The History Book Club discussion

This is a thread to discuss the soldiers-statesmen of the Constitution

Soldier-Statesmen of the Constitution

http://www.history.army.mil/books/Rev...

Source: Center for Military History

I think what we should do is to take a list of the men who were so influential and who we know so little about and feature them here.

It might be terrific to find out what others in the group know about these men and share history and stories together.

I would like to nominate Thomas Nelson, Jr., signer of the Declaration of Independence, commander of the state militia, Governor of Virginia when Cornwallis surrendered to Washington, a wealthy man who committed his entire fortune to the patriotic cause, whose widow, reduced to poverty, left in her will twenty dollars to her minister and freedom to her only servant. There is much I could write about him as he was the subject of a research paper I wrote for a graduate history course I took many years ago when I was in college.

Thomas Nelson Jr sounds like a good person to start with Harold. Maybe we could devote some time to discussing him.

How did Thomas Nelson Jr become a signer of the Declaration of Independence? What else can you tell us about him?

I found this image of him and this write up - I cannot believe that Congress refused to pay him back.



Thomas Nelson, signer of Virginia, was at the front in command of the Virginia military forces. With British General Charles Cornwallis in Yorktown, fire from 70 heavy American guns began to destroy Yorktown piece by piece. Lord Cornwallis and his staff moved their headquarters into Nelson’s palatial home. While American cannonballs were making a shambles of the town, the house of Governor Nelson remained untouched. Nelson turned in rage to the American gunners and asked, “Why do you spare my home?” They replied, “Sir, out of respect to you.” Nelson cried, “Give me the cannon!” and fired on his magnificent home himself, smashing it to bits. But Nelson’s sacrifice was not quite over. He had raised $2 million for the Revolutionary cause by pledging his own estates. When the loans came due, a newer peacetime Congress refused to honor them, and Nelson’s property was forfeited. He was never reimbursed. He died, impoverished, a few years later at the age of 50.

Source: https://williamdbailey.wordpress.com/...

How lovely his house was according to this painting by Bingham:

Bentley wrote: "I found this image of him and this write up - I cannot believe that Congress refused to pay him back."

The Continental Congress didn't have much money to pay for much of anything. That was one of the things that led to the framing of the Constitution.

From what I was reading, it was after the war and a peacetime Congress that did not pay its debt. I think they could have arranged to pay back something over time so the poor guy did not lose his property. That is sad.

Yes, you are very correct about the poor state of affairs under the Articles of Confederation - things just could not take care of themselves and the Constitution was the best alternative. Thank goodness for Madison and Hamilton for working diligently to get it ratified.

Here are two instances in which Nelson lost a huge amount of his fortune.

On March 2, 1778, the Continental Congress called for the wealthy men of the states to step forward in the service of their country and raise troops of light cavalry. Each member of a cavalry group would be expected to provide his own provisions, as well as forage for his horse. All other expenses would be paid by the person who raised the cavalry.

When news of the Congressional resolution reached Virginia, Thomas Nelson published an address calling for young men of fortune to meet with him in Fredericksburg May 25 to organize themselves into a cavalry unit. He also desired to have join him men with less fortune, but with as much patriotism. Nelson wrote that it was a “pity that they should be deprived of the opportunity of distinguishing themselves!” To enable them to enter the service, “I propose that such should be furnished with a horse and accoutrements by subscription in their respective counties; and surely those who remain at home, enjoying all the blessings of domestic life, will not hesitate to contribute liberally for such a purpose.”

About 70 gentlemen appeared at Fredericksburg, including two of Thomas’s brothers, Hugh and Robert. Nelson was unhappy about the number of men who volunteered.

On the eve of the cavalry’s departure to join Washington near Philadelphia, Thomas gathered his men about him and tried to assure them there was some hope for remuneration for expenses incurred in the country’s service. Then he asked if anyone was in need of money; he would like to have that person consult him in his quarters. A number of men did, and Nelson supplied them personally.

When Nelson and his cavalry arrived in Philadelphia, they learned that the cavalry was no longer needed. Congress advised that the cavalry return to Virginia. Nelson had lost a good sum of money in this unfortunate adventure. Yet he had the generosity to make further advances of money to those who required it to enable them to return to their homes.


