Joseph Hewes

Joseph Hewes was born in 1730 near Kingston, New Jersey, and became a successful merchant in Edenton, North Carolina. He sat in the colonial assembly and in the Continental Congress, where he signed the Declaration of Independence. In Congress he did important work on the marine committee, helping to fit out the first ships of the Continental navy and supporting the appointment of officers, including John Paul Jones. He never married. Hewes's health failed under the labor of Congress, and he died in Philadelphia in October 1779, still a sitting member, one of the signers who did not live to see the victory. His papers and the record of the marine committee, rather than later legend, are the measure of his service: a merchant who turned his knowledge of ships to the use of a country that did not yet have a navy.

See also: Signers of the Declaration · William Hooper · John Penn