On This Day…in 1746 – Thomas Heyward Jr. with Giveaway by Donna Schlachter

Thomas Heyward Jr from Wikipedia

Born on this day in 1746 in what is now knowns as Jasper County (then, St. Luke’s Parish) to Mary Miles Heyward and Daniel Heyward, Thomas Jr. grew up to be an American Founding Father, lawyer, judge, and politician. Of interest, he was called “Junior”, yet there is no indication he was named after his father. This author conjectures that perhaps his father’s name was Daniel Thomas or Thomas Daniel, as was his son, but both went by different Christian names.

Middle Temple students called to The Bar -- Wikipedia

 

Educated at home, Thomas studied law in England, where he joined the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, the British equivalent of the American Bar Society. On his return to the United States, he was elected to the Continental Congress in 1775, and in 1776, was the final delegate to sign the Declaration of independence, forever enshrining him as a Founding Father.

Although the exact dates aren’t known, Thomas married twice, both times to women named Elizabeth. His first wife, Elizabeth Mathews, daughter of Colonel John and Sarah Gibbs Mathews, was also the sister of South Carolina governor John Mathews.

Thomas Heyward House, current day -- Wikipedia

 

 

Following his term, he returned to South Carolina to serve as a judge in 1778. Of note, he presided over a trial of several persons on the charge of treason against the United States. The jury found them guilty and they were executed in sight of the British army encamped nearby. His participation in this trial earned him no points with the enemy, and two years later, while serving in command of a militia unit, he was captured by the British during an attack on Charleston.

To prove their mastery over him, the British captured his many slaves, transporting 130 to a sugar plantation in Jamaica. However, this huge financial loss (more than $50,000 value), resulted in his being named as a martyr to the revolution by the press.

After being relocated to a prison ship in the harbor, they were removed to St. Augustine, Florida, where he remained for about 11 months until freed in a prisoner exchange. As though to mock his captors, he transposed a popular song, “God Save the King”, into “God Save the States”, earning him even more popularity. He was finally released in 1782, and it was during this year that Elizabeth died during childbirth, having delivered six children to him. Only one, Daniel, survived childhood.

His second wife, Elizabeth Savage, was the daughter of Colonel Thomas and Mary Elliott Savage of Charleston. Together they had three children, all of whom lived to adulthood: Thomas, William, and Elizabeth.

As was common in that time, he also had children of the female slaves he owned. Most notably, his grandson, Thomas E. Miller, became one of only five African Americans elected to Congress from the south in the 1890s.

In 1784, he became a member of the American Philosophical Society, and he continued serving as a judge, retiring in 1798.

Thomas Heyward, Jr. is buried at Old House Plantation near Ridgeland, South Carolina, passing away at the age of 62.

Giveaway: Leave a comment to enter a random drawing for another story about a former slave, Theresa, in “Theresa’s Talent”. Don’t forget to cleverly disguise your email address so the bots don’t get you but we can if you win. For example: donna AT livebytheword DOT com





About “Theresa’s Talent”: Theresa, a former slave, wants two things: to own a business, and to vote. She excels at cooking and baking, so the first should be easy. The second? Already suffragettes had been working for twenty years—while it was the law in Colorado, would she see it the law of the land for every woman in the union in her lifetime?

Toby, a freeman now working for the Pinkerton Detective Agency, loves the sense of adventure and justice that being a private investigator brings. But when he sees justice failing for a white man, he can’t stand idly by and do nothing. Even if it means putting himself in danger.

But, is he willing to put another in the same position? 

About Donna:
A hybrid author, Donna writes squeaky clean historical and contemporary suspense. She has been published more than 60 times in books; is a member of several writers' groups; facilitates a critique group; teaches writing classes; and judges in writing contests. She loves history and research, traveling extensively for both, and is an avid oil painter. She is taking all the information she’s learned along the way about the writing and publishing process, and is coaching committed writers eager to tell their story. Learn more at https://www.donnaschlachter.com/the-purpose-full-writer-coaching-programs Check out her coaching group on FB: https://www.facebook.com/groups/604220861766651



www.DonnaSchlachter.com

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Resources:

https://www.middletemple.org.uk/about-us

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Heyward_Jr.

Alexander Hamilton ~ Founding Father, Anonymous Author, Doomed Duelist

Note ~ The Florida Artists, Architects, and Authors Series will continue next month.

A FOUNDING FATHER

 

Though Alexander Hamilton is considered a Founding Father, he is one of four in that historic group who didn’t sign America’s Declaration of Independence from the British on July 4, 1776.