Early in June of 1780 the Continental Congress called for $2,000,000 to be placed in the Continental Congress Treasury to help provide for the French fleet. Nelson set out personally to raise as much money as he could in Virginia. His excursions took him through most of the southern counties of the state, but he had great difficulty finding people willing to advance their money. The resources of the state were drained and people were poor. Those who possessed money were afraid to trust it to no better security than that of the government, already too deeply involved financially to extricate itself from its difficulties. Nelson was turned down everywhere. But seeing that the need of the money was great, he decided he would add his own personal security to that of the government. The people of the state trusted Nelson, and many accepted Nelson’s offer of security and loaned to the government what money they could spare. Ultimately, Nelson succeeded in raising a good sum of money, through his own personal efforts, and through the efforts of his agents, whom he sent out with authority to use his name and pledge his fortune.

Nelson would take a great financial beating in this enterprise. It seems that he kept a record of the amount of money he pledged to back these loans. But during the year of war that came to Virginia the records were lost. When it came time for the loans to be redeemed, the government was practically without funds. And Nelson was forced to pay back the debts personally. Nelson could not furnish the Continental Congress with an accurate record of these expenditures. Consequently, he was never reimbursed for his losses.

What a donnybrook. And what a shame that they (Continental Congress) did not trust the man who trusted them - when few would.
You have to wonder at the conversations that ensued when it was time to pay back Nelson.

Nelson was educated at Eton and Cambridge and yet gave everything he had monetarily to help Virginia and the country.

And what is worse, is that few in this country know who he was.

Benjamin Rush, a Pennsylvania delegate to the Continental Congress, wrote that Nelson informed him "that he was the only person out of nine or ten Virginians that were sent with him to England for education that had taken part in the American Revolution. The rest were all Tories."

That is an interesting statistic but one that is understandable. I remarked that I was surprised that he had been educated at Eton and Cambridge and was not a Tory.

One fact stood out when I was reading about him. He inherited the fortune from his father who had died a few years or so before the Revolution. I wonder if his father had been alive would Nelson have been able to convince him to help the Revolutionary cause and risk all.

Bentley, here is information about Thomas Nelson’s parents that might answer your question.

Describing the seaport town of York to Sir Henry Clinton shortly before the beginning of the war, a British officer wrote: “The people in and about it, influenced by the family of Nelson, are all Rebellious.” The Nelson family was primarily a family of merchants, the first in York, and one of the wealthiest in the colony. From the passage of the Stamp Act, the family’s history was one of consistent loyalty to colonial principles.

The founder of the wealthy Virginia family was Thomas Nelson, who came to the colonies from Penriff, near the border of Scotland, shortly after the turn of the Seventeenth Century. He established himself in York as a merchant, married a Miss Reid of the neighboring county, and had two sons and one daughter

Thomas Nelson’s two sons, William and Thomas, upon reaching their adulthood, also settled in York. Both men took an active role in Virginia politics. Thomas, Thomas Jr.’s uncle, was secretary of the governor’s council for over twenty years. William became a member of the House of Burgesses from York County in 1742, and returned in 1744. Then, in the same year, he joined his brother in the council, later to become its president. Due to the length of time they held these positions in the council, they came to be called Secretary and President.

William imported goods from the merchants of Philadelphia and Baltimore and acquired a large fortune. Following the death of Governor Botetourt, Nelson was acting governor from October 1770 to August 1771. Yet, while he was “the right hand of George III,” he remained loyal to colonial principles. His letters to merchants at this time show his indignation at the imposition of the British Parliament on what the colonists considered their rights and privileges.

Nelson married a Miss Burnwell, a pious and conscientious woman. Their raising of a family had many tragic moments. All of their daughters died before they reached the age of twelve. Of Nelson’s six sons, one burned to death and another damaged his brain in a fall from an upper story of the Nelson home. These happenings turned Mrs. Nelson ever closer to her religion.

She was particularly attentive to the religious training of her children. She taught them to be punctual and conscientious in their daily prayers, set for them a most worthy example, and prayed for them often. On his part, Nelson was equally concerned with his children’s religious upbringing, and he took the lead in affairs of the local parish. On Sundays Nelson always had a large dinner prepared, to which both rich and poor were invited. Thomas Nelson, Jr.’s qualities of character -- courage, generosity, honesty, and leadership – were formed in the Nelson home.

William had his son elected to the House of Burgesses while Thomas was sailing back to Virginia from England, where he had lived and been educated for nine years. Less than a year after his return Thomas married Miss Lucy Grymes, a daughter of Philip Grymes of Brandom, in the neighboring county of Middlesex. They settled permanently in a commodious house that William had built for them and that was opposite his own. William gave Thomas an independent fortune and took him as well into the family business.

