![]() The US National Archives and Records Administration describes the “Founding Fathers” in a document titled “The Founding Fathers: A Brief Overview”: “In terms of religious affiliation, the men mirrored the overwhelmingly Protestant character of American religiouslife at the time and were members of various denominations. Only two… were Roman Catholics.” “35 were lawyers or had benefited from legal training… 13 individuals were businessmen, merchants, or shippers…six were major land speculators… 11 speculated in securities on a large scale… 12 owned or managed slave-operated plantations or large farms…two were small farmers… 9 received a substantial part of their income from public office… [and] three had retired from active economic endeavors.” “Some men held advanced and honorary degrees… [two] were scientists…[Two] were physicians… [one] a university president… [one] a minister, [three or more] had studied theology but had never been ordained.” “A Considerable number of the men were born into leading families… Others were self-made men who had risen from humble beginnings… Most of the delegates were natives of the 13 colonies. Only eight were born elsewhere… many of them had moved from one state to another… Most of the delegates married and raised children… [but] four were… lifelong bachelors.” |
Name (alphabetical) | State | Declaration of Independence Signatory (1776) | Constitutional Convention Delegate (1787) | Early Supreme Court Justice (1789-1795) | |
1 | John Adams | Massachusetts | X | ||
2 | Samuel Adams | Massachusetts | X | ||
3 | Ethan Allen* | Vermont | * Early American Revolutionary commander | ||
4 | Abraham Baldwin | Georgia | X | ||
5 | Josiah Bartlett | New Hampshire | X | ||
6 | Richard Bassett | Delaware | X | ||
7 | Gunning Bedford, Jr. | Delaware | X | ||
8 | John Blair | Virginia | X | X | |
9 | Richard Bland* | Virginia | * Delegate to the Continental Congress (1774-1775) | ||
10 | Carter Braxton | Virginia | X | ||
11 | David Brearly (Brearley) | New Jersey | X | ||
12 | Jacob Broom | Delaware | X | ||
13 | Pierce Butler | South Carolina | X | ||
14 | Charles Carroll of Carrollton | Maryland | X | ||
15 | Daniel Carroll | Maryland | X | ||
16 | Samuel Chase | Maryland | X | ||
17 | Abraham Clark | New Jersey | X | ||
18 | George Clinton* | Virginia | * American Revolutionary soldier, Governor of New York (1801-1804), and US Vice President under Thomas Jefferson and James Madison (1805-1812) | ||
19 | George Clymer | Pennsylvania | X | X | |
20 | William Cushing | Massachusetts | X | ||
21 | William R. Davie | North Carolina | X | ||
22 | Jonathan Dayton | New Jersey | X | ||
23 | John Dickinson | Delaware | X | ||
24 | William Ellery | Rhode Island | X | ||
25 | Oliver Ellsworth (Elsworth) | Connecticut | X | X | |
26 | William Few | Georgia | X | ||
27 | Tomas Fitzsimons (FitzSimons; Fitzsimmons) | Pennsylvania | X | ||
28 | William Floyd | New York | X | ||
29 | Benjamin Franklin | Pennsylvania | X | X | |
30 | Elbridge Gerry | Massachusetts | X | X | |
31 | Nicholas Gilman | New Hampshire | X | ||
32 | Nathaniel Gorham | Massachusetts | X | ||
33 | Button Gwinnett | Georgia | X | ||
34 | Lyman Hall | Georgia | X | ||
35 | Alexander Hamilton | New York | X | ||
36 | John Hancock | Massachusetts | X | ||
37 | Benjamin Harrison | Virginia | X | ||
38 | John Hart | New Jersey | X | ||
39 | Patrick Henry* | Virginia | * Commander in the American Revolution, and Governor of Virginia (1776-1779, 1784-1786) | ||
40 | Thomas Heyward, Jr. | South Carolina | X | ||
41 | Joseph Hewes | North Carolina | X | ||
42 | William Hooper | North Carolina | X | ||
