynch Jr. was selected to fill Thomas Heyward, Jr. was born in South Carolina in 1746. He received a classical education at home and continued in legal studies, which he completed in England. In 1775 he was elected to the Continental Congress, where he signed the Declaration of Independence. In 1778 he returned to South Carolina to serve as a Judge. He was taken prisoner by the British while in command of a Militia force When the Declaration of Independence was signed, South Carolina sent four representatives to the Continental Congress: Arthur Middleton, Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward Jr, and Thomas Lynch, Jr. Arthur Middleton was born in Charleston in 1742 to a planter family. South Carolina originally sent five delegates to the Second Continental Congress but only one, Edward Rutledge, remained to sign the Declaration of Independence When the South Carolina General Assembly convened at the State House in mid-September, 1776, they immediately and officially embraced the Declaration of Independence as the compass of their future proceedings. We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. The four South Carolina men who signed the Declaration of Independence fit the profile of their co-signers: wealthy, white men in their 30s and 40s. He persuaded them to support Lee’s motion, and next day South Carolina reversed its course, making the official vote for independence unanimous, 12 to 0, with New York abstaining. Rutledge signed the Declaration in August, at age 26 the youngest signer of the Declaration of Independence. Edward Rutledge, at the age of 26, was the youngest of the signers. Despite his youth, he had already made a name for himself in South Carolina as a lawyer-politician and had assumed leadership of his congressional delegation. A moderate, he at first fought against the independence resolution but finally submitted to the majority and voted for it. Heyward was active politically during the Revolutionary Era. As a member of the Continental Congress representing South Carolina, he signed the Declaration of Independence and Articles of Confederation. Thomas Lynch Jr., Thomas Heyward Jr., Edward Rutledge, and Arthur Middleton signed the document. Each of these men went on to serve in the state militia, defending independence, and also served in government after the war. Edward Rutledge, the first of the South Carolina delegation who affixed his name to the Declaration of Independence, was born in the city of Charles Town, in November of 1749. He was the youngest, son of Doctor John Rutledge, who emigrated from Ireland to South Carolina, about the year 1735. His mother was Sarah Hert, a lady of respectable family, and large fortune. At the age of twenty-seven Four South Carolinians signed the Declaration of Independence: Thomas Heyward Jr., Thomas Lynch Jr., Arthur Middleton and Edward Rutledge. You can visit a historic home associated with each man to discover a living history. Thomas Heyward, Jr. was born in South Carolina on July 28, 1746. He received a classical education at home and continued in legal studies, which he completed in England. In 1775, he was elected to the Continental Congress, where he signed the Declaration of Independence. In 1778, he returned to South Carolina to serve as a Judge. He was taken prisoner by the British while in command of a That summer Thomas Heyward, Jr., was one of four South Carolinians who signed the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. Sitting in Congress for two years, Heyward returned to South Carolina in 1778 and was appointed a circuit judge in 1779, a position he held for ten years. Source: Rev. Charles A. Goodrich Lives of the Signers to the Declaration of Independence. New York: William Reed & Co., 1856. Pages 443-447. [with minor edits] Thomas Lynch, Sr. and Thomas Lynch, Jr. were the only father and son to serve in the Continental Congress. July 19 - Congress orders the Declaration of Independence engrossed (officially inscribed) and signed by members. August 2 - Delegates begin to sign engrossed copy of the Declaration of Independence. A large British reinforcement arrives at New York after being repelled at Charlestown, SC. Information obtained from: American Council of Learned Societies. American National Biography. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Who Was Who in America: Historical Volume 1607-1896. Chicago: The A.N. Marquis Company, 1963. Back to The Signer's Gallery Three representatives from South Carolina signed the Declaration of Independence: Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward Jr., and Arthur Middleton. Their signatures contributed to the collective decision to declare independence from Britain during the Continental Congress. These actions reflect South Carolina's significant involvement in the founding of the United States. On July 2, 1776, Edward Rutledge would formally vote to support a Declaration of Independence and on August 2, 1776, he affixed his name to the document – the only one of the original South Carolina delegates to do so.
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