I don’t believe that Thomas would have had to convince his father, had he lived to see the Revolution, to participate in the patriotic cause.

That is interesting that you see it that way. However, if Clinton said that it must have been true of the entire family.

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However being a Scot (right on the Scot border originally), I wonder if the father would not have told Thomas to be more prudent and careful - protecting at the very least his property. Even though I agree he would have helped. The qualities of character were certainly evident in the entire family.

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This was the father's last will and testament and I think he would have been more prudent:(quite detailed)

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Following is a copy of the will of President Nelson recorded in York County:
"In the name of God, Amen. I, William Nelson of the Town and County of York in the Colony of Virginia, Esquire, being at present indisposed, tho in my perfect senses, do make this my last Will and Testament. My precious and immortal soul, whenever it shall please God to call me hence, I most humbly resign into the hands of Almighty God, hoping through the merits and meditation of my blessed Saviour and Redeemer Jesus Christ, to receive a full pardon of my great and manifold sins, and to partake of the joyful resurrection at the last day--My Body I desire to be interred as my Executors shall think fit, in a decent but not pompous manner, and as to the worldly Estate with which it hath pleased God to bless me, so much above my desire, I dispose of the same (my just debts and funeral expenses being first paid) in the following manner.
I give and bequeath unto my dear and well beloved wife, Elizabeth Nelson, the sum of five thousand pounds sterling to be paid her one year after my decease. I also give to my said well beloved wife, the sum of Two hundred and fifty pounds Sterling per annum during her natural life--the first payment to be made within one month after my decease. I also give to my said well beloved wife, her Watch, all her Jewels, Rings, Snuff Boxes, Clothes and other ornaments of which she may be possessed at the time of my death. I also give to my well beloved wife, during her natural life, my House wherin I now live, with the Lotts and Gardens thereto belonging, including the Store Garden, but not the Storehouses, also my Stable and the Lott wheron it stands, the use of all my household furniture, Plate, Coach, Chariot and Cart with all their Harness, my Town Horses and Town Cows, and the use of Ten House Servants, such as she shall Chuse: all these things I say I give her the use of during her natural life--I also give to my said well beloved wife all the Liquors and Provisions of every kind that shall be in the House at my death, and any Medeira Wine and Rum imported for the use of the family, which may be in my storehouses. I likewise give her all such Family goods and liquors as I may have wrote for. I also give to my said wife such new goods as she may chuse out of my store for herself and the use of my three younger children to the amount of One hundred and fifty pounds sterling, prime cost. I further give to my dear wife, during her natural life, the use and profits of my Plantations in Warwich and James City Counties, commonly called Cheesecake Plantation with the use of the Slaves and Stocks of every kind therto belonging, and after her decease, I give and devise the said Lands, Slaves and Stocks and every thing else belonging therto, to my son Hugh and his heirs forever. I also give to my said dear wife, during the term of her life, the use of my Plantations near Yorktown, called Pennys and Tarrpin Point, including my meadows with the Slaves, horses, Carts and Stocks of every kind therto belonging with liberty of cutting her firewood off the said lands and also a tract called Dowsings. It is my will, and I do accordingly direct that, of the annuity hereby given to my dear wife, one hundred pounds Sterling shall be paid yearly by my son Thomas out of the residue of my estate given to him, and seventy five pounds sterling shall be paid by each of my sons Hugh and Robert yearly out of the estates I shall give to them. It is my further will and desire that my dear wife shall be supplied out of any part of my estate, with such Beef, Pork, Wheat and Corn as she shall require annually.
After the decease of my dear wife, I give to my son Hugh, his heirs and assigns forever the House I now live in, the lotts and gardens thereto belonging, together with the Store Garden, but not the Storehouses, also my Stable and the lott on which it stands, likewise all the furniture of my House, as it may remain at his mother's death, my Plate excepted. I do also give to my said son Hugh and his heirs forever my Mulatto woman named Aggy with all her Children and future increase. I give and devise to my sons Thomas and Hugh and their heirs forever, as tenants in common and not as joint tenants, my Store Houses in Yorktown and at the waterside, having already by deeds, given to my son Hugh, all my lands and Slaves in the Counties of Frederick and Fauquier, I only give him a legacy in money of Two Thousand Pounds Sterling.
