Declaration

Mary House: Recognized as Female Patriot of the American Revolution

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During this Women’s History Month, and ahead of the nation’s 250th celebrations, I have the great fortune of announcing a new Revolutionary female Patriot. I spearheaded an application with the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) to prove a new female American Revolutionary-era Patriot.

Mary House owned and operated a boarding house in Philadelphia, the House Inn. Because she paid taxes on the inn, her support tax directly helped fund the Revolutionary war. Just two blocks from the famous State House, where Revolution was debated and the Declaration of Independence signed, the inn was a respected political hub, frequented by familiar founding fathers.

In this press release issued by NSDAR, Pamela Wright, NSDAR President General and the National Society’s volunteer elected CEO, says, “We are thrilled to add Mary House to our list of verified female Patriots. As we approach our nation’s 250th birthday, DAR members across the country are concentrating on sharing the stories of these amazing Americans, helping contemporary U.S. citizens understand the relevancy of Patriots to our lives today. As a female entrepreneur myself, I am inspired by the story of Mrs. House.”

The star on this map shows the location of the House Inn. To red outline to the left is the State House. The red outline down and to the right, is the Arch Street Quaker Burial ground where Mary House was buried.

The House Inn hosted Thomas Jefferson and Other Founders

Mary House was a wise entrepreneur. After her husband died, the widow established the boarding house, which quickly became known for what was then called “fine entertainments.” It offered quality lodgings, good food and refreshments, and above all an atmosphere that encouraged convivial engagement. It quickly attracted founding fathers familiar to us now. Silas Deane, James Madison, and Thomas Jefferson. Mary recognized that congressmen visits to Philadelphia would increase as Revolution rumbled through the colonies. Consequently, she wisely moved her already established House Inn closer to the action, to Fifth and Market Streets. Like the famed City Tavern, the House Inn was a gathering place for end-of-day political discourse over dinner and drinks.

Finding Mary House and Proving Her as Patriot

Although I spearheaded the search and the NSDAR application, the journey to validate Mary House’s Patriot status was a collaborative effort. It took multiple years and involved more than 15 individuals across five NSDAR chapters and three states, along with additional historians and translators. To submit an application for patriot status for Mary House, we found and proved lineage to a living descendant. That descendant is also related to two other significant figures: Jefferson and the subject of what I call my Eliza Project.

Mary House’s Daughter, Eliza Trist, Went West & Kept a Journal

Mary House is significant in her own right as a supporter of the Cause and an entrepreneur. She is also the mother of Eliza House Trist—a woman who traveled west in 1783, two decades before Lewis and Clark. Eliza Trist kept this journal for Thomas Jefferson. Trist met Jefferson when he lodged at the House Inn. The two became significant in each others lives, and long after her westward journey, Eliza Trist’s grandson married Thomas Jefferson’s granddaughter. Consequently, this new NSDAR member on this application, is related to House, Trist, and Jefferson.

To be frank, I feel like we’ve hit the NSDAR’s version of a quadfecta or superfecta. Myself, and this incredible network of genealogists and historians, have correctly proven four positions significant to the NSDAR. New female Patriot. New Female Explorer. New member. And all connected to Thomas Jefferson.

The only known portrait of Eliza House Trist. From the Ledger book of William Bache, National Portrait Gallery.

What will the Patriot Status Achieve?

Mary House was buried in Philadelphia, in the Quaker Arch Street burial ground, which was built over in the late 1800s. Eliza Trist is buried at Monticello. Neither woman has a gravestone, and their contributions have never been granted state historical markers. As I mentioned in the press release, “The goal is to ensure each of these women has a grave marker and historical recognition… In honor of the 250th, we are striving to broaden the narrative we tell about the founding of this country. Eliza and Mary matter. Who we tell our origin stories about matters so more of us can envision ourselves contributing to our future.”

The Permission slip provided by the Quakers to bury Mary House in the Arch Street grounds.