The other three are George Washington, James Madison, and John Jay. 

 

General Washington was too busy actually fighting for that independence. However, he read the newly-signed document to the Continental Army on July 9th. Alexander Hamilton was only 19 years old at the time.

Or maybe he was twenty-one. His birthday is January 11th, but historians disagree on whether he was born in 1755 or 1757.

Here are a few details historians accept as fact:

• Hamilton was born out-of-wedlock in the West Indies and orphaned in 1768. His father had abandoned the family before then.
• From 1777 to 1781, he served as George Washington's trusted aide-de-camp.
• He was an artillery officer in the American Revolutionary War and fought in the Siege of Yorktown (1781).
• After the war, he was a lawyer and founded the Bank of New York.
• As a delegate to the Philadelphia Convention, he was involved in the drafting of the U.S. Constitution.
• As the first Secretary of the Treasury, he served in President Washington's first cabinet.

 

AN ANONYMOUS AUTHOR

 

Along with all his many historical political achievements, Hamilton also bequeathed a tremendous literary legacy…many written under a pen name.

 

Let’s take a look at a few of his better-known works.

 

The Revolutionary Versus the Loyalist

 

In 1774, Loyalist Samuel Seabury, a Church of England clergyman, published pamphlets intended to scare the American colonists from rebelling against the king. He wrote under the pseudonym of A. W. Farmer, an abbreviation for A Westchester Farmer.

 

In response, Hamilton anonymously published A Full Vindication of the Measures of Congress. Seabury published another pamphlet in response to Hamilton and then Hamilton responded with The Farmer Refuted.

 

Pen Name ~ Publius

In 1778, Hamilton signed three accusatory letters with the pseudonym Publius. The name came from a book titled Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans. The original Publius Valerius, better known as Publicola or “friend of the people,” helped to found the ancient republic of Rome. 

The three letters accused Samuel Chase—who is a signer of the Declaration of Independence and, in 1787, represented Maryland in the Continental Congress—of using insider knowledge to benefit from the flour market.

The Reynolds Pamphlet

To defend his own integrity, Hamilton wrote a ninety-five-page pamphlet confessing to an affair he’d had during his tenure as Secretary of the Treasury. 

 

While not excusing Hamilton’s behavior, it’s widely believed Mrs. Reynolds and her husband conspired to set Hamilton up so they could blackmail him. 

 

In the pamphlet, published in 1797, Hamilton admitted he was guilty of adultery but vehemently insisted he was not guilty of corruption.

 

The Federalist Papers

Hamilton is most well-known for writing fifty-one of the eight-five installments of The Federalist Papers. The remaining essays and articles were written by James Madison and John Jay, but each one appeared under the pseudonym of Publius—the same pen name that Hamilton used for his letters attacking Samuel Chase.

Hamilton, Madison, and Jay wrote The Federalist Papers to encourage public support for the proposed U.S. Constitution. The vast majority of the essays were published between October 1787 and August 1788 in New York newspapers and sometimes reprinted in other states' newspapers.

 

The collected Federalist Papers
in one volume and
an advertisement for the book.

 

Poetry

 

Before embarking on his political writing career—remember that his first anonymous pamphlets were written in 1774—Hamilton wrote a few poems and a hymn that appeared in the Royal Danish American Gazette, a St. Croix (Virgin Islands) newspaper.

 

The first two published poems were printed with Hamilton’s query letter. He wrote:

 

“I am a youth about seventeen, and consequently such an attempt as this must be presumptuous; but if, upon perusal, you think the following piece worthy of a place in your paper, by inserting it you’ll much oblige Your obedient servant, A.H.”

 

Another poem, “The Melancholy Hour,” was published on October 11, 1772 under the pseudonym Juvenis.

 

“This brooding work,” writes Ron Chernow in his biography of Hamilton, “reprises the theme of the hurricane as heavenly retribution upon a fallen world.” He quotes the following two lines:

 

Why hangs this gloomy damp upon my mind 

Why heaves my bosom with the struggling sigh?

 

An unsigned four-stanza hymn, “The Soul Ascending Into Bliss,” appeared in the Gazette on October 17, 1772. Chernow calls this “a lovely, mystical meditation in which Hamilton envisions his soul soaring heavenward.”

 

Here’s an excerpt:

 

Hark! Hark! A voice from yonder sky

Methinks I hear my Savior cry…

I come oh Lord, I mount, I fly

On rapid wings I cleave the sky.”

 

The Gazette published another poem, “A Character” by A.H., on February 3, 1773.

