State

Signers of the Declaration None off the three from North Carolina was a native son, but all of them rendered dis¬ tinguished service to their adopted state and the nation as a whole. ■ T is a singular fact, ono not entirely I to our credit, that none of the three I North Carolina signers of the Declaration of Independence was a native of our state. Hooper was from Massachusetts; Howes was born in New Jersey; and Penn sprang from the soil of the Old Dominion. The most distinguished of the three signers was William Hooper, whose father was a distinguished minister of Boston, pastor of Trinity Church. His son was therefore educated at Harvard, where ho took his Master’s degree in 1703. He rood law privately under the tutelage of that distin¬ guished American lawyer, James Otis, who was a pronounced advocate of American rights, freedom and lib¬ erty. It is probable that the impres¬ sion made by the older man upon the mind of his young pupil had much to do with shaping Hooper’s political views and his subsequent career. After making several visits to Wilmington, Hooper settled there permanently for the practice of his profession in 1767, and soon attained eminence at the North Carolina Bar. Indeed so distinguished was he for his legal ability that ho may fairly bo classed with Justice James Iredell, General William It. Davie and Gov¬ ernor Abner Nash, as ono of the nestors of the bar of our state. He appeared in practically all the im¬ portant litigations in Eastern Caro¬ lina, and attended the courts as far west as Salisbury, traveling over the wretched roads of the period in a carriage. Started in Politics in 1773 His public career began as early as 1773, when he represented the borough town of Wilmington in the Assembly, and the following session he was the representative of the county of New Hanover. From its first organization, he was a member of the Wilmington Committee of Safety. In 1776 ho was elected by the Assembly ns a member of tho Continental Congress— quite a record for a man who had not been in the state ten years. He continued as a member of that body through 1777, and was therefore a member when the Declaration was adopted. He was By II. C. LAWRENCE also a distinguished member of the two Conventions which assembled at Halifax to adopt a constitution for our new-born state. The first conven¬ tion could not reach an agreement, and until another could he held the state was governed by a Committee of Safety; but in November 1776, a sec¬ ond convention was held which adopted a constitution. This docu¬ ment was framed by n committee of which Hooper was n member, and be took an important part in framing our fundamental law. When the British captured Wil¬ mington in 1781, Hooper was par¬ ticularly obnoxious to them because of his participation in the Continental Congress, and they notified him that he must leave the vicinity. He then located at Hillsboro, where the remainder of his career was passed. After his removal to Orange County he continued to hold high rank in the legal profession until 1787 when he retired from public life. He died in 1790 when only forty-nine, and was buried at Hillsboro. A grandson of the same name was for many years a professor at tho University; and for a short period was President of Wake Forest College. Hcwes Bom in New Jersey Joseph Howes was bom in New Jersey in 1735, and was a merchant by occupation, largely interested in shipping. His home was at Edenton, and he was one of the wealthiest and most influential men in the Colony. He became a member of the Assembly in 1774; and tho same year was elected as a member of the Continental Congress, where ho continued to sit until 1777; and he served a second period in the Congress from 1779 through 1780. Howes is, in a very real sense, the father of the American Navy. In the Congress, on account of his large interest in shipping, he was naturally made a member of the Committee on Naval Affairs; and he served as secre¬ tary to this committee. Through his shipping connections, he had become interested in young John Paul Jones, and he now exercised his influence to secure for his protege a commission in the newly organized Navy, in which Jones forged rapidly to the front and became the first American Admiral. Jones never forgot hi* debt to Hewes. and there is still extant a letter from him to Hewes, in which lie says: “You are the angel of my happiness.” Hewes died while in attendance upon the sessions of the Congress, and was buried in tho churchyard of Christ Church in Philadelphia. His funeral was attended by the Presi¬ dent, the members of Congress, the French Minister, and other notables. He left a large fortune, but no descendants. Penn From Virginia John Penn was a native of Caro¬ lina County, Virginia, where he was born in 1741. He read law under his distinguished kinsman, Edmund Ran¬ dolph, one of the most outstanding lawyers of the American Bar of bis generation. In his young manhood ho became a resident of Granville County, where ho attained prominence in his profession. In 1775 lie was elected a member of the Continental Congress, succeeding Richard Cas¬ well, who was in poor health. His service as a member of that body extended through 1779. A curious incident occurred while Penn was a member of the Congress. Political differences developed be¬ tween him and the venerable Henry Laurens of South Carolina, who was President of the Congress. In accord¬ ance with the custom of the day. Laurens promptly sent Penn a chal¬ lenge to a duel, which challenge was accepted. It so happened that the two men boarded at the same place, and on the morning when the duel was to he fought, they breakfasted together, and then proceeded to the dueling grounds. When they reached Fifth Street, they had to cross a deep slough, and Penn courteously gave his aged opponent the benefit of his assistance in crossing. Laurens was so much ( Continued on page twenty-one)