Mark Cole
In surveying the lives of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, at some point one begins to grow numb after learning about yet another desolation by the British of an American patriot who put it all on the line for independence. In every instance, the signer, as a member of the Continental Congress, was a respectable and productive man with an outstanding reputation in his colony.
His crime? He dared to enumerate the crimes of the crown in infringing on the historic rights of colonists. He had the audacity to declare independence from the crown when it became obvious that the crown was not going to change.
So it was with Lewis Morris of New York. A Yale graduate and the heir of the family farm, he had served as an Admiralty Judge for 14 years until he was elected to the Continental Congress. He had long been an advocate of independence, so in his mind, there was nothing revolutionary about putting his signature on a document which merely stated the obvious. It is said that he asked for a pen with the exclamation, “damn the consequences!”
And consequences there would be. In the Revolutionary War, Lewis was a general in the Westchester County militia and lost everything but his life to British troops. His house was destroyed, his farm was ruined. His 1,000 acre forest was despoiled, his cattle stolen and his family (including his ten children) was driven into exile.
After the War, as Morris painstakingly rebuilt his farming business, he also served as a New York state Senator, as a delegate to the New York convention ratifying the Federal Constitution and as a member of the first board of trustees of New York University.
The Morris family has a particularly distinguished record of serving America during her formative years. The younger brother of Lewis Morris, Gouverneur Morris, would succeed him in the Continental Congress and was later a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, Ambassador to France and a United States Senator. Three of Morris’ sons served in the United States Army.
These are the men who paid so heavily but are hardly remembered today. As it would later be said in a different war for the historic freedoms of the English-speaking peoples, “never have so few, done so much, for so many.”
Check out Mark’s book:
Lives, Fortunes, Sacred Honor: The Men Who Signed the Declaration of Independence
