The Inspiration for My Middle Grade Novel & Where It Is Now

I spotted this post on Facebook, and I shared it on my account three years ago. The link. no longer available; I wish it was. It said our young ones know the founders’ faults, but they don’t know their sacrifices.

That simple fact called out to me. It made me want to write their stories. To show what these men sacrificed. The price each one paid, and their families too. 
​

​Back then, I didn’t know if this was a good idea, or even a possible one. It’s a huge job, to research and write about 56 men. And if I finished, would there be a market for my work?

I talked to a few writer friends, and they convinced me to try. So here I am three years later, with ten chapters that will become the first book in a series. But only when those chapters are polished and ready for you.


                                                                   Chapter 1—A Single Sheet of Parchment
​

Chapter 1 begins on August 2, 1776. The day forty-nine men sign the Declaration of Independence. Seven add their names in the months to come. No one dies, but as each one writes his name, he commits treason against King George and the British Empire. The price if captured, death by hanging.

                              Chapter 2—Consumption Strikes
​
​On April 1, 1777, the first signer dies. His name, John Morton. Cause of death, consumption. It’s known as tuberculosis now, but it still strikes your lungs. Then it steals your breath and your strength.
​
You’ve probably never heard of John Morton. He came from Pennsylvania and served until consumption made him stop. John left behind a wife, 3 sons, and 5 daughters.

Tomorrow: Chapters 3 & 4, find out who died and how.

---

        Chapter 3—An Argument, A Duel, and Gangrene

Button Gwinnett from Georgia died on May 19, 1777. He had the most unusual cause of death…a duel. Button longed for fame and fortune. He got Congress instead. His arch enemy got command of Georgia’s Continental Army.

Eventually the feud reached a boiling point, a duel. Nothing like Alexander Hamilton’s. Both men aimed for the leg. One man lived, but Button died from gangrene. It’s still a super dangerous infection! 

---

​            Chapter 4—The Night Death Crept Inside
 
Philip Livingston of New York died unexpectedly on June 12, 1778. He was buried that day because of the laws in York, Pennsylvania. Think disease and death.

His funeral service was performed at 6PM that night. The Continental Congress attended as a group for the very first time. Many signers would pass away before they did it again. 

---

                           Chapter 5—Hiding in the Rocks

New Jersey delegate John Hart’s life changed after he signed the Declaration. By the end of 1776, his wife was dead, and he’d hidden in a pile of rocks. Thank goodness the British didn’t find him!
​
John died from gravel on May 11, 1779. His kidney stones pained him so much he resigned from the New Jersey assembly seven months earlier.

---

​Chapter 6—When Rich Food Turns Deadly

George Ross from Pennsylvania died from gout on July 14, 1779. George must have loved rich food and wine because gout is known as the disease of kings. King Henry VIII died from it too.

His wife died in 1773 when George was still a prosecutor for the English Crown. She never knew that he turned traitor to the king. George’s one regret—that he didn’t live long enough for his youngest to grow up. His older two children would be tasked with her care.

        Fun Fact: Betsy Ross, the one who may have designed America’s first flag, was George’s niece.

                                                    Tomorrow: Chapters 7 & 8, find out who died and how.

---

Chapter 7—A Life of Service

North Carolina signer Joseph Hewes never stopped working for himself, for North Carolina, or for his new country. He grew wealthy from his shipping business. That knowledge helped him play a crucial role in establishing the American navy.

Hewes was sick on and off for years with fever, chills, and terrible headaches. People said he had fever and ague. His home in Edenton was surrounded by swamps and mosquitoes. Today his diagnosis would be malaria, but the quinine to cure it hadn’t been discovered yet.
​
In September of 1779, he couldn’t walk to the Pennsylvania State House, but he didn’t quit Congress until the end of October. Hewes died November 10, and Congress attended his funeral. They held a month of morning, just like they did for Philip Livingston.

---

Chapter 8—Lost at Sea
​
Thomas Lynch Jr. from South Carolina has one of the saddest stories. His father was a delegate in 1776, but after a stroke, John Hancock called the son to Philadelphia. At age 30, he was the youngest man to sign the Declaration of Independence. In December both Lynches took a ship home, but the father never made it. He had another stroke in Annapolis. He died and is buried there.

Thomas Jr. continued home to South Carolina because of his own health issues. He and his wife set sail for St. Eustatius in the West Indies on December 17,1779. They were hoping for a cure, but their ship disappeared instead. No one knows when or where.
 
                                              Tomorrow: Chapters 9 & 10, find out who died and how.

---

Chapter 9—The Ironmaster of the Revolution

Meet George Taylor from Pennsylvania. He left Ireland as an indentured servant and wound up leasing Durham Furnace. He made things out of iron. He began supplying the army with cannonballs and shells in 1775.
​
Taylor didn’t stop when the Continental Congress paid him less than what his ammo was worth. He lost money but kept on making ammunition. When Durham was confiscated because it belonged to a Loyalist, Taylor hung on until his lease ended. Then he found Greenwich Forge in New Jersey. Taylor kept supplying General Washington and his troops until he died on February 23, 1781. 

---

Chapter 10—A British Prisoner
​
Richard Stockton from New Jersey was sent to inspect the Continental Army late in 1776. His job, to find out what they needed. That trip changed his life.

Loyalists captured him on the way home and turned him over to the redcoats. They put him in a New York prison for three long months. The conditions were so bad that when Congress found out, they sent a resolution to General Washington, and he got Stockton out.

The worst part, a rumor spread that Stockton was a traitor. The truth, he was forced to sign a paper saying he wouldn’t support the war in any way. The British destroyed his health and reputation as surely as they held him in prison. He didn’t recover either of them before his death on February 28, 1781.

---