The signers of America’s first constitution, the Articles of Confederation, are less well-known than those of the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence, but they are no less important to our history. Some basic demographic information about these men is presented below.
Name | State | Place of Birth | Birth Date | Death Date | Occupation | Religion |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adams, Andrew | Connecticut | Stratford, CT | 1/1736 | 11/26/1797 | Lawyer | ? |
Adams, Samuel | Massachusetts | Boston, MA | 9/27/1722 | 10/2/1803 | Merchant | CO |
Adams, Thomas | Virginia | New Kent Co., VA | 1730 | 8/1788 | Businessman | ? |
Banister, John | Virginia | Petersburg, VA | 12/26/1734 | 9/30/1788 | Lawyer | ? |
Bartlett, Josiah | New Hampshire | Amesbury, MA | 11/21/1729 | 5/19/1795 | Physician | CO |
Carroll, Daniel | Maryland | Upper Marlboro, MD | 7/22/1730 | 7/5/1796 | Farmer | RC |
Clingan, William | Pennsylvania | Chester Co., PA | 1721 | 5/9/1790 | Judge | ? |
Collins, John | Rhode Island | Newport, RI | 6/8/1717 | 3/4/1795 | Lawyer | ? |
Dana, Francis | Massachusetts | Charlestown, MA | 6/13/1743 | 4/25/1811 | Lawyer | ? |
Dickinson, John | Delaware | Trappe, MD | 11/19/1732 | 2/14/1808 | Lawyer | QU/EP |
Drayton, William Henry | South Carolina | Charleston, SC | 9/1742 | 9/3/1779 | Lawyer | ? |
Duane, James | New York | New York, NY | 2/6/1733 | 2/1/1797 | Judge | ? |
Duer, William | New York | Devonshire, England | 3/18/1747 | 5/7/1799 | Judge | ? |
Ellery, William | Rhode Island | Newport, RI | 12/22/1727 | 2/15/1820 | Lawyer/Merchant | CO |
Gerry, Elbridge | Massachusetts | Marblehead, MA | 7/17/1744 | 11/23/1814 | Merchant | EP |
Hancock, John | Massachusetts | Quincy, MA | 1/12/1737 | 10/8/1793 | Merchant | CO |
Hanson, John | Maryland | Charles Co., MD | 4/3/1715 | 11/22/1783 | Planter | ? |
Harnett, Cornelius | North Carolina | Chowan Co., NC | 4/20/1723 | 4/28/1781 | Merchant/Farmer | ? |
Harvie, John | Virginia | Albemarle Co., VA | 1742 | 2/6/1807 | Lawyer | ? |
Heyward Jr., Thomas | South Carolina | St. Helena Parish, SC | 7/28/1746 | 3/6/1809 | Lawyer/Plantation Owner | ? |
Holten, Samuel | Massachusetts | Danvers, MA | 6/9/1738 | 1/2/1816 | Doctor | ? |
Hosmer, Titus | Connecticut | West Hartford, CT | 1736 | 8/4/1780 | Lawyer | ? |
Huntington, Samuel | Connecticut | Windham, CT | 7/5/1731 | 1/5/1796 | Lawyer | CO |
Hutson, Richard | South Carolina | Prince William Parish, SC | 7/9/1748 | 4/12/1795 | Lawyer | CO? |
Langworthy, Edward | Georgia | Savannah, GA | 1738 | 11/2/1802 | Teacher | ? |
Laurens, Henry | South Carolina | Charleston, SC | 3/6/1724 | 12/8/1792 | Merchant | ? |
Lee, Francis Lightfoot | Virginia | Mt. Pleasant, VA | 10/14/1734 | 1/11/1797 | Plantation Owner | ? |
Lee, Richard Henry | Virginia | Stratford, VA | 1/20/1732 | 6/19/1794 | Plantation Owner/Merchant | ? |
Lewis, Francis | New York | Llandaff, Wales | 3/21/1713 | 12/30/1802 | Merchant | ? |
Lovell, James | Massachusetts | Halifax, NS | 10/31/1737 | 7/14/1789 | Teacher | ? |
Marchant, Henry | Rhode Island | Martha’s Vineyard, MA | 4/9/1741 | 8/30/1796 | Lawyer | ? |
Mathews, John | South Carolina | Charleston, SC | 1744 | 11/17/1802 | Lawyer | ? |
McKean, Thomas | Delaware | Chester Co., PA | 3/19/1735 | 6/24/1817 | Lawyer | PB |
Morris, Gouvernour | New York | Bronx, NY | 1/31/1752 | 11/6/1816 | Lawyer | EP |
Morris, Robert | Pennsylvania | Liverpool, England | 1/31/1734 | 5/8/1806 | Merchant | EP |
Penn, John | North Carolina | Caroline Co., VA | 5/6/1740 | 9/14/1788 | Lawyer | ? |
Reed, Joseph | Pennsylvania | Trenton, NJ | 8/27/1741 | 3/5/1785 | Lawyer | ? |
Roberdeau, Daniel | Pennsylvania | Mauritius | 1727 | 1/5/1795 | Merchant | ? |
Scudder, Nathaniel | New Jersey | Long Island, NY | 5/10/1733 | 10/17/1781 | Doctor | ? |
Sherman, Roger | Connecticut | Newton, MA | 4/19/1721 | 7/23/1793 | Lawyer | CO |
Smith, Jonathan Bayard | Pennsylvania | Portsmouth, NH | 2/21/1742 | 6/16/1812 | Merchant | ? |
Telfair, Edward | Georgia | Town Head, Scoland | 1735 | 9/17/1807 | Merchant | ? |
Van Dyke, Nicholas | Delaware | New Castle Co., DE | 9/25/1738 | 2/19/1789 | Lawyer | ? |
Walton, John | Georgia | VA | 1738 | 1783 | Planter | ? |
Wentworth Jr., John | New Hampshire | Somersworth, NH | 7/17/1745 | 1/10/1787 | Lawyer | ? |
Williams, John | North Carolina | Hanover Co., VA | 3/14/1731 | 10/10/1799 | Soldier | ? |
Witherspoon, John | New Jersey | Gifford, Scotland | 2/5/1723 | 11/15/1794 | Minister | PB |
Wolcott, Oliver | Connecticut | Windsor, CT | 11/20/1726 | 12/1/1797 | Lawyer | CO |
AN = Anglican
CO = Congregationalist
DE = Deist
EP = Episcopal
PB = Presbyterian
RC = Roman Catholic
UN = Unitarian
Sources:
Birth places, birth and death dates, and occupations: Declaration Signer’s Factsheet from NARA, Biographies of the Founding Fathers from Colonial Hall, Wikipedia. Religion: A Note on the Signers of the Declaration of Independence and God & Country.
Note on religion: Pinning down the religion of some people on this list is notoriously difficult. The “Deist” label, in particular, is a difficult one to assign. The best attempt has been made to assign labels accurately – the assignment can be debated, and this fact is readily acknowledged.
Note on dates: in 1752, the British Empire, of which America was a member at the time, adopted the Gregorian calendar. To do so required jumping ahead 11 days. Most of the signers of the Articles were born before this shift. Many people at the time shifted their own birth date 11 days as well – someone born on January 1, 1740, might have considered his birth date to be January 12 in future years. When I have no information about a pre-shift date, I have used the most widely cited date. When I do, I have used the pre-shift date.