 

“In this short, disillusioned work,” Chernow writes, “Hamilton evokes a sharp-witted fellow named Eugenio who manages inadvertently to antagonize all his friends.” 

 

Here are the final two lines of the poem: 

 

Wit not well govern’d rankles into vice

He to his Jest his friend he will sacrifice.

 

A DOOMED DUELIST

 

On July 11, 1804, Hamilton and Aaron Burr fought a duel. 

 

Though Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson held opposing political views, Hamilton supported Jefferson for the presidency over Burr who was considered to be power-hungry and unprincipled scoundrel by his contemporaries. 

Burr accused Hamilton of impugning his honor and challenged him to a duel after Hamilton refused to apologize for disparaging remarks he’d made.

 

Hamilton told his second that he would purposely miss Burr and may have expected his opponent to do the same. 

 

However, Burr aimed at Hamilton and wounded him. 

 

Hamilton died the next day.

 

Whether born in 1755 or 1757, he wasn’t yet 50 years old.

 

HONORING HAMILTON

 

“…he was first on the $5, then the $2, $20, $50, $500, $1000 (those larger denominations were only used to move money among banks or between banks and the Federal Reserve). Since the currency was redesigned and given a standard size in 1928, Hamilton has been on the $10” (Brian Phillips Murphy).

 

RE-IMAGINING HAMILTON

 

The highly-acclaimed Broadway production of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton was nominated for 16 Tony Awards and won 11 including Best Musical, Best Actor, Best Choreography, and Best Orchestrations. The script was based on Ron Chernow’s biography of Hamilton.

 

Your Turn ~ Which of Hamilton’s writings impress you the most?

Johnnie Alexander writes award-winning stories of enduring love and quiet courage. Her historical and contemporary novels weave together unforgettable romance, compelling characters, and a touch of mystery. A sometime hermit and occasional vagabond who most often kicks off her shoes in Florida, Johnnie cherishes cozy family times and enjoys long road trips. Readers are invited to discover glimpses of grace and timeless truth in her stories. Connect with her at johnnie-alexander.com.

 

Sources

 

Chernow, Ron. Alexander Hamilton. New York: Penguin Press (2004). https://archive.org/details/alexanderhamilto00cher/page/38/mode/2up. (Accessed on June 29, 2025.)

 

Murphy, Brian Phillips. “Alexander Hamilton on the $10 Bill: How He Got There and Why It Matters.” The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-resources/essays/alexander-hamilton-10-bill-how-he-got-there-and-why-it-matters (Accessed on June 30, 2025.)

 

https://blogs.loc.gov/catbird/2017/09/a-look-at-alexander-hamiltons-saucy-religious-sentimental-poetry/

 

https://declaration.fas.harvard.edu/faq/founding-fathers-not-signers

 

https://historythings.com/the-many-written-works-of-alexander-hamilton/

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Hamilton

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Federalist_Papers

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamilton_(musical)

 

Photos ~ All photos are in public domain except the Hamilton poster which is categorized as “Fair Use." 

"Alexander Hamilton" ~ Portrait by John Trumbull. 

 

"Alexander Hamilton in the Uniform of the New York Artillery" ~ Portrait by Alonzo Chappel.

Portrait of Hamilton authoring the first draft of the U.S. Constitution in 1787.

A 1901 illustration of Aaron Burr fatally wounding Alexander Hamilton in their 1804 duel in Weehawken, New Jersey. 

The Federalist Papers.

An advertisement for the book edition of The Federalist. 

The Constitution of the United States, a Miracle Worth Celebrating

On the 17th of September, we recognized the birthday of our United States Constitution, a document signed by eleven delegates 236 years ago, establishing the United States as a Constitutional Republic. It is the longest-lived document of its kind in all of history.

The Constitutional Confederation first met in May of 1787, intending to revise the problematic Articles of Confederation, but by June it was realized that an entire revamp of the government was needed. The convention suffered several hot months of thorny debate, in which the representatives were sword to secrecy so that they might be able to speak freely. One of their fiercest discussions surrounded whether or not the new country would be known as a Republic or a Democracy. 

Republic vs. Democracy

I think it's important to take a moment, and very basically recognize what separates a Republic from a Democracy, as that seems to be often confused. 

Both systems provide a political system in which citizens are represented by elected officials sworn to protect their interests. However, in a purely democratic government, laws are made directly by the voting majority, leaving the rights of the minority largely unprotected. In a governing republic, laws are made by representatives people have chosen to express their will, and they must comply with the laws of their constitution in carrying out the will of the people, while protecting the rights of the minority from the majority.

