Well, the essay I ran several times about the fates of the 56 signers of the declaration was full of exaggeration, misspelling and downright fabrication Thank you Snopes.com. Here are the prices they paid (see my believe-it-or-not precis)
Five signers of the Declaration of Independence were captured by the British. However, none of them died while a prisoner, and four of them were taken into custody not due to their status as signatories, but because they were captured while actively engaged in military operations against the British.
Richard Stockton of New Jersey was the only signer taken prisoner specifically because of his status as a signatory to the Declaration, "dragged from his bed by night,” and imprisoned in Provost Jail like a common criminal.
Stockton was the only signer who violated the pledge to support the Declaration of Independence with “our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor," He recanted his signature in exchange for his release from jail.
It is true that a number of signers saw their homes and property occupied, ransacked, looted, and vandalized by the British (and even in some cases by the Americans).
John Witherspoon, of New Jersey, saw his eldest son, James, killed in the Battle of Germantown in October 1777.
Nine signers died during the course of the Revolutionary War, but none of them died from wounds or hardships inflicted on them by the British. (
Carter Braxton, a Virginia delegate to the Continental was reluctant to support an American declaration of independence, a move which he viewed at the time as too dangerous. He endured severe losses during the war. But was not personally targeted because he had signed the Declaration: his ships were a prime target for the British. He did not "die in rags."
Thomas McKean was "hounded" by the British during the Revolutionary War? In a letter to John Adams in 1777, he said he "hunted like a fox by the enemy, compelled to remove my family five times in three months It is doubtful was was chased for being a signer: it was quite possibly because he served as a militia leader. He did end up in "poverty.
Several signers’ homes were looted; probably not because they signed the declaration. Forage for supplies in enemy territory has long been a part of warfare. Signers such as Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Benjamin Franklin, James Wilson, Benjamin Rush, and Robert Morris lived in occupied areas, yet those homes were not looted or vandalized, so it's hard to make the case that signers were specifically targeted for vengeance by the British.
Did Thomas Nelson's urge the bombardment of his own house? The story is probably conflation of two events: Nelson ordered a battery to open fire on his uncle's home when Cornwallis was inside. Later, Nelson made a friendly bet with French artillerists as to whether they could hit his home.