The year 2026 is the 250th anniversary of one of the most pivotal events in American history, the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Of the 56 delegates that signed the Declaration, seven signed for Virginia, and two more signed for other states but were born in Virginia. Read on to learn about the lives of Virginia’s signers of the Declaration of Independence, our nation’s founding document. And remember to visit CRRL’s Virginiana Room, opens a new window for access to documents from Virginia’s colonial period to the Civil War and beyond. Be sure to look at the books in our collection, opens a new window on the signers of the Declaration of Independence, too.
George Wythe, First to Sign
The first of Virginia’s signatories to the Declaration of Independence was George Wythe (1726-1806). Wythe held many positions over his life, working as a lawyer, teacher, and judge as colonial times ended and the United States became independent. Wythe’s life was profoundly linked to American law; he was the first law professor, opens a new window in America. He was born in 1726 in what is now Hampton, Virginia (then called Elizabeth City County, opens a new window). Wythe studied at the College of William and Mary and was admitted to the bar in 1746, when he was only 20! Wythe was one of the earliest US judges to state that a court can invalidate an unconstitutional law.
Wythe’s role in Virginia’s government began before independence. He was a member of the House of Burgesses,, opens a new window the precursor to Virginia’s modern House of Delegates, from the 1750s onwards, and was briefly appointed the colony’s attorney general, opens a new window in 1754-1755. He was also a distinguished legal professor, opens a new window and taught Thomas Jefferson at the College of William and Mary from 1762 to 1767. Wythe became a strong backer of colonial independence and was elected as Virginia’s delegate to the Continental Congress, opens a new window in 1775 after George Washington left to become a general. Wythe continued his work as a judge and legal professor after American independence for many years. He became increasingly opposed to slavery over his lifetime and freed people enslaved to him. Further, he made provisions in his will that they would be owed inheritance from him. This cost him his life, as his grandnephew, George Sweeney, opens a new window, poisoned them and him in an attempt to collect all the inheritance for himself.
Thomas Jefferson, Virginia’s Greatest Founding Father
The best-known member of the Virginia delegation who signed the Declaration of Independence was Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826). Jefferson was not only a signer of the Declaration, but its primary writer, opens a new window, as well. Jefferson wrote his version of the Declaration in only two weeks, opens a new window and later explained that the purpose of the document was the “expression of the American mind, opens a new window.” The preamble, opens a new window to the Declaration (where the rights to “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” are mentioned) is often considered the most pivotal aspect of the Declaration by modern readers and a perfect expression of the reason the United States exists.
But, at the time it was written, the preamble was considered less important than the second and third parts of the Declaration. The list of grievances, opens a new window with King George III was more pivotal in the anti-Crown atmosphere of 1776. The King’s actions, including revoking the charter governments, opens a new window of the colonies and stationing armed troops among civilians, were seen as affronts to the legal traditions of the Magna Carta, opens a new window, which guaranteed the rights of English freedmen and limited the King’s power. Jefferson was heavily influenced, opens a new window by his draft of the Constitution of Virginia and George Mason’s draft of the Virginia Declaration of Rights in the phrases and concepts he used in the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson’s original vision, opens a new window for the Declaration was altered by the Constitutional Congress when they struck several passages from it before approval. One of the most notable was a paragraph-long condemnation of the Crown for imposing the slavery trade upon the American colonies.
Jefferson had an extraordinary influence on the young nation long after the Constitutional Convention. He was elected twice as Governor of Virginia (which was a one-year office, opens a new window from 1776 to 1851) in 1779 and 1780. He also served as the U.S. Minister to France from 1785 to 1789 and was the first U.S. Secretary of State, opens a new window from 1790 to 1793. Then he served two consecutive terms as US president from 1801 to 1809, during which he was instrumental in the Louisiana Purchase, opens a new window, which allowed the U.S. government to acquire much of the land in North America between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. Finally, he founded the University of Virginia, opens a new window in 1819, creating Virginia’s first true public university.
