Delegates to the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The 56 delegates who signed the formal break from Britain are all considered Founding Fathers.
Massachusetts had five delegates. This week's profile features Elbridge Gerry, John Hancock and Robert Treat Paine. Their signatures are grouped in a compact block in the middle of the document, with Hancock's signature standing out visually because of its size.
Elbridge Gerry
Gerry was born to Thomas Gerry, a wealthy merchant, and Elizabeth Greenleaf, July 17, 1744, in Marblehead, Massachusetts. He was one of 11 children, though only five survived into adulthood.
He was educated by private tutors before entering Harvard College just before his 14th birthday. Gerry graduated with a master's degree from Harvard University in 1765; his thesis argued that the colonists should resist the recently passed Stamp Act.
After college, he joined his father's thriving merchant business.
Gerry married Ann Thompson, Feb. 12, 1786, and they had nine children: Catharine, Eliza, Ann, Elbridge Gerry Jr., Thomas Russell, Helen Maria, James Thompson, Eleanor Stanford and Emily Louisa.
As a delegate in the Second Continental Congress, Gerry advocated for independence and had a significant role in financing the Revolutionary War. During the 1787 Constitutional Convention, he refused to sign the Constitution because it lacked a bill of rights. The U.S. Constitution was ratified June 21, 1788.
Gerry later served in the inaugural U.S. House of Representatives, 1789-1793, where he helped draft the Bill of Rights and championed amendments protecting individual and state liberties. The Bill of Rights was ratified Dec. 15, 1791.
President John Adams appointed Gerry to a U.S. diplomatic mission to France, which led to the XYZ Affair, a scandal in which French agents demanded bribes from American diplomats, nearly leading to war between the two countries. The fallout from the controversy led Gerry to eventually align himself with the Democratic-Republican Party.
After several unsuccessful bids for governor of Massachusetts, Gerry was elected to the office in 1810. During his governorship, he approved a redistricting plan that favored his party and led to the term "gerrymandering," coined by a political cartoonist.
In 1813, Gerry became vice president under President James Madison, serving until his death, Nov. 23, 1814.
Gerry was buried at the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, and is the only signer of the Declaration of Independence to be interred in the District of Columbia. A monument honoring him also stands there.
His wife died March 17, 1849, the last surviving widow of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. She was buried at Grove Street Cemetery in New Haven, Connecticut.
The towns of Gerry and Elbridge, both in New York, were named in his honor.
John Hancock
Hancock was born to the Rev. John Hancock Jr., a Congregational minister, and Mary Hawke Thaxter, Jan. 23, 1737, in Braintree (part of present-day Quincy), Massachusetts. He had two siblings.
After his father's death in 1744, Hancock was adopted by his wealthy uncle, Thomas Hancock, and inherited a thriving mercantile business making him one of the richest men in New England.
Hancock's education began under the guidance of his uncle. He attended Boston Latin School and was admitted to Harvard College in 1750. He graduated in 1754 with a bachelor's degree. After college, he went to Great Britain, where he spent four years learning business and the import-export trade.
He married Dorothy Quincy Scott on Aug. 28, 1775. They had two children, neither of whom survived to adulthood.
Although Hancock was wealthy, he supported the patriot cause. The British suspected he was smuggling wine and seized his ship, the Liberty. The seizure sparked riots in Boston against customs officials. Hancock attended town meetings that led to the Boston Tea Party and encouraged the colonists by saying, "Let every man do what is right in his own eyes."
He was deeply involved in the American Revolution, helping organize the Continental Army and efforts against the British.
As the president of the Second Continental Congress, Hancock was the first to sign the Declaration of Independence and his signature is the largest and most flamboyant of the signers. Today, when someone asks for "your John Hancock," they are asking for you to sign a document indicating commitment to an agreement, as Hancock did for liberty. The idiom has been used since the mid-19th century.
Hancock played a key role in Massachusetts' ratification of the U.S. Constitution and supported the Bill of Rights. And he served as the first and third governor of Massachusetts, 1780 to 1785 and 1787 to 1793.
Hancock died Oct. 8, 1793, and his wife died Feb. 3, 1830. Both are buried at the Granary Burying Ground in Boston.
Likenesses of Hancock can be found in several locations in Massachusetts, including a bust at Doric Hall at the Massachusetts State House and a statue at Hancock Adams Common in Boston. A full-length marble statue of Hancock, part of the National Statuary Hall Collection, is on display in the U.S. Capitol in Washington. Six Navy ships have been named in his honor.
There are 10 states with counties named for him, and towns named Hancock in Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont, Michigan, New Hampshire and New York.
Robert Treat Paine
Paine was born to Thomas Paine, a former minister turned merchant, and Eunice Treat, March 11, 1731, in Boston. His siblings were Abigail and Eunice.
He married Sally Cobb, March 15, 1770, and they had eight children who survived to adulthood: Robert, Sally, Thomas, Charles, Henry, Mary, Maria Antoinetta and Lucretia.
Paine attended Boston Latin School, was admitted to Harvard College at age 14, and graduated in 1749. He briefly taught at Boston Latin School before pursuing a law career, studying under several mentors in Massachusetts, and was admitted to the bar in 1757.
In 1761, Paine moved from Boston to Taunton, Massachusetts, where he gained recognition as a skilled lawyer and established his professional reputation.
In the aftermath of the 1770 Boston Massacre, Paine served as a prosecuting attorney, alongside Samuel Quincy, in the trials of British soldiers involved in the killing of five civilians. Future signer of the Declaration of Independence and president, John Adams, served as the defense attorney for the soldiers, most of whom were acquitted.
Paine returned to Massachusetts after his service in the Second Continental Congress and was elected speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1777 before he took on the role of the state's first attorney general, serving from 1777 to 1790. He had many important cases, including the treason trial of participants in Shay's Rebellion, an armed uprising of farmers protesting high taxation and economic hardship. Paine went on to serve as an associate justice on the Massachusetts Supreme Court from 1790 to 1804.
On May 4, 1780, Paine became a founding member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, along with John Adams, John Hancock, Samuel Adams and others. Among the academy's future members were Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking.
Paine died May 11, 1814, and was buried in Boston's Granary Burying Ground, which is also the resting place of several Boston Massacre victims. His wife died June 6, 1816, and was buried alongside Paine.
A statue of Paine stands on a traffic island in front of the city hall in Taunton. The Robert Treat Paine Chapter of the Massachusetts Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, also in Taunton, is named for him.
This is the 13th installment in a series of articles about the men who signed the Declaration of Independence. The 56 delegates to the Second Continental Congress, representing the 13 colonies, are all considered Founding Fathers.