To learn more about Eliza House Trist

I am producing a more comprehensive and widely-accessible narrative for Mary House and Eliza Trist. For now, you can learn more about Eliza House Trist’s journey when you pre-order a copy of The Travel Journal of Eliza House Trist, 1783-84. It’s a brand new transcription, with a brief introduction. For the first time, her journal is replicated as she originally wrote it. In this beautifully hardbound book, is an all new introduction and a map of her journey. The book publishes April 15th.

 

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The American Revolution and the Shawnee at Fort Pitt, This Week in 1776

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The Shawnee, Colonel Morgan, and the Treaty of 1776

Take a read through pretty much any high school history textbook, and you’ll find what I initially did about the Shawnee in 1776. They, like all Native Americans, were supposedly choosing sides between the Colonists and the British. Take a visit to many museums, like the Fort Pitt museum, and you’ll see over-told tales of the Shawnee capturing white settlers. Clearly they do not know about Colonel Morgan, Gregory Schaaf, or the treaty of 1776.

ColonelGeorgeMorgan

Who was Colonel Morgan?

Colonel Morgan was the Indian Commissioner for the Colonies in 1776. He was also good friend to the Delaware, the Iroquois, and he spoke a multitude of languages—so endeared was he to the Indians, that they gave him  nicknames like “Council House” and “Brother Tamanend.” In the fall of 1776, he called a treaty of all Indian Nations to meet in Fort Pitt to discuss the issue at hand. Land.

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The Native Americans Came to Fort Pitt in 1776 to Discuss Land Rights

The Treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1768 had drawn a dividing line down the middle of the land at Fort Pitt. The east belonged to the British and west of that line belonged to the Native Americans. When the colonists separated from Britain, that treaty went kaput, and the land was once again up for grabs. Additionally, the land hadn’t been yet surveyed that far west, so it wasn’t certain if Fort Pitt sat upon Pennsylvania or Virginia soil. And to make matters worse, George Washington himself was speculating on land—including about 1500 acres in and around Fort Pitt.

To the Shawnee, and many of the Indian nations, it was their sacred hunting ground. Just as it always had been. So over 650 Native Americans from more than six nations came to Fort Pitt to meet with Morgan, this last week of October, 1776. That included Netawatees, grandfather to the Delaware, who was nearing 100.

Netawatwees

How Do We Know The First American-Indian Treaty was in 1776?

We can thank both Colonel Morgan and Gregory Schaaf. Schaaf was working on a dissertation back in the 1980s. He was convinced that there was more to this October 1776 treaty than had previously been discovered. I had seen only one line about it, and I hunted, too. I found Gregory Schaaf, and Gregory Schaaf had been persistent. After knocking on the door of several of Morgan’s descendants, one of them called him to say… wait for it… “here’s a packet of letters and documents I came across in an old chest.”

It included a 73-page journal written by Colonel Morgan, the Indian Agent who had invited everyone to Fort Pitt. An article in People Magazine, described Schaaf’s find as “The Mother Load.”

It was to me, too. The treaty, and the results from it, were described by Morgan. Schaaf transcribed the journal, added his interpretations, and I used it and other sources to frame the facts of the treaty in my historical novel.

So, What Was the Result of the Treaty of 1776?

Keep in mind that treaties like this were often discussions, from which written appeals or pleas were developed. Not always were lines drawn, and land divided. In this case, the Shawnee, along with the Iroquois, the Munsee, the Delawares, the Mohicans, and other nations, drew up a request for Congress, submitting a plea they hoped would resonate with the men who had drafted the Declaration of Independence. The Indians asked for a right to political sovereignty, to religious freedom, and a fair piece or payment for their tribal hunting grounds.

And in exchange for agreeing to stay out of the “White Man’s War”—choosing the side of neither the colonists nor the British—the Native Americans asked for just three rights in exchange. Three little ideals they knew the colonists would find familiar:

“Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

That puts our founding document in a new light now, doesn’t it? What a different world we would live in now if, back then, the ideals of one group had been expanded and designed to include the others.