I give and devise to my son Robert and his heirs forever, all my lands in the county of Albemarle with the Slaves and Stocks of every kind therto belonging, which lands, Slaves and Stocks are now in the possession and occupation of my son Thomas Nelson, but as I shall, by this Will, give my said son Thomas, a much larger proportion of my estate, I do hereby order and direct that he shall give a Release to his brother Robert and his heirs forever of all that whole estate in the County of Albemarle upon which condition, he is to hold my lands and estate in the County of Hanover. I also give and bequeath to my said son Robert the sum of Two Thousand pounds sterling.
I give and devise to my two sons, Nathaniel and William and their heirs forever, all my share and interest in The Dismal Swamp Scheme and if either of them should die before he comes of age, I give and devise the whole to the survivor and his heirs forever. I also give and bequeath to my said sons Nathaniel and William, to each of them, I say, the sum of five thousand pounds sterling.
I desire that the Pecuniary Legacy given to my dear wife may be first paid, and that the other money Legacies to my children may be collected and paid according to their Seniority, and that the parts of my younger sons may be placed out at interest till they respectively come of age. After the death of my wife, I give to my son Thomas, my best Silver Cup and the rest of my Plate I desire may be divided--two thirds parts of which I give to my son Thomas, and the other third part to my son Hugh. I give to my son Thomas my Mulatto woman, Hannah, with her children and all her future increase, to him and his heirs forever, and after the death of my dear wife, I give the Ten House Servants with their Children and future increase of which she is to have the use for life, unto my son Hugh and his heirs forever. I give to my son Thomas, my Virginia Amathyst Seal set in gold, to my son Hugh, my gold watch, Chain and Cornelian seal, to my son Robert my gold Stock Buckle, to my son Nathaniel my Sword and Pistols, and to my son William I give my best Garnett Sleeve Buttons sett in gold.
I give to my dear sister, Mary Berkley, the sum of twenty five pounds sterling per annum diring her life, to be paid to her by son Thomas out of the residue of my estate, and I do hereby remit and release to my said Sister any sum or sums of money she may owe me at the time of my death. I give and bequeath to my Cousin Hephzibah Nelson Twenty Pounds Current Money a year to be paid her by my son Thomas, out of the residue of my Estate, during her natural life.
I give and bequeath to the Court of Directors appointed by Act of Assembly to errect and superintend the Public Hospital for the reception of Lunatics, etc., the sum of One hundred pounds current money to be by them applied towards the farther relief of such Patients as may be sent to the said Hospital as they, in their discretion, may think fit, but not to the enlargement of the Building or to any other purpose. I give and bequeath Fifty Pounds current money to the poor of the Parish of York Hampton to be distributed as my Executor shall think proper. I desire that my wearing Apparel of every kind shall be disposed of in such manner as my dear wife and my two eldest sons shall chuse. All the rest and residue of my estate of what nature of quality soever, whether real or personal in Virginia or elsewhere, I give, devise and bequeath to my son, Thomas Nelson, to him, his heirs and assigns forever.
I appoint my dear Brother, the Hon. Thomas Nelson Esquire, my dear friend Robert Carter Nicholas Esqr. and my two sons Thomas and Hugh, Executors of this will, and guardians of my younger children during their minority. I desire that my Estate may not be appraised, and that my Executors may not be obliged to give any security for their performance of the Trust hereby reposed in them. Lastly, I do hereby revoke and annul all former wills by me heretofore made, and declare this to be my only true last Will and Testament.
In Testimony whereof, I have herunto set my hand and affixed my seal this sixth day of October in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Seventy two. Wm. Nelson
[L.S.]
Signed, sealed, published and declared by the Hon. William Nelson Esquire as and for his last Will and Testament in presence of us who at his request and in his presence do hereunto subscribe our names as witnesses.
Dudley Digges
David Jameson
Law. Smith, Junr.

