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Matthew Thornton
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Patriot Matthew Thornton : “Duty to God, to ourselves, to Posterity”

On this day in 1803, Patriot, physician, surgeon, signer of the Declaration of Independence, Matthew Thornton dies at age 89. Thornton was also a New Hampshire delegate to the second Continental Congress. Additionally, he was the President of the five man committee that drafted the first New Hampshire constitution. In fact, New Hampshire was the first of the thirteen states to establish a constitution.

The Only Foundation

Back in 1775, as the newly elected President of the New Hampshire Provincial Congress,  Matthew Thornton wrote a letter To the Inhabitants of the Colony of New Hampshire. Here are a few excerpts:

Friends and Brethren: You must all be sensible that the affairs of America have at length come to a very affecting and alarming crisis.

… Duty to God, to ourselves, to Posterity, enforced by the cries of slaughtered Innocents, have urged us to take up Arms in our Defense. … We would therefore recommend to the Colony at large to cultivate that Christian Union, Harmony and tender affection which is the only foundation upon which our invaluable privileges can rest with any security, or our public measures be pursued with the least prospect of success.

… In a word, we seriously and earnestly recommend the practice of that pure and undefiled religion which embalmed the memory of our pious ancestors, as that alone upon which we can build a solid hope and confidence in the Divine protection and favor, without whose blessing all the measures of safety we have or can propose will end in our shame and disappointment.”

Matthew Thornton

 

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Roger Sherman, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Robert Livingston
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Roger Sherman: “a true, faithful, and firm Patriot”

On this day in 1793, Connecticut Patriot Roger Sherman, while serving as Mayor of New Haven and U.S. Senator, dies at age 72.

Sherman is the only American Patriot to have signed the Continental Association of 1774, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution.

He was also a member of the ‘Committee of Five’ selected to draft the Declaration of Independence. The other members were Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Robert Livingston.

Some of his other accomplishments include: member of the Second Continental Congress, the Connecticut General Assembly, representative in the first United States Congress, justice of the Superior Court of Connecticut, professor of religion and treasurer at Yale.

Distinguished through Life

First, here is the opening to Sherman’s Confession of Faith from 1788:

“I believe that there is one only living and true God, existing in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, the same in substance, equal in power and glory. That the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are a revelation from God, and a complete rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy Him.”

Lastly, these are the final words of the inscription on Roger Sherman’s headstone:

“a true, faithful, and firm Patriot.
He ever adorned
the profession of Christianity
which he made in youth;
and distinguished through life
for public usefulness,
died in the prospect of a blessed immortality.”

Roger Sherman, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Robert Livingston

 

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John Jay Supreme Court
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Supreme Court : First Meeting, First Chief Justice

On this day in 1790, the Supreme Court of the United States meets for the first time. John Jay, appointed by George Washington, was the first Chief Justice. Jay was a Patriot, a Founding Father, a statesman, and a diplomat. As such, he was one of the signers of the Treaty of Paris.

He wrote this, in part to his eldest son, Peter, in 1784:
The Bible is the best of all books, for it is the word of God and teaches us the way to be happy in this world and in the next. Continue therefore to read it and to regulate your life by its precepts.

Additionally, Jay also served as President of the Continental Congress and the Governor of New York. In fact, he was the only Founding Father that was also a native New Yorker.

Finally, on June 29, 1826, about three years before his death, he wrote this to the Committee of the Corporation of the City of New York:

“I recommend a general and public return of praise and thanksgiving to Him from whose goodness these blessings descend. The most effectual means of securing the continuance of our civil and religious liberties is always to remember with reverence and gratitude the source from which they flow.”

John Jay Supreme Court

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Benjamin Franklin Epitaph
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Benjamin Franklin born and a “most beautiful Edition”

On this day in 1706, Benjamin Franklin, the renowned Founding Father and prolific printer, patriot, scientist, statesman, etc. is born in Boston. He was the fifteenth of seventeen children.

Franklin lived until the ripe old age of 84, and died in his adopted home of Philadelphia, where he is buried.

Even in his early twenties, his wit and wisdom was on full display. Of note, in 1728 he wrote his own epitaph, revising and sharing it with friends throughout his life. Here is one such version, with a copy below:

The Body
of
Ben Franklin Printer,
Like the Cover of an old Book
Its contents torn out
And stript of its Lettering & Gilding,
Lies here Food for the Worms,
yet the Work shall not be lost:
For it will, as he believed, appear once more
In a new & most beautiful Edition,
Corrected and Amended
By
the Author.

Benjamin Franklin Epitaph

“I have lived a long time…”

At age 81, as the elder statesman at the Constitution Convention in his adopted home, Franklin urged the Assembly toward morning “prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on [their] deliberations.” In so doing, he made this famous quote, which inspired Our Benjamin Franklin shirt:

Benjamin Franklin “See… God Governs”

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Patriot Day 2016

In the United States, September 11 is Patriot Day, and is observed as the National Day of Service and Remembrance.

The bill to designate September 11 of each year as Patriot Day was introduced on October 25, 2001 with 22 co-sponsors: eleven Democrats and eleven Republicans.

Here are portions of today’s Presidential Proclamation — Patriot Day and National Day of Service and Remembrance, 2016:

“[T]he acts of terror of September 11, 2001, sought to do more than hurt our people and bring down buildings: They sought to break our spirit and destroy the enduring values that unite us as Americans. In the years that followed, our capacity to love and to hope has guided us forward as we worked to rebuild, more sound and resilient than ever before. With the hearts of those we lost held faithfully in our memories, we reaffirm the unwavering optimism and everlasting strength that brought us together in our darkest hour, and we resolve to give of ourselves in service to others in that same spirit.

The pain inflicted on our Nation on September 11 was felt by people of every race, background, and faith. … [M]any [Americans] signed up to don our Nation’s uniform to prove to the world that no act of terror could eclipse the strength or character of our country.

United by a common creed, a commitment to lifting up our neighbors, and a belief that we are stronger when we stand by one another, we must find the courage to carry forward the legacy of those who stepped up in our time of need. By devoting ourselves to each other and recognizing that we are a part of something bigger than ourselves just as heroic patriots did on September 11 we are paying tribute to their sacrifices. On this National Day of Service and Remembrance, we must ensure that darkness is no match for the light we shine by engaging in acts of service and charity. 
… 
Let us have confidence in the values that make us American, the liberties that make us a beacon to the world, and the unity we sustain every year on this anniversary. Above all, let us stand as strong as ever before and recognize that together, there is nothing we cannot overcome.”

For posterity, let US all stand United as Patriots, on this, and every day, as have the American Patriots of previous generations.

Star-Spangled Banner

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