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Reader Insights: To read more about the Treaty and what happened beyond 1776, stay tuned or pick up my novel, CARRYING INDEPENDENCE. I’m forever grateful to historians like Gregory Schaaf and Colin Calloway who helped me with my research, and who are striving to tell the Indian story faithfully in part by constantly seeking new information.

I think it’s also fair that Native Americans be given the opportunity and the means to tell their own stories. As such, a portion of the proceeds of my novel are being donated to the DAR American Indian Scholarship Fund. I hope you’ll donate, too.

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For more history nerd posts like these, subscribe to the blog. Guest posts are welcomed and encouraged. Contact me for details.

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Why July 19th, 1776 Matters

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An Engrossed Copy

As many readers now know, CARRYING INDEPENDENCE is about the importance of gathering signatures on a single copy of the Declaration of Independence. Today’s date was a significant moment in history that indicated to me that I could indeed write such a story.

July 19th, 1776, was the day the Continental Congress agreed to have one “engrossed” copy of the Declaration made. One readable, handwritten copy, signed by all. Why?

New York Finally Approved the Declaration

Ten days earlier, on July 9th, New York representatives finally agreed to the wording of the Declaration—the last of 13 states to do so. This mattered because their approval finally made the separation from Britain unanimous. But words are hollow without a contract everyone will sign.

Would you agree to move out of your home, while only verbally agreeing the guy moving in could take over? Nope. You’d ensure he came in and signed some papers assuming the mortgage, and absolving you of responsibility. You’d want all parties in agreement.

So did the Congress.

If you really want to see how we began, put down the Constitution and pick up the Declaration.

Signing_KarenAChase.jpg

So what? Why does this decision and day in history matter now?

In a country that too often operates divisively and viciously, we need to remember that this nation began by coming together. By compromising. By being optimistic in the face of grave danger and the real possibility that we might not stand a snowball’s chance of surviving the heat. We began by laying down our lives and our fortunes and our sacred honor for the sake of each other—no matter which colony or country we were born in.

If you really want to see how we began, put down the Constitution and pick up the Declaration. When you read it—actually study it— you’ll find that our country, with this document as evidence, was founded not upon seeking what was best for us individually.

Even with all its flaws, the Declaration was an agreement to collectively be better. And not just for Americans, but for and before “a candid world.”

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Reader Insider Note: I’ll admit it… not before this book had I really studied the Declaration. But with chapter 23 of CARRYING INDEPENDENCE, I wrote myself into a corner. George Wythe, the man who taught Jefferson, was to explain to Nathaniel, my protagonist, the reasoning behind the Declaration. Not the intent. The reasoning.

Of all my chapters and scenes, it took me the longest to write this one—days and days of researching the ideologies, reviewing academic interpretations, and studying the document itself. At times I wondered if I was smart enough to grasp and then convey the meaning of it all. And then I decided I would simply allow Wythe to explain it to me as if I were Nathaniel—a nonacademic, uncertain yet hopeful, resident now living in a foreign land.

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For more history nerd posts like these, subscribe to the blog. Guest posts are welcomed and encouraged. Contact me for details.

For behind-the-scenes author-related news, giveaways, and to find out where I might be speaking near you, subscribe to my e-publication, CHASING HISTORIES.

 

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The Woman on the Declaration

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Founding-Documents Blog Series: Part Six

On this, July 4th, my blog features the last in a brief series related to the history and signing of the Declaration of Independence… Part one began here.

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So many blogs will rightly tell you that the Declaration of Independence was not written, voted for, or even signed on July 4th. All true. Today, however, I’d rather talk about the only woman whose name graces the Declaration. A woman featured in Carrying Independence.

DeclarationGoddard960.jpg

Mary Katharine Goddard

Her brother was a drunkard. He owned his own print-shop which often fell into neglect as he stumbled around the colonies bemoaning (whining) that Benjamin Franklin had been given the title of Postmaster General over him.

