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Show 1 r f ' INGE we bent pver our child- 'hood histories we have always ijV had an idea that our fathers V severed the ties with Great A Britain on the Fourth of July. fyi 1776, and we have had the fefi fo word of no less authority than Thomas Jefferson, the author Itt&V' ( of that hallowed instrument, k?f'ffll tbat tIle Declaration was signed on tuat date, on whose annl-4 annl-4 versary the great father of democracy died. But William H. Michael, chief clerk and historian of the department of state, says no, and for years he has toiled for his country beneath the same roof which shelters the sacred document; has haa the nation's archives at his fingers' ends. "The independence of the United States was declared by resolution on the 2nd of . July, and the adoption of the form of declaration declara-tion on the 4th of July was a secondary mat- ter," says Mr. Michael. "It is a little strange that more importance was not attached to the 2d of July in connection with the Declaration Decla-ration of Independence. The resolution introduced in-troduced by Richard Henry Lee, which declared de-clared our independence, was passed on that " - 4 til r Twenty-four of the signers were lawyers, fourteen four-teen agriculturists, four physicians, nine merchants, mer-chants, one a manufacturer, one a clergyman and three had prepared for the calling of clergymen, but had chosen other vocations, acocrding to Mr. Michael. Heaven sems to have rewarded them generally with long life, for three lived to be over 90, ten over 80, eleven over 70, fourteen over 60, eleven over 50, and six over 44, although one. Thomas Lynch, Jr., was accidentally drowned at sea when only 30. Thus the average age of the signers was over 62 years. What has happened to the famous Declaration Blnce its signing is recounted by Mr. Michael. In 1789, Congress authorized "the secretary for the department of foreign affairs" to take charge of it, along with other records, books and papers of the Continental Congress: The eame year the department of foreign affairs became the department depart-ment of state, which has, to all intents and purposes, pur-poses, remained the depository of the Declaration ever since. The great document was from 1841 to 1877, however, deposited in the patent office, for many years a bureau of the department of state, and was allowed to remain there after the patent office was placed under the interior depart- ua.y juiy l((o;. mia ,va icdi- Iy the vital point the crucial juncture." junc-ture." The real act of independence, which Mr. Michael has had reproduced repro-duced in fac-simile, was, then, the Lee resolution, declaring: "That these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and . independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain Is, and ought to be, totally dissolved." Concerning the actual date of the Declaration's signing, Mr. Michael Mi-chael says: "Mr. Jefferson in his account states that all the members mem-bers present, except Mr. Dickinson, signed the Declaration in the eve-, eve-, ning of the Fourth of July. The journal shows that no one signed it that evening except Mr. Hancock and Mr. Thomson. The journal entry en-try is: 'Signed by order and in behalf be-half of Congress, John,. Hancock. President. Attest, Charles Thomson, Thom-son, Secretary.' ... On August 2 the Declaration, as engrossed under un-der tile order of Congress, was sigDed by all of the members of ..tj "I ....V r j i -. - w 3fc4c' ," 4 f.t , "w . ment, tne oia aeparimtjui. ui n,dic being fireproof, while the patent office building was believed to be so. After the present fireproof state, war and navy building was finished the declaration decla-ration was returned to its legal de pository. Until 1804 the Declaration was framed and displayed in a steel cabinet cab-inet In the library of the department of statei where all visitors might see it, but in that year it was hermetically, sealed in a frame and placed in a drawer of another steel cabinet constructed con-structed to protect also the original signed copy of the Consttiution. Here the Declaration still remains, locked and sealed by order of Secretary Hay, and it is no longer shown to any one, except by his direction. A complete collection of biographies and artistic portraits of the signers of the Declaration has been made by Mr. Michael for his work, which will be distributed only through members of Congress. Only by dint of correspondence correspon-dence extending over many years and great personal effort has Mr. Michael obtained l)A portraits of Button, Gwinnett, John , Hart and Thomas Lynch, of whom it was hitherto believed be-lieved there were no likenesses in ex- istence. Most of the portraits are arter irumouii and the one of Benjamin Harrison, by this artist, had to be painted after Harrison's death from minute personal descriptions furnished by relatives rela-tives and friends who approved the finished likeness. What really did happen on July 4 of that year of years was the final adoption of a draft of the ' "form of announcing the fact to the world" that independence had been decreed two days before. Jefferson had written this draft jn his Philadelphia Philadel-phia apartments, consisting of a ready-furnis':ed parlor and bedroom in the new brick house of Hyman Gratz at the southwest corner of Seventh and Market streets, "on the outskirts of the city." T1h Penn national bank, now occupying the site of this dwelling, is in the very business heart of Philadelphia. Jefferson's disgust at the changes made in his draft is described by Mr. Michael. The Continental Conti-nental Congress struck out the language charging charg-ing the king with