43 | Stephen Hopkins | Rhode Island | X | ||
44 | Francis Hopkinson | New Jersey | X | ||
45 | William Houston | Georgia | X | ||
46 | William C. Houston | New Jersey | X | ||
47 | Samuel Huntington | Connecticut | X | ||
48 | Jared Ingersoll | Pennsylvania | X | ||
49 | James Iredell | North Carolina | X | ||
50 | John Jay | New York | X | ||
51 | Thomas Jefferson | Virginia | X | ||
52 | Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer | Maryland | X | ||
53 | William Samuel Johnson | Connecticut | X | ||
54 | Rufas King | Massachusetts | X | ||
55 | John Lansing, Jr. | New York | X | ||
56 | John Langdon | New Hampshire | X | ||
57 | Richard Henry Lee | Virginia | X | ||
58 | Henry Lee III* | Virginia | * Soldier in the American Revolution, and Governor of Virginia (1791-1794) | ||
59 | Francis Lewis | New York | X | ||
60 | Francis Lightfoot Lee | Virginia | X | ||
61 | Philip Livingston | New York | X | ||
62 | Robert R. Livingston* | New York | * Member of the Committee of Five that drafted the Declaration of Independence (recalled by his state before he could sign it), US Secretary for Foreign Affairs, and US Minister to France | ||
63 | William Livingston | New Jersey | X | ||
64 | Thomas Lynch, Jr. | South Carolina | X | ||
65 | James Madison, Jr. | Virginia | X | ||
66 | John Marshall* | Virginia | * Fourth US Supreme Court Justice (1801-1835) | ||
67 | Alexander Martin | North Carolina | X | ||
68 | Luther Martin | Maryland | X | ||
69 | George Mason | Virginia | X | ||
70 | James McClurg | Virginia | X | ||
71 | James McHenry | Maryland | X | ||
72 | Thomas McKean | Delaware | X | ||
73 | John F. Mercer | Maryland | X | ||
74 | Arthur Middleton | South Carolina | X | ||
75 | Thomas Mifflin | Pennsylvania | X | ||
76 | James Monroe* | Virginia | * Fifth US President (1817-1825) | ||
77 | John Morton | Pennsylvania | X | ||
78 | Gouverneur Morris | Pennsylvania | X | ||
79 | Lewis Morris | New York | X | ||
80 | Robert Morris | Pennsylvania | X | X | |
81 | Thomas Nelson, Jr. | Virginia | X | ||
82 | William Paca | Maryland | X | ||
83 | Robert Treat Paine | Massachusetts | X | ||
84 | Thomas Paine* | Virginia | * American Revolutionary author | ||
85 | William Paterson (Patterson) | New Jersey | X | ||
86 | John Penn | North Carolina | X | ||
87 | William L. Pierce | Georgia | X | ||
88 | Charles Cotesworth Pinckney | South Carolina | X | ||
89 | Charles Pinckney | South Carolina | X | ||
90 | Edmund J. Randolph | Virginia | X | ||
91 | Peyton Randolph* | Virginia | * First President of the Continental Congress (1774-1775) | ||
92 | George Read | Delaware | X | X | |
93 | Ceasar Rodney | Delaware | X | ||
94 | George Ross | Pennsylvania | X | ||
95 | Benjamin Rush | Pennsylvania | X | ||
96 | Edward Rutledge | South Carolina | X | ||
97 | John Rutledge | South Carolina | X | X | |
98 | Roger Sherman | Connecticut | X | X | |
99 | James Smith | Pennsylvania | X | ||
100 | Richard Stockton | New Jersey | X | ||
101 | Richard Dobbs Spaight | North Carolina | X | ||
102 | Thomas Stone | Maryland | X | ||
103 | Caleb Strong | Massachusetts | X | ||
104 | George Taylor | Pennsylvania | X | ||
105 | Matthew Thornton | New Hampshire | X | ||
106 | George Walton | Georgia | X | ||
107 | George Washington | Virginia | X | ||
108 | William Williams | Connecticut | X | ||
109 | Hugh Williamson | North Carolina | X | ||
110 | James Wilson | Pennsylvania | X | X | X |
111 | William Whipple | New Hampshire | X | ||
112 | John Witherspoon | New Jersey | X | ||
113 | Oliver Wolcott | Connecticut | X | ||
114 | George Wythe | Virginia | X | X | |
115 | Robert Yates | New York | X |