When the print shop was left in Mary Katharine’s hands in Baltimore in the mid 1770s, Mary Katharine (with two As) became known not only as the printer, but the editor and the first female Postmaster of Baltimore. (As she says in novel, “It does not take a man to organize the mail… I was already writing and publishing both the Maryland Journal and the Baltimore Advertiser, so why not know the post routes, too?”)

Postmasters in the colonies were paid by Congress, making Mary Katharine the first female federal employee of the newly formed United States. But by the end of 1776, problems in that new country were afoot.

Congress Had a Failing Army

Getting all the congressmen to sign a sole copy of a Declaration—while hiding their identities—was one thing. Ensuring troops stayed to fight was quite another. By January of 1777, the enlistments of soldiers who had joined in July of ’76 were nearly up. Their morale was severely down. Would you have stuck around after 6–8 months of marching, starving, and losing, or would you go home to tend your farm and eat?

Congress decided to admit “to a candid world” who the signers were. They put out the call to printers asking them to make a copy of the Declaration with all their names typeset so all those soldiers could see exactly who and what they were fighting for.

A Woman Volunteers

Enter Mary Katharine Goddard. In February of 1777, she volunteered her print shop in Baltimore to print documents, called broadsides. She used the font Caslon, which, ironically, was created in a type foundry in England. Two hundred copies were made and circulated among the states. To date, nine copies still exist.

Only one signer’s name does not appear on the Goddard broadside. That of Thomas McKean of Delaware. It’s believed that when Goddard printed these copies, the congressmen had yet to sign the original—further proof that the congressmen were not all together on August 2nd for the formal engrossing.

Although her name doesn’t appear on the original signed version of the Declaration, I still point to her when historians ignore women’s roles in the struggle for independence. Mary Katharine not only participated, she even had the wherewithal to typeset her own name on her copies, thereby inking herself into history.

The Smithsonian has a lovely article by Erick Trickey on Mary Katharine Goddard‘s life, background, and achievements.

Reader Insider Note: In order to make copies like the Goddard broadside, printers often worked alongside the original document. In my novel, my protagonist, Nathaniel, not only delivers the document, but stays to help Mary Katharine Goddard typeset the thing. To read how it was done, and to see the sparks fly between Postmistress and Post rider, you can get the book… (ahem—it’s just 99¢ all this week).

 

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For more history nerd posts like these, subscribe to the blog. Guest posts are welcomed and encouraged. Contact me for details.

For behind-the-scenes author-related news, giveaways, and to find out where I might be speaking near you, subscribe to my e-publication, CHASING HISTORIES.

 

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Declaration of Independence Mistakes

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Founding-Documents Blog Series: Part Five

Between now and July 4th, my blog features an ongoing series related to the history and signing of the Declaration of Independence… Part one began here.

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While researching the Declaration for Carrying Independence, I came across a few unique things about the the document itself.

The Declaration is a Document With Mistakes

Timothy Matlack was hired to copy the text from Jefferson’s drafts onto the official document. He was responsible for the ink used for the text and the signers (see Part Four here), but in the copying, there were a couple mistakes.

As Kris Spisak wrote, when she was a guest on my blog in her article on Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of an American Language, we often discuss the use of “unalienable” versus “inalienable.” Alison VanNest also wrote an article for Grammarly.com on the spelling and grammatical errors. She illustrates how some mistakes (the spelling of “Brittish” and “shewn”) are simply because of the usage at the time.

The Declaration was Later Corrected

Personally I love the two corrections that were made—some assume by Jefferson’s hand—after it was fully crafted. The word “representatives” was missing the “en” so that was penned in. The word “only” was inserted about ten lines up from the bottom into, “…our repeated Petitions have been answered only in repeated injury.” Cropped images of those sections are below (see the whole document close up here).

Decaration_EN_KarenAChase.jpgDeclaration_Only_karenachase.jpg

A Handprint on the Declaration

There is also a handprint is embedded into the paper in the bottom corner, possibly having seeped through from the back. The size is smaller, as if from the hand of  a woman. It’s impossible to determine when it was set or to test for any traces that might result in a DNA examination without pulling up chunks of the actual document. So there it sits, an unknown shadow sealed forever in parchment.

