Joseph Hewes, Signer of the Declaration of Independence

Source: Brownrigg Family Papers, East Carolina Manuscript Collection #597

Staff Person: Lynette Lundin

Description:

Document signed by Joseph Hewes

The image is of a legal document sworn to by Joseph Hewes in May 1761. He witnessed a dispute between Captain Edward Bryan and Captain Adam McKean concerning wages McKean claimed to have earned during a voyage to Philadelphia. This statement was given to Joseph Blount, a justice of the peace in Edenton, Chowan County, North Carolina. Joseph Hewes was born in New Jersey on January 23, 1730. He moved to Edenton in 1755, where he entered into business with George Blair and Charles Worth Blount. Five years later he was elected to serve in the Assembly of North Carolina, representing the borough of Edenton. Hewes later served in the Continental Congress and signed the Declaration of Independence. He died in Philadelphia on November 10, 1779, while serving in the Continental Congress.

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