What did Hugh do with his property? Was he as generous as Thomas was?

Also Harold I have to say that Thomas was a gem of a person and obviously had a pure heart - I am just asking if it was prudent to risk all and not safeguard his home for his family. He seemed overly generous - really giving all.

Exceedingly generous! For some people, I'm supposing, if you're already "all in" for a cause the outcome of which is vital to you and you need to take one more risky action where the outcome may actually seem to achieve what you are striving for, you do it, regardless of the unintended, collateral consequences.

I know very little about Hugh Nelson. I have a biography of Thomas Nelson that I can check to see what is there.

Thank you for posting William's will.

No problem; Nelson and his family are fascinating and he is a great person to start getting to know better even at this late date (smile).

I would be interested to hear what happened to the entire family's fortunes. Obviously his mother was allowed to remain in the main house.

I found this and I am not sure of the veracity of all of the statements in this write-up but most signers of the Declaration of Independence had a target on their back after signing it.

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

THE SIGNERS

Gary Hildrith

Have you ever wondered what happened to the fifty-six men who signed the Declaration of Independence? This is the price they paid:

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 in the revolutionary army, another had two sons captured. Nine of the fifty-six fought and died from wounds or hardships resulting from the Revolutionary War.

These men 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. All were men of means, well educated. But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty could 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 or both, looted the properties of Ellery, Clymer, Hall, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

Perhaps one of the most inspiring examples of "undaunted resolution" was at the Battle of Yorktown. Thomas Nelson, Jr. was returning from Philadelphia to become Governor of Virginia and joined General Washington just outside of Yorktown. He then noted that British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headqurt, but that the patriot's were directing their artillery fire all over the town except for the vicinity of his own beautiful home. Nelson asked why they were not firing in that direction, and the soldiers replied, "Out of respect to you, Sir." Nelson quietly urged General Washington to open fire, and stepping forward to the nearest cannon, aimed at his own house and fired. The other guns joined in, and the Nelson home was destroyed. Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis's Long Island home was looted and gutted, his home and properties destroyed. His wife was thrown into a damp dark prison cell without a bed. Health ruined, Mrs. Lewis soon died from the effects of the confinement. The Lewis's son would later die in British captivity, also.

"Honest John" Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she lay dying, when British and Hessian troops invaded New Jersey just months after he signed the Declaration. Their thirteen children fled for their lives. His fields and his grist mill were laid to waste. All winter, and for more than a year, Hart lived in forests and caves, finally returning home to find his wife dead, his chidrvanished and his farm destroyed. Rebuilding proved too be too great a task. A few weeks later, by the spring of 1779, John Hart was dead from exhaustion and a broken heart.

Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates.

New Jersey's Richard Stockton, after rescuing his wife and children from advancing British troops, was betrayed by a loyalist, imprisoned, beaten and nearly starved. He returned an invalid to find his home gutted, and his library and papers burned. He, too, never recovered, dying in 1781 a broken man.

William Ellery of Rhode Island, who marveled that he had seen only "undaunted resolution" in the faces of his co-signers, also had his home burned.

Only days after Lewis Morris of New York signed the Declaration, British troops ravaged his 2,000-acre estate, butchered his cattle and drove his family off the land. Three of Morris' sons fought the British.

When the British seized the New York houses of the wealthy Philip Livingston, he sold off everything else, and gave the money to the Revolution. He died in 1778.

Arthur Middleton, Edward Rutledge and Thomas Heyward Jr. went home to South Carolin tight. In the British invasion of the South, Heyward was wounded and all three were captured. As he rotted on a prison ship in St. Augustine, Heyward's plantation was raided, buildings burned, and his wife, who witnessed it all, died. Other Southern signers suffered the same general fate.

Among the first to sign had been John Hancock, who wrote in big, bold script so George III "could read my name without spectacles and could now double his reward for 500 pounds for my head." If the cause of the revolution commands it, roared Hancock, "Burn Boston and make John Hancock a beggar!"

Here were men who believed in a cause far beyond themselves.

Such were the stories and sacrifices of the America revolution. These were not wild eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and education. They had security, but they valued liberty more. Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged: "For the support of this Declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of the Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."

John Hancock surprisingly did well after the Revolution:

http://www.mass.gov/portal/government...

Bentley wrote: "No problem; Nelson and his family are fascinating and he is a great person to start getting to know better even at this late date (smile).

I would be interested to hear what happened to the enti..."

I lived in Nelson county, Virginia, named after Thomas.

Do you? Did you realize it (the connection) before we started to discuss Nelson Jr.

I drove past a historic marker about Jr. And Nelson county every day.

I no longer live there but it was fun to read more about the Nelson family.

That is terrific.

Hugh Williamson: Physician, Patriot, and Founding Father

by George Sheldon (no photo)

Synopsis:

Hugh Williamson (1735-1819) was a physician, a member of the educated intelligentsia in colonial America, and a signer of the US Constitution. Although he is one of the lesser-known Founding Fathers, he has been likened to Benjamin Franklin for his breadth of interest spanning science, medicine, government public policy, and Hamiltonian capitalism.
His range of accomplishments was prodigious. Before the Revolutionary War, he was among the planners of the Boston Tea Party. When war broke out, he acted as a spy and a courier for Benjamin Franklin, and later became surgeon general of the North Carolina Revolutionary War Militia. After the war, he served in the North Carolina legislature, the Constitutional Convention, and the first US House of Representatives.

