One of our readers submitted the following article to FAMILY TREES. Its author is unknown, but the topic is so appropriate for this upcoming holiday, I wanted to pass it along to you.

JULY 4th 1776 -JULY 4th 2000…

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors and tortured before they died.Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary War; another had two sons captured.

Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.

They signed and pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. What kind of men were they? Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well-educated. But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts and died in rags.

Thomas McKean was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Rutledge and Middleton.

At the Battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife and she died within a few months. John Hart was driven from his wife’s bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later he died from exhaustion and a broken heart.

Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates.

Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution. These were not wild-eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and education. They had security, but they valued liberty more. Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged: &uot;For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of Divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.&uot;

They gave you and me a free and independent America. The modern history books don’t tell you a lot about what happened in the Revolutionary War. We didn’t just fight the British. We were British subjects at that time and we fought our own government.

Some of us take these liberties so much for granted, but we shouldn’t. So take a few minutes this year while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these patriots. It’s not much to ask for the price they paid.

Freedom isn’t free. Patriotism is not a sin and the Fourth of July has more to it than beer, picnics and baseball games. What a legacy these men have given us! Let us celebrate them and their gift to us this holiday. Happy Fourth of July!

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Family Trees is a weekly column written by Nancianne Parkes Suber of Natchez.