First Sons of Westmoreland
From the Northern Neck hailed two of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, Francis Lightfoot Lee, opens a new window (1734-1797) and Richard Henry Lee (1732-1794). They were brothers and were born at Stratford Hall, opens a new window, the Lee family estate in Westmoreland County. After the death of their parents in 1750, their older brother Philip Lee became their legal guardian and ended Francis’ formal education. Richard Henry Lee, opens a new window was already in England studying at Wakefield Academy, but did not return to Virginia at his brother’s request. Though they followed different paths in their younger years, Richard and Francis had a troubled relationship with Philip, although all three went on to serve together in the Virginia House of Burgesses. Richard’s political career began when he was appointed as Justice of the Peace of Westmoreland County in 1757, and Francis’ when he won election to the House of Burgesses in Loudoun County in 1758.
Richard, Francis, and Philip voted together as a bloc in the House of Burgesses for years. When revolutionary sentiment rose, the brothers stayed together, too. Richard was considered one of the greatest orators, opens a new window of the First Continental Congress and made the motion in the Second Continental Congress in 1776 to declare independence from Britain. Francis signed both the Declaration of Independence that year and the Articles of Confederation, opens a new window (the earliest formalized interstate government of the U.S.) in 1777, becoming one of 16 men who signed both documents. Neither Richard nor Francis was an ancestor of Robert E. Lee, opens a new window, the famed Confederate general of the Civil War, although they were members of the same family, opens a new window. Robert E. Lee’s father was Henry “Light-Horse Harry, opens a new window” Lee, the famed cavalry officer of the Revolutionary War.
Benjamin Harrison, V., Ancestor of Presidents
Another Virginia signer of the Declaration of Independence was Benjamin Harrison, V. (1726-1791). Many people think of President Benjamin Harrison when they hear the name, but he was actually one of a long line of men in Virginia’s Harrison family with that name. Harrison studied at the College of William and Mary, but could not finish his studies after his father was killed in a sudden lightning strike, opens a new window in 1745. This did not end Harrison’s interest in government, and he was first elected to the House of Burgesses in 1764, opens a new window.
Harrison’s stance on colonial rule shifted over the course of his political career. He consistently tried to push for political representation for the colonists and against what he deemed the Crown’s harsh taxes, but took up the Patriot cause gradually. In 1752, Harrison protested against Robert Dinwiddie, then Governor of Virginia, for his levy of a pistole, opens a new window on land patents in Virginia. Harrison’s claim that the levy was “a betrayal of the rights and privileges of the people” anticipated the Crown’s later moves to restrict colonial independence and the colonials’ rallying cry against “taxation without representation." Harrison was part of a committee, opens a new window that wrote a response to the Stamp Act of 1764, but did not endorse Patrick Henry’s Virginia Resolves, opens a new window, which urged civil disobedience to the Crown’s acts, in 1765. When the British Parliament passed the Townshend Acts in 1767, opens a new window to claim the right to formally tax the colonies, the Virginia House of Burgesses appointed Harrison in 1768 to pen a response stating that the colonists could only be taxed by their elected representatives. As the distance between the Crown and the colonists grew too far to bridge, Harrison fell in with the Patriots in the 1770s and signed the Declaration of Independence. His son, William Henry Harrison, opens a new window, and grandson, Benjamin Harrison, opens a new window, would both become presidents of the United States. The family home of the Harrisons, Berkeley Plantation, opens a new window, still stands today and can be visited in Charles City, Virginia.
Thomas Nelson, Jr., Early Virginia Governor
Thomas Nelson, Jr. (1738-1789) was a skilled politician and legislator who would go on to become the fourth Governor of Virginia, opens a new window. Nelson’s family members were wealthy plantation owners living in Yorktown, who financed his education at the University of Cambridge, opens a new window in England. His political career began in 1761, when he was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses. After the Boston Tea Party, opens a new window, the House of Burgesses became sharply divided between Loyalist and Patriot factions. Nelson became strongly associated with the Patriots and organized the Yorktown Tea Party, opens a new window in 1774. During the Revolutionary War, Nelson served as a brigadier general in the Continental Army. Although there is a commonly told story that Nelson ordered his artillery to fire on his own house during the battle of Yorktown, this story was possibly only a legend,, opens a new window as Nelson’s house, opens a new window still stands today, while his uncle’s home was destroyed.