HandprintDeclaration_KarenAChase.jpg

Reader Insider Note: What’s more fun that an unknown piece of history like an inky handprint when you’re a fiction writer? Not much, so youbetchya… I had to scoop that up and provide a scenario for how it got there! No… I can’t tell you what that scenario is right now, but you can get the book… (ahem).

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For more history nerd posts like these, subscribe to the blog. Guest posts are welcomed and encouraged. Contact me for details.

For behind-the-scenes author-related news, giveaways, and to find out where I might be speaking near you, subscribe to my e-publication, CHASING HISTORIES.

 

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Faded Ink Informs 1776 History

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Founding-Documents Blog Series: Part Four

Between now and July 4th, my blog features an ongoing series related to the history and signing of the Declaration of Independence…

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Evidence to Support An Incomplete Declaration of Independence

My novel, Carrying Independence, as covered in Part One, is fiction supported by the fact that not all 56 congressmen were in the same room on August 2nd, 1776 to affix their signatures to the Declaration. Two factors contributed to my being assured that there were men missing from that formal signing.

Ink Fades Based on the “Recipe”

“Timothy Matlack, a revolutionary leader and one of the official scribes of the Declaration of Independence, copied the official document,” writes Kelly Dickerson for LiveScience.com. “[The delegates] signed it in iron ink, which is made with an acidic chemical compound that bleeds into parchment. The staining makes the ink last longer.”

There was one batch of ink made for one hand-made silver inkwell holding the one pen used by 49 congressmen assembling in the one room at the State House on August 2nd, 1776. The subsequent signers used whatever ink was on hand—some of which are different recipes than Timothy Matlack’s. Those signatures have faded differently.

A Woman Proves the Last Signer of the Declaration

In Part Three of this series, I noted that Thomas McKean was the last man to sign the document. For proof, enter Mary Katharine Goddard (more on her in the next post).

In 1777, Congress decided to typeset a copy of the Declaration that included all the names of the signers. ALL their names. But it doesn’t.

Goddard_broadside

Goddard volunteered to make the copies (shown above) in her print shop. Just like other printers, when she reproduced large documents it was customary to build the printing plates (text inserted, one letter at a time, into metal frames) with the original document before her for comparison.

She would read, and then she or an employee (a composer) would type-set that line. “When in the course of human events…” Type-set. “…it becomes necessary for one people…” Type-set. All the way down to the signatures. “John Hancock…” Type-set. “Thomas Jefferson…” Type-set.

In January of 1777, she completed 200 copies. One name, based on one signature, is missing. Thomas McKean.

Thomas_McKean_signature copy

Reader Insider Notes: The Goddard Broadside (of which, to date, 9 still exist) helped fix my time frame for inserting McKean into the novel. Also, when you discover a fact in history that suggests the very document your fictional protagonist, Nathaniel, is carrying ended up in the print shop of an historical figure… well, what would you do? Put him there working alongside her, of course! Here, an excerpt from the chapter informed by the research:

“So long as the document stays, so do you. I have to follow the original to replicate it exactly, and I was told your being here should be hush-hush.” Mary Katharine waggled the apron at Nathaniel, and he [reluctantly] took it from her. “Also, my pressman is ill, and my best type composer joined the Cause last week. It must be you.”

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For more history nerd posts like these, subscribe to the blog. Guest posts are welcomed and encouraged. Contact me for details.

For behind-the-scenes author-related news, giveaways, and to find out where I might be speaking near you, subscribe to my e-publication, CHASING HISTORIES.

 

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The Last Signers of the Declaration

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Founding-Documents Blog Series: Part Three

Between now and July 4th, my blog features an ongoing series related to the history and signing of the Declaration of Independence…

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Who Was Really the Last Congressman?