In this first book-length biography of Hugh Williamson, Dr. George Sheldon presents an appealing portrait of an often-overlooked colonial patriot and an important member of the medical establishment in 18th-century America. Sheldon reveals many interesting details about Williamson’s multifaceted life:

He was a member of the University of Pennsylvania’s first graduating class. He was a medical student at the University of Edinburgh’s prestigious medical school and trained in surgery under the renowned John Hunter. He served as a courier in Europe before and during the Revolutionary War, arousing the suspicions of both the British and a contingent of Americans that he was a double agent. After the war Williamson not only served as a physician and politician in North Carolina but as the first secretary of the board of governors of the University of North Carolina, the first nondenominational institution of higher education in America. His expertise ranged from the cause of the 1792-fever outbreak in North Carolina and the correct installation of lightning rods, to work with George Washington on the draining of the Great Dismal Swamp and management of the Bloomingdale estate of his wife’s family, which included much of present-day New York City.

For anyone interested in the important contributors to early American history, this excellent biography of Hugh Williamson will be indispensable reading.

Forgotten Founder: The Life and Times of Charles Pinckney

by Marty D. Matthews (no photo)

Synopsis:

Charles Pinckney (1757-1824) was born into one of South Carolina's most prominent families and quickly became one of the state's most influential figures. Born in Charleston, Pinckney grew up there and on his father's plantations in the Carolina lowcountry. He served in the state militia during the American Revolution and was captured at the surrender of Charleston in 1780. Later he attended the Confederation Congress in 1784. But he is best known for his representation of the Palmetto State at the Constitutional Convention in 1787, where he presented one of the few complete drafts of government for the new nation. The Pinckney Draft of the Constitution would play an integral part in the controversy that swirled around him, giving Pinckney's political enemies ammunition for their charges of arrogance and vanity, and perplexing historians for nearly a century.

He broke with his family - most of whom were staunch Federalists - to support the Democratic-Republican Thomas Jefferson in the pivotal election of 1800. Pinckney's efforts on Jefferson's behalf helped propel the Virginian into the presidency and changed the course of American political history. As a reward, Pinckney was named minister to Spain, where he served until 1806 before returning home and to state and to national politics. Soon after suffering financial ruin in his personal life, Pinckney was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and served during the Missouri Controversy of 1820. Pinckney's impassioned speeches in Congress helped lay the groundwork for the states rights ideology that eventually would dominate South Carolina and her southern neighbors, leading them to rebellion and civil war in 1861. as James Madison and even by other members of the Pinckney family. In Forgotten Founder, Marty D. Matthews addresses the reasons for such oversights and examines Pinckney's many important contributions to the founding of the American republic.

James McHenry, Forgotten Federalist

by Karen E. Robbins (no photo)

Synopsis:

A Scots-Irish immigrant, James McHenry determined to make something of his life. Trained as a physician, he joined the American Revolution when war broke out. He then switched to a more military role, serving on the staffs of George Washington and Lafayette. He entered government after the war and served in the Maryland Senate and in the Continental Congress. As Maryland’s representative at the Constitutional Convention, McHenry helped to add the ex post facto clause to the Constitution and worked to increase free trade among the states.

As secretary of war, McHenry remained loyal to Washington, under whom he established a regimental framework for the army that lasted well into the nineteenth century. Upon becoming president, John Adams retained McHenry; however, Adams began to believe McHenry was in league with other Hamiltonian Federalists who wished to undermine his policies. Thus, when the military buildup for the Quasi-War with France became unpopular, Adams used it as a pretext to request McHenry’s resignation.

Yet as Karen Robbins demonstrates in the first modern biography of McHenry, Adams was mistaken; the friendship between McHenry and Hamilton that Adams feared had grown sensitive and there was a brief falling out. Moreover, McHenry had asked Hamilton to withdraw his application for second-in-command of the New Army being raised. Nonetheless, Adams’s misperception ended McHenry’s career, and he has remained an obscure historical figure ever since—until now. James McHenry, Forgotten Federalist reveals a man surrounded by important events who reflected the larger themes of his time.

