Joseph Hewes facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Joseph Hewes
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| Member of the Continental Congress | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | January 23, 1730 |
| Died | November 10, 1799 (aged 69) |
| Nationality | English, American |
| Alma mater | Princeton University |
| Signature |  |
Joseph Hewes (July 9, 1730– November 10, 1779) was an American Founding Father, a signer of the Continental Association and U.S. Declaration of Independence, and a native of Princeton, New Jersey, where he was born in 1730. Hewes's parents were members of the Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers. Early biographies of Hewes falsely claim that his parents came from Connecticut. Hewes may have attended the College of New Jersey, known today as Princeton University but there is no record of his attendance. He did, in all probability, attend the grammar school set up by the Stonybrook Quaker Meeting near Princeton.
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Early years
Hewes was a native of Princeton, New Jersey, where he was born in 1730. Hewes’s parents-Aaron Hewes and Providence Worth-were part of the Quaker Society of Friends. Immediately after their marriage they moved to New Jersey, which became Joseph Hewes’s home state. Like most Quaker children, Hewes helped his parents with the farm work. He received a strict religious upbringing and had a public education.
Hewes attended Princeton University and after college he became an apprentice to a merchant.
Career
After finishing his apprenticeship he earned himself a good name and a strong reputation, which helped him become one of the most famous signers of the Declaration of Independence for North Carolina, along with William Hooper and John Penn. After a few years as a successful merchant, he became very rich. Hewes moved to Edenton, North Carolina at the age of 30 and won over the people of the state with his charm and honorable businesslike character. Hewes was elected to the North Carolina legislature in 1763, only three years after he moved to the state. Second to the delegates of Massachusetts, Hewes was a pioneer of independence who influenced his state to be more rebellious during the years leading up to the American Revolution. After being re-elected many times to the legislature, Hewes focused on a new and more ambitious job as a Continental Congressman.
Personal life
Hewes was engaged to Isabella Johnston, sister of Samuel Johnston who was one of North Carolina’s governors. She died shortly before their wedding. Hewes never married and remained a bachelor for the rest of his life. After her death, Hewes continued to be a close friend of the Johnston family.
Death
Joseph Hewes died on November 10, 1779, eight months short of his fiftieth birthday. The funeral was held the following day.
Dunlap and Claypoole's American Daily Advertiser printed an account of the funeral in the November 16th issue on page two:
On the 10th of November instant, Congress being informed that Mr. JOSEPH HEWES, one of the Delegates for the State of North-Carolina, died that morning and that it was proposed to inter him to morrow evening, Resolved that Congress would in a body attend the funeral to morrow evening at three o'clock, as mourners, with a crape round the left arm, and would continue in mourning for the space of one month.They further resolved, that Mr. Harnett, Mr. Sharpe and Mr. Griffin, be a Committee to superintend the funeral; and that the Rev. Mr. White, the attending Chaplin should be notified to officiate on the occasion. They also directed the committee to invite the General Assembly, the President and Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, the Minister Plenipotentiary of France, and other persons of distinction in town, to attend the funeral.
Accordingly at three o'clock that evening the corpse was carried in procession to Christ Church; Mr. Carleton, Mr. Troup, Mr. Deane, Mr. Brown, Mr. Pennel and Col. Adams supported the pall. Beside the President and members of Congress as mourners, the General Assembly, a number of officers both civil and military, and a large number of inhabitants and strangers of distinction attended the funeral.
A divine service had been performed by the Rev. Mr. White, Rector of the Episcopal Churches in this city and one of the Chaplins of Congress, the corpse was interred in the cemetery adjoining that of Mr. Drayton.
Mr. Hewes, having at an early period demonstrated his zealous attachment to the cause of American Freedom, he was appointed by the voice of his fellow citizens a Delegate to the First Congress, and from that time to his death enjoyed the fullest confidence of his country. Endued with strong decisive genius and a spirit of industry, his mind was constantly employed in the business of his exalted station, until his health, much impaired by intense application, sunk beneath it. His private life was mild and amicable as his public life was honorable and useful. Adorned with all the social virtues, esteemed by his acquaintance, beloved by his friends and resigned to his fate, unregretting, tho' deeply regretted, his last debt to nature was paid in the service of his country.
Hewes was a member of Unanimity Lodge No. 7, visited in 1776, and was buried with Masonic funeral honors in the Christ Church Burial Ground, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
