As we enjoy our wonderful

Southern summers with our family vacations, our cook-outs

with our families and friends, our campouts, our evenings

in our back yards, and our wonderful worship services and

programs in our churches, we need to know and appreciate

a few facts.

Have you ever wondered what

happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of

Independence?

Five signers were captured

died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two

lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army,

another had two sons captured.

Nine of the 56 fought and

died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.

They 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; men of means, well educated. But

they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full

well that the penalty would 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 looted

the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton,

Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge and Middleton.

At the battle of Yorktown,

Thomas Nelson Jr. noted that the British General

Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his

headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington

to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died

bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home

and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and

she died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from

his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children

fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were

laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests

and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his

children vanished. A few weeks later he died from

exhaustion and a broken heart. Norris and Livingston

suffered similar fates.

Such were the stories and

sacrifices of the American 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."

They gave you and me a free

and independent America. The history books never told you

a lot of what happened in the Revolutionary War. We

didn't just fight the British. We were British subjects

at that time and we fought our own government. Some of us

take these liberties so much for granted... We shouldn't.

So, take a couple of

minutes while enjoying your summers where the

"living is easy"and silently thank these

patriots. "Living" was not "easy" for

them after they made a stand for national independence

These historical facts were

shared with me by Sherri Reynolds, an elementary school

teacher for the gifted in Henry County and the wife of a

retired U.S. Army chaplain, Jerry Reynolds. Both are

serving as home missionaries for the North American

Mission Board for the Southern Baptist Convention. They

currently reside in Jonesboro, Ga.

Our church has moved to the

American Legion Log Cabin in Fayetteville.

The Rev. Dr. Knox Herndon

is the pastor of His House Community Church (SBC) and a

substitute school teacher in the Fayette County school

system, and a former Army chaplain. The church is

currently meeting in the American Legion Log Cabin across

from the fountain on the Square in Fayetteville. Prayer

line 770-719-2365; e-Mail [email protected]

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