Gentleman Revolutionary : Gouverneur Morris, the Rake Who Wrote the Constitution

by Richard Brookhiser (no photo)

Synopsis:

Since 1996, Richard Brookhiser has devoted himself to recovering the Founding for modern Americans. The creators of our democracy had both the temptations and the shortcomings of all men, combined with the talents and idealism of the truly great. Among them, no Founding Father demonstrates the combination of temptations and talents quite so vividly as the least known of the greats, Gouverneur Morris.

His story is one that should be known by every American -- after all, he drafted the Constitution, and his hand lies behind many of its most important phrases. Yet he has been lost in the shadows of the Founders who became presidents and faces on our currency. As Brookhiser shows in this sparkling narrative, Morris's story is not only crucial to the Founding, it is also one of the most entertaining and instructive of all. Gouverneur Morris, more than Washington, Jefferson, or even Franklin, is the Founding Father whose story can most readily touch our hearts, and whose character is most sorely needed today.

He was a witty, peg-legged ladies' man. He was an eyewitness to two revolutions (American and French) who joked with George Washington, shared a mistress with Talleyrand, and lost friends to the guillotine. In his spare time he gave New York City its street grid and New York State the Erie Canal. His keen mind and his light, sure touch helped make our Constitution the most enduring fundamental set of laws in the world. In his private life, he suited himself; pleased the ladies until, at age fifty-seven, he settled down with one lady (and pleased her); and lived the life of a gentleman, for whom grace and humanity were as important as birth. He kept his good humor through war, mobs, arson, death, and two accidents that burned the flesh from one of his arms and cut off one of his legs below the knee.

Above all, he had the gift of a sunny disposition that allowed him to keep his head in any troubles. We have much to learn from him, and much pleasure to take in his company.

Gouverneur Morris: An Independent Life

by William Howard Adams (no photo)

Synopsis:

This title is a biography of one of the most colourful and least well-known of the founding fathers. A plain-spoken, racy patrician who distrusted democracy but opposed slavery and championed freedom for all minorities, an important player in the American Revolution, later an astute critic of the French Revolution, Gouverneur Morris remains an enigma among the founding generation. This biography tells his robust story, including his celebrated love affairs during his long stay in Europe. Morris's public record is astonishing. One of the leading figures of the Constitutional Convention, he put the Constitution in its final version, including its opening Preamble. As Washington's first minister to Paris, he became America's most effective representative in France. A successful, international entrepreneur, he understood the dynamics of commerce in the modern world. Frankly cosmopolitan, he embraced city life as a creative centre of civilization and had a central role in the building of the Erie Canal and in laying out the urban grid plan of Manhattan. William Howard Adams describes Morris's many contributions, talents, sophistication, and wit, as well as his romantic liaisons, free habits, and free speech. He brings to life a fascinating man of great stature, a founding father who receives his due at last.

An Incautious Man: The Life of Gouveneur Morris

by Melanie Randolph Miller (no photo)

Synopsis:

In An Incautious Man, historian Melanie Miller provides a succinct but sophisticated recounting of the life of one of our lesser-known but most engaging Founding Fathers: Gouverneur Morris. One of George Washington’s “surrogate sons,” Morris played a profound role in ensuring the success of the American Revolution and the creation of the Constitution. Miller provides readers a look behind the closed doors of the Constitutional Convention, where Morris’s crystalline but passionate eloquence gave the debate a vitality that remains both enthralling and keenly meaningful for those of us whose lives have been decisively shaped by the results of that deliberation.

In 1792, Morris replaced Thomas Jefferson as the American minister to France. His experience there during the Terror is unparalleled in diplomatic history. As Miller tells it, Morris’s time in France is a story of conspiracy to help the king escape, of friends imprisoned and murdered, of seized ships and complex problems that had no precedent in the young nation’s history. Upon his return to the U.S., Morris served a brief stint in the Senate before going on to secure the building of the Erie Canal and to direct the design of the Manhattan network of streets we know today.

Alexander Hamilton

by Ron Chernow

Synopsis:

Few figures in American history have been more hotly debated or more grossly misunderstood than Alexander Hamilton. Chernow’s biography gives Hamilton his due and sets the record straight, deftly illustrating that the political and economic greatness of today’s America is the result of Hamilton’s countless sacrifices to champion ideas that were often wildly disputed during his time. “To repudiate his legacy,” Chernow writes, “is, in many ways, to repudiate the modern world.” Chernow here recounts Hamilton’s turbulent life: an illegitimate, largely self-taught orphan from the Caribbean, he came out of nowhere to take America by storm, rising to become George Washington’s aide-de-camp in the Continental Army, coauthoring The Federalist Papers, founding the Bank of New York, leading the Federalist Party, and becoming the first Treasury Secretary of the United States.

