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North Carolina
Joseph Hewes
Born: Jan. 23, 1730, in Kingston, N.J.
Education: Princeton College; apprenticed as a merchant.
Career: Elected to the North Carolina legislature in 1763; member of the Colonial Assembly of North Carolina, 1766-75; elected to the Continental Congress in 1774; appointed as the first Secretary of the Navy in 1776.
Died: November 10, 1779
Son of Quakers. Established a shipping business in Wilmington in 1760 and amassed a fortune. In 1776 he placed his ships at the service of the Continental Armed Forces. Served the Congress as the secretary of the Naval Affairs Committee until 1779, when he fell ill. He died at age 50.
William Hooper
Born: June 28, 1742, in Boston.
Education: Graduated from Harvard in 1760.
Career: Elected to N.C. Provincial Assembly, 1773; member of Continental Congress, 1774-77; federal judge, 1786.
Died: Oct. 14, 1790.
Son of rector at Trinity Episcopal Church. Settled in Wilmington in 1767. At age 31, was one of youngest delegates to First Continental Congress in 1774 in Philadelphia. John Adams called him one of three “orators of the Congress.” In 1777, stricken by yellow fever, returned to Wilmington and resigned from Congress. Appointed to federal bench in 1789, retired year later in failing health. Spent final years in Hillsborough.
John Penn
Born: May 6, 1740, near Port Royal, Va.
Education: Informal.
Career: Law practice in Virginia, 1762; accepted to N.C. Bar, 1774; member Continental Congress, 1775-77, 1779-80; member N.C. Board of War, 1780.
Died: Sept. 14, 1788.
Was 18 when father died; inherited comfortable estate. Studied law under guidance of relative and neighbor, Edmund Pendleton. Bought Granville County, N.C., farm in 1774, established law practice, became active in politics. Was first N.C. delegate to favor independence. After war, resumed law practice. Buried near his home in Granville County. In 1894 reinterred at Guilford Courthouse National Military Park.
South Carolina
Thomas Heyward Jr.
Born: July 28, 1746, in St. Lukes Parish, S.C.
Education: Law studies in America and England
Career: Continental Congress, 1775-78; S.C. judge, 1783-98.
Died: March 6, 1809
In command of a militia force, taken prisoner by British during siege of Charleston. Buried in Heyward Family Cemetery, St. Luke's Parish. A descendant is DuBose Heyward (1885-1940), writer of play “Porgy” and libretto for 1935 George Gershwin opera based on it, “Porgy and Bess.”
Thomas Lynch Jr.
Born: Aug. 5, 1749, in Winyah, S.C.
Education: Graduated with honors from Cambridge.
Career: Captain of a South Carolina regiment, 1775; delegate to the Continental Congress, 1776.
Died: Unknown.
Fell ill shortly after signing Declaration and retired from Congress. At close of 1776 sailed with wife for West Indies. The ship disappeared. No record of him thereafter.
Arthur Middleton
Born: June 26, 1742, in Charleston.
Education: Graduated from Cambridge in 1773.
Career: Charleston Council of Safety, 1775; delegate to the Continental Congress, 1776-77, 1781-82; 1778 elected S.C. governor but declined to serve; state legislator in the 1780s.
Died: Jan. 1, 1787
Born into wealthy family. Traveled extensively in Europe. Captured by British when Charleston overrun in 1781, held prisoner for more than a year. Most of fortune destroyed during Revolution. Buried at Middleton Place, family plantation in Charleston.
Edward Rutledge
Born: Nov. 23, 1749, in Charleston.
Education: Oxford.
Career: State legislator; representative to the Continental Congress, 1774-76, 1779; captain, Charleston Battalion of Artillery, 1776-79; S.C. governor, 1798.
Died: Jan. 23, 1800.
Born to aristocratic family in South Carolina. Educated in law at Oxford and admitted to English Bar.