Since I began writing Carrying Independence—a story that hinges on the fact that not all Congressmen signed the ONE document were in the same room on the same day to affix their signatures (covered in Part One)—I’ve often been asked, “Who was the last one Delegate to sign it?” I look at two men in particular:

Matthew Thornton was the 56th DelegateMatthew_Thornton_KarenAChase

As I mentioned in Part two of this series, the first 49 Congressmen to sign the Declaration of Independence gathered August 2nd, 1776. At that time there were a total of 55 delegates in the Continental Congress. When I asked Joseph D’Agnese, co-author on the book, Signing Their Lives Away, why Thornton was added late, he said, “it was up to each state to determine how many delegates to send to Congress.”

In September, 1776, New Hampshire decided to enlist Matthew Thornton. A rather handsome, Irish-born man, with a reportedly sharp sense of humor and weakened eyes from a smallpox inoculation, Thornton finally joined Congress in Philadelphia in November, 1776, where it is assumed he signed the document.

MatthewThorntonSignature

Thomas McKean Was the Last Man to Sign It

The last man to affix his signature, date-wise, later helped the newly formed states develop a Constitution. Thomas McKean had homes in both Philadelphia and Dover, Delaware, and for the better part of 1776 and into 1777, he was literally on the run from the British.

ThomasMcKean_KarenAChase2McKean wrote to John Adams about being, “hunted like a fox by the enemy, compelled to remove my family five times in three months, and at last fixed them in a little log-house on the banks of the Susquehanna.” No small feet with five children and his second wife pregnant with number six.

Although McKean’s letters confirm he did not attend the August 2nd signing, unfortunately his letters do not indicate where or when he affixed his name. Historians speculate it was some time after March of 1777, or as late as 1781 when he was back in Philly working on the Articles of Confederation. Regardless it was his signature that united the colonies, making them unanimous states at last.

Thomas_McKean_signature copy

Reader Insider Notes: The “little log cabin on the Susquahanna” Thomas McKean mentions in his letter to Adams, is where I chose to have my protagonist find Thomas McKean. Confusion over where that little house actually was/is, became a plot device.

Also, there’s a joke, attributed to no one in particular that begins, “Where did the delegates sign the Declaration of Independence?” When I discovered that Matthew Thornton, due to his late addition, was forced to squish his signature into the very bottom right corner of the document, I claimed the original punchline of that joke for the jolly fellow to share:

“Now, when people ask me where the Declaration was signed, I can honestly answer,” Thornton chuckled through his punchline, “at the bottom.” – An excerpt from Carrying Independence

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For more history nerd posts like these, subscribe to the blog. Guest posts are welcomed and encouraged. Contact me for details.

For behind-the-scenes author-related news, giveaways, and to find out where I might be speaking near you, subscribe to my e-publication, CHASING HISTORIES.

 

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The First Signers of the Declaration

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Founding-Documents Blog Series: Part Two

Between now and July 4th, my blog features an ongoing series related to the history and signing of the Declaration of Independence…

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When Did Congress Sign the Declaration?

In Part One of this series, I described the Declaration as a contract. Just as we would when signing a contract today, in 1776 Congress tried to get all the parties (congressmen) into the same room on the same day to sign it—witnesses to one another. The date they chose for everyone to reassemble in Philadelphia was August 2nd, 1776.

The Issues of Assembling in 1776

When mail takes between 2–4 weeks to deliver, and you’re fighting a war with an army already on your soil, getting everyone to return to Philadelphia is a chore. Additionally, the distance imposed limits. Today I can drive from Richmond to Williamsburg in about 45 minutes, but in 1776 it could take up to 3 days–dependent on horse, carriage, and/or weather. If I’m not feeling well, I’d send my regrets, just as Richard Henry Lee did.

Today I can drive from Richmond to Williamsburg in about 45 minutes, but in 1776 it could take up to 3 days–dependent on horse, carriage, and/or weather.

How many Congressmen were in Philadelphia on August 2nd, 1776?