Inciting "treasonable insurrections insurrec-tions with out fellow-citizens," by promising them confiscated property; with carrying on the slave trade and refusing to allow American legislatures to suppress it. While these and many other clauses were being stricken out of his draft "Jefferson "Jef-ferson sat in his seat without raising ':s voice In defense of his own work, . notwithstanding he writhed in agony as he saw some of his most cherished paragraphs and sentences eliminated from the document." The historian, John Adams, otherwise a critic of the Declaration, complained that some of the draft's best parts, particularly that indicting the king for continuing the slave trade, should not have been stricken out. "Yet It will be well to remember," Mr. Michael says, "that Georgia and South Carolina were both carrying car-rying on the slave trade at this time as energetically energet-ically as they were able, and other colonies had profited largely by the traffic. Hence It was ridiculous to arraign the king for doing the same thing." After very heated discussions of this form of announcing Congress' real stroke of Independence, Indepen-dence, on July 2 discussions which kept Independence Inde-pendence Hall, Philadelphia, In a whirl of excitement ex-citement throughout the next two day this form of announcement, the Declaration of Independence, Inde-pendence, was adopted on the night of July 4. At the close of that evening's session Charles Thomson, Thom-son, secretary of the Continental Congress, went to the shop of John Dunlay, the official printer, and had the corrected draft set up. Copies of this first "broadside print" were sent to the assemblies, assem-blies, conventions and councils of safety throughout through-out the colonies and to the commanding officers of the Continental troops. It is probable that It was one of these printed copies, bearing the .names of Hancock and Thomson only, that George Washington ordered proclaimed at the head of the Continental regiments. But the "original Declaration," which all pilgrims pil-grims to Washington formerly gazed upon In awe and reverence, was not ordered written for more than two weeks after that' long but unjustly hallowed hal-lowed July 4. On July 19 Congress ordered that the Declaration be "fairly engrossed, on parchment," parch-ment," and that "the same, when engrossed, be signed by every member of Congress." Some time within the next two weeks the beautiful pen-work pen-work which, thousands of Americans have since t marveled at and admired was executed upon the great strip of sheepskin now locked away in the department of state, Washington. On August 2, 1776, just a month after the real stroke of independence, this great sheepskin was unrolled in the presence of the Continental Congress, Con-gress, in Independence Hall. With the wording of the corrected- draft it was carefully "compared at the table." This formality gone through with, it was spread out upon a desk and signed by all of the members of Congress present. 'Fifty of these fathers of the republic signed on that day. Six of the revered "signers" did not affix their signatures until later dates. George Wythe of Virginia signed about August 27. Richard Henry Lee, Virginia; Elbridge Gerry, Massachusetts, and ' Oliver Walcott, Connecticut, did not affix their signatures until some time in September. . Matthew Mat-thew Thornton of New Hampshire did not add his name until November, and Thomas McKean of Delaware probably did not affix his, the final signature, sig-nature, until five years later, or 1781. Matthew Thornton, by the way, was not appointed to Congress Con-gress until November four months after the adoption of the Declaration. Other signers who were not members of Congress on July 2 or 4, but were allowed to sign on August 2, the general signing day, were Benjamin Rush, James Wilson, George Ross, George Clymer and George Taylor. Why two Georgia members did not sign is explained ex-plained by Mr. Michael. One of these. Rev. John Joachim Zubly of Savannah, as soon as it became be-came apparent that independence was to be declared, had fled post haste from Philadelphia to Georgia with the intention of apprising Sir James Wright, the crown governor of Georgia, of what was going on behind the closed doors of Independence Inde-pendence Hall. Zubly's conduct having excited suspicion, he had been closely watched, and one of his letters to the British governor had been seized. It appearing beyond doubt that he was divulging the secrets of the executive sessions, then so zealously planning the stroke for liberty, he had been accused of his perfidy on the floor of the Congress by Samuel Chase, member from Maryland. Zubly had denied these charges, and challenged proof. It had been tie furnishing of this proof that had caused his flight. Congress directed John Houston, another Georgia delegate, to follow Zubly and circumvent his evil purposes. By the time both members reached Georgia, however, how-ever, the crown governor had been deposed by the people, and had taken refuge in an armed British vessel lying In Savannah harbor. Thus s Zubly's treachery came to naught, but it cheated Houston out of his opportunity to sign the Declaration, Decla-ration, and left Georgia with only three Instead of five signers. Why Houston did not sign with the other tardy members Is not discussed In the history, but his name should be as endeared to the hearts of Americans as any of the actual signers. Zubly, by the way. after being banished from Georgia, with the loss of half of his estate, was allowed to return to his pastoral work In Savannah, which city honors him by allowing two highways to bear his name Joacbfra and Zubly streets. |