In 1776, Nelson journeyed with the Virginia Delegation to Philadelphia to sign the Declaration of Independence. He only served as governor for a few months in 1781 before he was forced to resign in November because of severe illness. He suffered from recurrent illnesses after his time in the military, and his health never fully recovered. Though he was effective at soliciting funds to finance the Virginia Militia, opens a new window during the war, it took much of his personal fortune to do so. With his health and wealth sacrificed for Virginia’s freedom, he died in 1789 at the age of 50.
Carter Braxton, Wealthiest of Planters
Carter Braxton (1736-1797) was a planter and landowner who was likely the wealthiest of the Virginia delegation to sign the Declaration of Independence. He was a descendant of Robert “King” Carter, opens a new window, a member of the House of Burgesses noted for his wealth and controlling style of politics. Though Braxton was not a Loyalist, he often attempted to find compromises, opens a new window between the desires of the Patriots in Virginia’s House of Burgesses and the Crown during his time in government. By 1769, opens a new window, he joined the Patriot faction, as it had become impossible to bridge the gap between the Virginia planters and the Crown by that time. He was appointed a member of the Continental Congress in 1776, opens a new window to fill the vacancy left after the death of Peyton Randolph, opens a new window.
Braxton was very reluctant as a revolutionary figure. Though he did sign the First Virginia Association, opens a new window in 1774 (which claimed that only the House of Burgesses had the right to tax Virginians), he was very critical of republican government, opens a new window, fearing the democratic ideals of John Adams and likeminded people would lead the colonies to ruin. His views clashed with those of other Virginia delegates, and he was not reappointed to the Continental Congress after his term ended. Braxton did provide strong financial backing, opens a new window for the Colonials during the Revolutionary War through loans, shipping, and privateering. This came at a massive cost to his personal fortune. Many of the ships he invested in were sunk, and his lands were raided by Loyalist forces. Braxton lost so much money during the war that he was forced to leave Chericoke, opens a new window, his plantation in King William County, and move into a small house in Richmond in 1786, opens a new window. He retained his political influence even after his fortune was lost and continued to have a presence in the Virginia state government until his death in 1797.
Virginia Born, But Delegates for Other States
Two other men who signed the Declaration of Independence were born in Virginia, but lived in other states and signed for their delegations. One of them, John Penn, opens a new window (1741-1788), was born in Caroline County. During his youth, he lived on a farm with his family and received only minimal education, but his life changed dramatically at the age of 18, when his father died. Penn began his legal education with the help of his uncle, Edmund Pendleton, opens a new window. Pendleton was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, had a long legal career, and was an excellent mentor for Penn’s legal career. Penn left Virginia in 1774, opens a new window, settling in Granville County, North Carolina. During his time in North Carolina, Penn became a strong advocate for independence, arguing for the colonies to completely separate, opens a new window from the Crown. He was first elected to the North Carolina Provincial Congress in 1774, opens a new window and first served in the Continental Congress in 1775, opens a new window. He signed both the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation during his time in the Continental Congress, before leaving in 1780. Penn died in 1788 at the age of 47.
The other signatory of the Declaration born in Virginia who signed for another state was George Walton, opens a new window (1749-1804). He was born in Cumberland County, Virginia, opens a new window, but left in 1769 for Savannah, Georgia, to study law. Walton became a very successful lawyer in Georgia and was elected Secretary of the Georgia Provincial Congress in 1775, opens a new window. He also served in the Continental Congress in 1776, 1777, 1780, and 1781. Walton served in the First Georgia Regiment of Militia during the Revolutionary War and was captured, opens a new window by the British in December 1778 while attempting to defend Savannah from the British forces. He was released in a prisoner exchange in October 1779. Afterwards, Walton served two months, opens a new window as Governor of Georgia. He continued serving in the Georgia state government in various roles until his death in 1804. Notably, he was a judge, opens a new window of the Superior Circuit of Georgia from 1799 until his death.
The Virginiana Room: Your Source for Early Virginia History
For more information on early Virginia history, visit CRRL’s Virginiana Room. Located in the lower level of Fredericksburg Branch, the Virginiana Room, opens a new window features a collection of documents from the early centuries of Virginia. It includes documents from the colonial period, the Antebellum (pre-Civil War) era, the late 19th century, and more. You can also access a vast collection of local newspapers dating back to 1788 in the Virginiana Room. Our helpful staff will aid you in finding historical documents or resources available in our collection.