Let’s look at numbers. In the end, 56 men signed the Declaration. There were just 55 until November of 1776, when New Hampshire elected Matthew Thornton (topic for the next post…). Of those original 55, evidence suggests there were between 49 or 50 at the formal event. All of Congress except Richard Henry Lee, George Wythe, Lewis Morris, Oliver Wolcott, Thomas McKean, Matthew Thornton, and Elbridge Gerry.

While the latter, Gerry, is generally thought to have signed it later in the fall, in a post about the signing by J.M. Bell in his blog Boston 1775, he recounts a wild story told about the signing in which Benjamin Harrison IV saying to Gerry that, “I shall have a great advantage over you Mr. Gerry when we are all hung for what we are now doing. From the size and weight of my body I shall die in a few minutes, but from the lightness of your body you will dance in the air an hour or two before you are dead.” Fictions aside…

Did Congress Record who signed the Declaration?

Well, that would have made writing my book all the easier! Alas, while Congress often listed individual names for voting records in their meeting minutes, the August 2nd entry in their journal showed only this.

SecretJournal_August2_KarenAChase

Reader Insider Note: This same historical entry from Congress’ “Secret Journals,” page 53, helped me craft bits of fiction for Carrying Independence. The passage is included on page 80 of the novel, and when I first discovered the entry, I used it to determine:

• The name, “Mirtle,” as a surname pseudonym for my protagonist, Nathaniel.
• How much Nathaniel would be paid for his task—30,000 pounds.
• A sailing vessel, the Frontier captained by Hugo Blythe featured in this excerpt, would take Nathaniel north to Manhattan.

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For more history nerd posts like these, subscribe to the blog. Guest posts are welcomed and encouraged. Contact me for details.

For behind-the-scenes author-related news, giveaways, and to find out where I might be speaking near you, subscribe to my e-publication, CHASING HISTORIES.

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There is only One Declaration of Independence

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Founding-Documents Blog Series: Part One

Between now and July 4th, my blog will be an ongoing series related to the history and signing of the Declaration of Independence. While our country and the media is lately consumed with the US Constitution, understanding our founding better begins with an examination of the documents in order of creation.

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How many copies exist of the Declaration of Independence?

Hundreds. You’ll find a tabloid size copy in historic homes like Berkley Plantation, home of Benjamin Harrison IV, signer of the original document. There’s a massive copy hanging on the wall in the Virginia State capitol building. The American Revolution Museum at Yorktown has a broadside. We see so many versions of the Declaration of Independence, and you can buy a replica for about $4 at historic museums. However, in 1776 there was only ONE piece of parchment—with hand-written calligraphy—drafted to contain all the signatures.

00300_2003_001 .Declaration of Independence.engrossed copyThe Sole Declaration of Independence

Yes, it’s this document (approx. 24″x30″) at the National Archives that thousands of people (over 275,000 during June and July alone) visit when they come to the museum each year. It’s the one encased in bullet-proof glass stolen by Nicholas Cage. I wouldn’t call it a copy. A copy implies that it’s a duplicate. That ONE original document (shown above), is the only one that contains all 56 original signatures of the Congress. (Until November of 1776 there were only 55 signatures, but that’s a whole other story.)

Why was there one Declaration of Independence?

It was a contract. It was a unanimous agreement between the men and between the thirteen colonies—an agreement for the colonies to separate from the Crown AND come together as these united states (yes, lower case) of America.

The copies you see—often called Broadsides and with typeset text and names—were made before the original contract was signed and afterward. Broadsides were notices, distributed and posted, detailing what Congress had agreed to do.

What they had agreed to was not war. I find it easiest to remember the purpose of the Declaration by describing it one of two ways… It was both a divorce decree and a marriage agreement. It was one of the biggest “Dear John” letters in history.

“The #DeclarationofIndependence was not a declaration of war. It was both a divorce decree and a marriage agreement. Basically, it was the biggest ‘Dear John’ letter in history.” Huzzah to #carryingindependence and sharing #ChasingHistories with author @karenachase – Tweet This…

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Do Author Signatures Matter? Will mine?

