The Lives and Times of Our Founding Fathers - 16
In this post: Abraham Clark, Thomas McKean, Samuel Huntington
Founding Fathers Series
Step into history like never before.
Starting today and on a daily basis (Mon thru Fri), we will be posting 2 to 3 videos, about 5 minutes worth of videos, presenting the signers of the Declaration of Independence and the ladies of the American Revolution come alive through vivid, first-person storytelling.
This Series will be tagged on the right column of our blog as Founding Father Series
You may not know some, that does not devalue the contributions they provided in the founding of our country.
Their courage, sacrifice, and triumph unfold in gripping moments that shaped America’s founding.
Abraham Clark
Abraham Clark, an American Founding Father, was born on February 15, 1726, in Elizabethtown, in the Province of New Jersey, and passed away on September 15, 1794. He was the only child of Thomas Clark and Hannah Winans. Clark was a delegate for New Jersey to the Continental Congress, where he signed the Declaration of Independence. He later served in the United States House of Representatives in both the Second and Third United States Congress, from March 4, 1791, until his death in 1794.
Clark was also a politician and a figure of the Revolutionary War. His father, Thomas Clark, recognized Abraham’s aptitude for mathematics and hired a tutor to teach him surveying. Although physically frail for farming, he excelled in math and law, teaching himself law while working as a surveyor and entering practice. Clark held several offices under the royal government, including sheriff of Essex County and clerk for New Jersey’s legislative assembly. He was known for his simplicity and dislike of elitism, often encouraging his constituents to petition their representatives for change.
During his service in the Continental Congress, two of Clark’s sons were captured by the British and imprisoned on the notorious prison ship, the Jersey. The British offered to release his sons if he rescinded his name from the Declaration of Independence, but Clark refused. He was known as a strong father figure to his ten children. His commitment to the American Revolution and his refusal to abandon his principles even at the cost of his sons’ lives exemplify his dedication to the values he fought for.
Thomas McKean
Thomas McKean was an American lawyer, politician, and judge, widely recognized as a Founding Father for his significant contributions to the American Revolution and the early United States. Born on March 19, 1734, in New London Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, to William McKean and Letitia Finney, he played a crucial role in shaping the new nation. His father, William, was an innkeeper and farmer who immigrated from Ireland. McKean was educated at Francis Alison’s New London Academy before studying law. He married Mary Borden in 1763 and, after her death, Sarah Armitage in 1774, having a total of eleven children.
McKean’s political career began early; by age 18, he was the recorder for probate of wills in New Castle County, Delaware, and by 22, a deputy attorney general for Sussex County. He was a delegate to the Stamp Act Congress in 1765 and represented Delaware in both the First and Second Continental Congresses. He signed the Declaration of Independence and was the second President under the Articles of Confederation, serving a term before George Washington became President. McKean also served as President of Delaware, Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, and Governor of Pennsylvania, influencing the judicial, political, and structural aspects of the new country.
Historians believe McKean was the last person to sign the Declaration of Independence, either in early 1777 or as late as 1781, having left Philadelphia to rejoin the fight against the British before the document was widely signed. He also contributed to the establishment of judicial review, with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court under his leadership issuing rulings that embraced the concept before John Marshall’s famous Marbury v. Madison case in 1803. McKean is memorialized in several places, including McKean County, Pennsylvania, Thomas McKean High School in Delaware, and McKean Street in Philadelphia.
Samuel Huntington
Samuel Huntington (1731–1796) was a Founding Father of the United States, a lawyer, jurist, statesman, and a Patriot during the American Revolution from Connecticut. Born on July 16, 1731, in Windham (now Scotland), Connecticut, he was the fourth of ten children and the oldest son of Nathaniel and Mehetabel Huntington. Although he had a limited common school education, he was largely self-taught, studying law from borrowed books and with a local minister and lawyers. He was admitted to the bar in 1754 and began practicing law in Norwich, Connecticut. Huntington’s father, Nathaniel, was a farmer, and his family was active in the community, with his grandfather Joseph being a founder of Windham and his great-grandfather Simon among the original settlers of Norwich. He married Martha Devotion in 1761, and while they had no biological children, they adopted their nephew and niece after the death of Huntington’s brother, Reverend Joseph Huntington.
Huntington played a significant role in the American Revolution and the early government. He was elected to the Continental Congress in 1775, representing Connecticut, and was a signer of both the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation. From 1779 to 1781, he served as the President of the Continental Congress, a position some historians consider akin to the first president of the United States. He also held various judicial and political offices in Connecticut, including judge of the Superior Court, chief justice of the state Supreme Court, lieutenant governor, and ultimately, governor of Connecticut from 1786 until his death in 1796. He presided over the adoption of the Federal Constitution in Connecticut in 1788. Huntington died in Norwich, Connecticut, on January 5, 1796, at the age of 64.
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