As we begin the celebrations of the 250th anniversary of our nation's founding, while parades, galas, and other celebrations are being planned, don't forget about the people who helped in its inception.  That includes our locals. 

Grave Marker for one of the many Revolutionary War Veterans buried at the New Goshenhoppen Church Cemetery.

            I encourage you to spend some time visiting local cemeteries to find the graves of local heroes who fought in the fight for independence. 

            Many of these locals were farmers who set aside the plow and picked up a musket in service to the cause.  Most served in the Sixth Battalion of the Philadelphia Association.  Some were assigned to local militias.  Others served in the German Regiment because that was the only language they knew and some served as Gen. George Washington's personal bodyguards because he could speak freely in their presence.  Most signed an oath pledging their allegiance and fidelity and they were known to be fierce fighters, but not all.

            Some Anabaptists who settled in our area practiced pacifism, refused oaths and military service.  They were mostly farmers who did not reject selling their foodstuffs to the Revolutionary Army.

            While our Valley was spared the ravages of battle, the people suffered the hardships of the revolution as followers and soldiers.  

            What of the group of men who started this rebellion with a treasonous document that threw the gauntlet of independence at the feet of the King of England?

            What kind of men were these traitors or rabble that signed the Declaration of Independence?  Eleven were merchants.  Twenty-eight were lawyers or jurists.  Nine were farmers or large plantation owners.  Three were physicians.  Men of education and means who knew full well that the penalty for signing this document could be death.

            In school, we learn about prominent signers like John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin.  What about the others?  What was the price they paid for signing that document? 

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

           John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside when she was near death.  Their 13 children fled for their lives.  His fields and mill were destroyed.  While eluding the British, he often slept in forests and caves.  When he returned home in 1777, he found his wife had died, and his children had vanished. 

            The British hounded Tomas McKean to the point where he had to constantly move his family.  He kept them in hiding while he served in the Continental Congress without pay.

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

            One by one, the British seized the ships of Carter Braxton.  He was forced to sell his plantations and mortgage properties to pay his mounting debts.  Eventually, his creditors seized his estate.  

            At the battle of Yorktown, British General Cornwallis had turned the family home of Thomas Nelson, Jr. into his headquarters.  Nelson urged General George Washington to open fire on his own home.  His home was destroyed in the bombardment, and Nelson later died penniless. 

            In 1776, before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the British issued a decree offering a sizable reward for the arrest and capture of several leading revolutionaries.  Among that list was a wealthy Massachusetts merchant named John Hancock.  When Hancock signed the document, he was reported to say, "The British Ministry can read that name without spectacles; let them double their reward." 

            With those words and his signature, Hancock knowingly thrust his head into a possible noose and never backed down.

            The last line of the Declaration of Independence summarizes the uncompromising character of these men by their commitment to each other.  A promise that reads, "And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."