An Unparalleled Agreement

Even in the 1700s, the two terms were sometimes used interchangeably, which, like today, is confusing. The fact that the Founding Fathers debated over whether the nation would be known as a democracy or a republic, among other hotly divided topics, shows why at least two of them—George Washington and James Madison—said that the signing and subsequent ratification of the Constitution was nothing less than a miracle. In the final wash, many would describe the government they formed as a type of "representative democracy". 

It remains important to emphasize that a Constitution is the unique feature of a Republic.

The National Archives, where you can read a transcript of the document and find other wonderful records and learning tools regarding the constitution, describes the miracle of the Constitution this way:

"The Constitution acted like a colossal merger, uniting a group of states with different interests, laws, and cultures. Under America’s first national government, the Articles of Confederation, the states acted together only for specific purposes. The Constitution united its citizens as members of a whole, vesting the power of the union in the people. Without it, the American Experiment might have ended as quickly as it had begun."

Transcript of the Constitution, Image by John R Perry from Pixabay

I took note this year of the Constitution's birthday. As moves are continually made in substantial ways to make changes to this treasured document, I believe it behooves every citizen to be aware of what it says and how it came to be. I hope that everyone who enjoys citizenship in our great land will, from time to time, read and review the Constitution. It would be wonderful if our United States Constitution would continue to stand the tests of time until Jesus returns, but that can only happen if it is defended.

Celebrating Our Constitution,
Naomi

www.naomimusch.com

Naomi Musch's heart beats for historical fiction. She writes to bring hope that will change the story—maybe even her own. Author of numerous novels (mostly historical) and first-place, award-winning short stories, she has been a finalist for the Carol Awards; Faith, Hope, and Love Readers’ Choice Awards; the Selah Awards; and twice nominated for Book of the Year. Naomi is at home in the Wisconsin Northwoods, where her perfect day is spent writing, roaming her family’s farm, snacking from the garden, relaxing in her kayak or vintage camper, and loving on her passel of grandchildren.

Fun Facts about the Founding Fathers (and a Giveaway!)

We all are aware of certain of America’s Founding Fathers and their accomplishments and contributions to America. Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Benjamin Rush, and John Adams—these (and other) names are imbedded in our American History textbooks and remain a staple in discussions on America’s founding. But these are only a very few of the signers of the Declaration of Independence—and so much of what is known is their public contributions to society. But unlike today, politicians of that time didn’t make a career of their politics. They all had lives and careers outside of their public life. I thought it might be fun to look at some interesting, random, and unique facts about the 56 men who laid the groundwork for this nation by signing the Declaration of Independence.

 

Ages of the Signers

·      The average age of the signers was 44.5 years old.

Edward Rutledge

 

·      The youngest men to sign the Declaration were Edward Rutledge and Thomas Lynch Jr.—both age 26. Rutledge was three months younger than Lynch, so he earns the official “youngest” title.

Benjamin Franklin

·      The oldest men who signed were Benjamin Franklin (age 70) and Stephen Hopkins (69).

Stephen Hopkins

 

Birthplaces of the Signers

Of the 56 men, only eight were born outside the American colonies. They were:

·      Button Gwinnett
·      Francis Lewis
·      Robert Morris
·      James Smith
·      George Taylor
·      Matthew Thornton
·      James Wilson

·      John Witherspoon

 

Professions of the Signers* 

·      Twenty-four men—nearly half of the overall group—were lawyers.
·      Seventeen were merchants.
·      Fifteen were plantation or land owners.
·      Four were physicians.
·      Three were scientists.
·      Two were land speculators.
·      Two served as ministers (only one was active at the time he signed the document).
·      Two were farmers.
·      One was a surveyor.
·      One was a printer.
·      One was a musician.

·      One was a military officer.

*Of the 56 men, seventeen are listed on the National Archives website as having two professions, so these numbers won’t add up to an even 56.

 

Family of the Signers

·      All but two of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were married.

o   Caesar Rodney was the first. Rodney suffered with asthma all through his life, and in his later years, he also developed cancer on his face. On multiple occasions, he underwent the knife to remove the cancer—suffering great pain and scarring, to the point that he wore a scarf over his face to hide the disfigurement. He ultimately succumbed to the disease on June 26, 1784, after an eight-year battle. He was fifty-five years old. I would guess that due to the cancer and scarring, he may have chosen not to be romantically involved with anyone.