Historians have long told the story of America’s birth as the triumph of Jefferson’s democratic ideals over the aristocratic intentions of Hamilton. Chernow presents an entirely different man, whose legendary ambitions were motivated not merely by self-interest but by passionate patriotism and a stubborn will to build the foundations of American prosperity and power. His is a Hamilton far more human than we’ve encountered before—from his shame about his birth to his fiery aspirations, from his intimate relationships with childhood friends to his titanic feuds with Jefferson, Madison, Adams, Monroe, and Burr, and from his highly public affair with Maria Reynolds to his loving marriage to his loyal wife Eliza. And never before has there been a more vivid account of Hamilton’s famous and mysterious death in a duel with Aaron Burr in July of 1804.

Chernow’s biography is not just a portrait of Hamilton, but the story of America’s birth seen through its most central figure. At a critical time to look back to our roots, Alexander Hamilton will remind readers of the purpose of our institutions and our heritage as Americans.

Alexander Hamilton: A Life

by Willard Sterne Randall (no photo)

Synopsis:

From his less than auspicious start in 1755 on the Caribbean Island of Nevis to his untimely death in a duel with his old enemy Aaron Burr in 1804, Alexander Hamilton, despite his short life, left a huge legacy.

Orphaned at thirteen and apprenticed in a counting house, Hamilton learned principles of business that helped him create the American financial system and invent the modern corporation. But first the staunch, intrepid Hamilton served in the American Revolution, acting as General Washington’s spymaster. Forging a successful legal career, Hamilton coauthored the Federalist Papers and plunged into politics. Irresistibly attractive, he was a man of many gifts, but he could be arrogant and at times a poor judge of character.

In this meticulously researched, illuminating, and lively account, Willard Sterne Randall explores Hamilton’s life—his illegitimate birth, little-known military activities, political and diplomatic intrigues, and scandalous affairs—and its indelible impact on modern America.

Abraham Baldwin: Patriot, Educator, and Founding Father

by E. Merton Coulter (no photo)

Synopsis:

Abraham Baldwin: Patriot, Educator, and Founding Father is the definitive biography of Abraham Baldwin, a highly significant early-American leader who helped assemble the framework of American democracy and who may be the least known signer of the Constitution. Baldwin served as a Georgia State Legislator, as a State Representative to the Confederation Congress, the Constitutional Convention, first president of the University of Georgia, a Representative in the First U.S. Congress, and later as a U.S. Senator. It is must reading for laymen and historians alike. The book presents a graphic portrait of a man whose amazingly broad scope and vision left a lasting mark on his country and his adopted state of Georgia.

The Cost of Liberty: The Life of John Dickinson

by William Murchison (no photo)

Synopsis:

It has been more than a half century since a biography of John Dickinson appeared. Author William Murchison rectifies this mistake, bringing to life one of the most influential figures of the entire Founding period, a principled man whose gifts as writer, speaker, and philosopher only Jefferson came near to matching. In the ­process, Murchison destroys the caricature of ­Dickinson that has emerged from such popular treatments as HBO’s John Adams miniseries and the Broadway musical 1776.

Dickinson is remembered mostly for his reluctance to sign the ­Declaration of Independence. But that reluctance, Murchison shows, had nothing to do with a lack of patriotism. In fact, Dickinson immediately took up arms to serve the colonial cause—something only one signer of the ­Declaration did. He stood on principle to oppose declaring independence at that moment, even when he knew that doing so would deal the “finishing blow” to his once-great reputation.

Dubbed the “Penman of the Revolution,” Dickinson was not just a scribe but also a shaper of mighty events. From the 1760s through the late 1780s he was present at, and played a significant role in, every major assemblage where the Founders charted America’s path—a claim few others could make. Author of the landmark essays Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, delegate to the Continental Congress, key ­figure behind the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution, chief executive of both Pennsylvania and Delaware: Dickinson was, as one esteemed ­historian aptly put it, “the most underrated of all the Founders.”

This lively biography gives a great Founder his long-overdue measure of honor. It also broadens our understanding of the Founding period, challenging many modern assumptions about the events of 1776 and 1787.

Rufus King, American Federalist

by Robert Ernst (no photo)

Synopsis:

Biography of the American political leader and member of the Continental Congress, who played a major role in framing the Constitution.