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I was in a bookstore a few weeks ago, buying a book written by an author I admire. The bookseller informed me, with much enthusiasm, that they had a stack of signed copies. The author was not there at the moment, and with dozens of signed copies before me, I wondered just how valuable the signature was. To the author. To collectors. To me.

As with every part of this publishing journey, I decided to stop and ask two questions about the process. Why do we do that? Do I need to do that?

What’s in a signature?

In a world in which there are fewer reasons to sign documents, as outlined in this 2018 New York Times article, Why Signatures Matter, to some the signature has lost all meaning. It used to be that, as Steven Petro writes, “each signature was an original creation.” Now, in many cases—credit cards with chips for instance—the signature has become moot. Based on that logic, sign all the books I want, right?

However, in the last couple of years, the only documents that required my signature (and proof of it) were forms to refinance my house, my passport, banking documents, and HIPAA/medical release forms. Those are major documents where the signature becomes part of a binding agreement, and not one to lightly toss around. So is my signature more valuable than I thought?

Does an author signature have value?

An item—art, stamps, a signed book—has value for the joy it brings the owner. However, as my parents always said of stamps and art… it’s only worth money if I sell it. For book collectors, the same applies to author signatures. There are multiple variations on the way authors sign books, as outlined in this article by Denise Enck. Whether it’s inscribed, signed, or attributed, ultimately the worth of the book, “could be large, moderate, or negligible, depending upon the book in question.”

I own an illustrated edition of David McCullough’s 1776. I could buy it signed for $150 on ebay, but the copy I have is more valuable to me because it was a gift from a dear friend. Would I want McCullough to sign it if I met him? Not necessarily, because it’s not like I’m going to sell it. I’d rather ask him if he ever got the letter I wrote to him and then I hope we’d talk about George Washington in Harlem Heights, but I digress…

Perhaps popularity or whether an author is alive or dead matters. A first-edition Ann Patchett can run about $10. A first edition Hemingway, A Farewell To Arms, sold for over $18,000 in 2014. I ain’t no Hemingway.

Mine is a first edition. But it’s a paperback. But I’m kind of a nobody and alive. For now. So what am I to do? I turned back to the story within my book and to the founding fathers.

P145_Signing_the_Declaration_of_American_Independence_Cassell_KarenAChase
“Signing of the Declaration of American Independence.” Cassell’s Illustrated History of England, Volume 5, page 145. (1865)

This country is founded on the importance of signatures.

The whole premise of CARRYING INDEPENDENCE is based upon the simple fact that the newly-formed Congress in 1776 deemed it 100% necessary to ensure the original signatures from all 56 men in Congress were affixed to ONE copy of the Declaration of Independence. (My protagonist, Nathaniel, also struggles mightily, as many an Americans did, over whether to sign an oath to the Crown or to the colonies.)

When the last delegate, Thomas McKean, signed the Declaration (a topic for another day), Congress had a formal unanimous agreement to separate from the Crown (which they had done verbally on July 2nd), and now they had a written contract that also bound together the 13 united states. We still honor that document today. Revere it! Signatures damn-well mattered.

Limited Signed Editions of Carrying Independence.

AuthorSeal_KarenAChaseSmallAfter much thought, and in the spirit of the document, I am limiting the number of signed copies of my novel to just 76 (in honor of the year 1776, of course). I am reserving the first 20 copies for personal use and charitable endeavors, and 56 are being made available on a first-come-basis to the public during the pre-sale period, which begins this Thursday on April 11th. Each of those 76 copies will have a full signature, each will be numbered, and each will carry my personal seal (shown here).

“But how will you autograph them at book talks?” a friend asked. I will still inscribe a copy to readers with their name, but alas, my full signature will not be penned. Nor will you find my scrawl in stacks of books set upon tables for just anyone to pick up.

Is that arrogant? Maybe. Isn’t assuming everyone will want my autograph equally so? Ultimately, I believe that signatures matter. They surely did in 1776. Perhaps one day history might determine mine does, too.

Follow/watch my Author Facebook page on April 11th for details on how you might secure one of the 56 signed copies.

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