Caesar Rodney

o   Joseph Hewes is the only other unmarried soul who signed the Declaration. He was said to have been engaged to marry a young woman, Isabella Johnston, but days before their nuptials, Isabella fell ill and died. Hewes was so heartbroken over her loss that he never found love again.

Joseph Hewes

·      The rest of the signers of the Declaration were married at least once. Sixteen of those 56 married twice in their lifetimes.
·      The sum total of children born to the signers of the Declaration is 337. 
·      Carter Braxton gets the award for the most children. He and his first wife, Judith, had two daughters before she passed away early in their marriage. Two years after her death, he married again and had sixteen children with his second wife, Elizabeth. Eighteen children total for the Braxton family.

Carter Braxton

·      Others who had children in the double digits included Josiah Bartlett (12 children), Abraham Clark (10), William Ellery (16), John Hart (13), Thomas McKean (11), Lewis Morris (10), Thomas Nelson Jr. (13), Benjamin Rush (13), Roger Sherman (15), and John Witherspoon (12).

·      Five of the signers had no children: Joseph Hewes, Francis Lightfoot Lee, Thomas Lynch Jr., Caesar Rodney, and William Whipple.

 

Random Claims to Fame

·      The first signer of the Declaration of Independence to die was Button Gwinnett. He died on May 19, 1777, not even a full year after the signing. He was age 42 at the time. Three days prior to his death, he fought a duel with Lachlan McIntosh, the man who’d been appointed to the lucrative brigadier general position in the Continental Army which Gwinnett had hoped to get. After losing that position, the two men had an ongoing fued which led to the duel in question.

Button Gwinnett

·      Because of his unexpected and early death, there are few samples of Button Gwinnett’s signature on documents, so his autograph is one of the most highly sought after among the Founding Fathers, and it comes at a very dear price. There are only ten samples known to exist outside of the Declaration itself.
·      The signer who died at the youngest age was Thomas Lynch Jr., who passed away at the age of 30. Both Lynch and his father served in the Continental Congress (the only father-son pair to do so), although both men were ill at the time. The elder Lynch was too sick to sign the famed document, and he died in 1777. The younger Lynch did improve some, though his health still suffered, so in 1779, he and his wife boarded a ship to go to the West Indies in hopes the climate might have good effects on his overall health. The ship was lost at sea, and Lynch Jr. and his wife Elizabeth both perished.

Thomas Lynch Jr.

·      Thomas Lynch Jr.’s signature is also very rare for much the same reason as Button Gwinnett’s, and the few samples of it outside of the Declaration of Independence have sold for $200,000-$250,000/each.
·      The signer of the Declaration of Independence who was the oldest at his death was Charles Carroll of Carrollton—age 95. He died November 14, 1832, of an apparent heart attack. He lived long enough to out-survive four of the first five American presidents.

Charles Carroll of Carrollton 

 

 

It’s Your Turn: Which fun fact or detail did you find most interesting? Why? Leave your answers along with your email address to be entered in the drawing for one of my books, along with a scented soap and package of Oak Alley Plantation notecards.

 

Jennifer Uhlarik discovered the western genre as a pre-teen when she swiped the only “horse” book she found on her older brother’s bookshelf. A new love was born. Across the next ten years, she devoured Louis L’Amour westerns and fell in love with the genre. In college at the University of Tampa, she began penning her own story of the Old West. Armed with a B.A. in writing, she has finaled and won in numerous writing competitions, and been on the ECPA best-seller list several times. In addition to writing, she has held jobs as a private business owner, a schoolteacher, a marketing director, and her favorite—a full-time homemaker. Jennifer is active in American Christian Fiction Writers, Women Writing the West, and is a lifetime member of the Florida Writers Association. She lives near Tampa, Florida, with her husband, college-aged son, and four fur children.

COMING JULY 1, 2021

The Scarlet Pen by Jennifer Uhlarik

Step into True Colors — a series of Historical Stories of Romance and True American Crime

Enjoy a tale of true but forgotten history of an 19th Century serial killer whose silver-tongued ways almost trap a young woman into a nightmarish marriage.

In 1876, Emma Draycott is charmed into a quick engagement with Stephen Dee Richards after reconnecting with him at a church event in Mount Pleasant, Ohio. But within the week, Stephen leaves to “make his fame and fortune.” The heartbroken Emma gives him a special pen to write to her, and he does with tales of grand adventures. Secret Service agent Clay Timmons arrives in Mount Pleasant to track purchases made with fake currency. Every trail leads back to Stephen—and therefore, Emma. Can he convince the naïve woman she is engaged to a charlatan who is being linked a string of deaths in Nebraska?