The United States of America declared independence from England two hundred forty-six years ago. And so it was said. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
So eloquently written, those words. They have carried America through for two and a half centuries. I only hope it continues. Yet, maybe we could do a slight “rewrite” with women included in that verse.
But back when the document was penned, the world was run by men.
Oh, wait. It still is.
Even still. Back then, it was worse. Only men we consulted for that document. Only men wrote and signed the Declaration of Independence.
I’m not taking away from the significance of the event. Not in the least. The group of men who worked on, and supported, that piece of paper was a brave bunch. By being in that room, they were putting their lives on the line. The lives of their families, too.
Of course, we know the big names of the signers, like John Hancock, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin.
The Declaration of Independence was not signed on July 4th, we know. That was the date officially adopted by Congress to commemorate the event. No, the seal on the deal took place on August 2, 1776. It took nearly a whole month to get the document signed by all those fellows, for several reasons.
Yet, when it was all said and done, there were 56 men who autographed the Declaration of Independence in 1776.
Some of them went on to become presidents — John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Others have museums, monuments, and even beers named after them, like Samuel Adams.
These days, many people give handsome money for signatures by any one of those 56 men. It is a whole big thing with a following. One would think that the most valuable signature, the highest-paid prices, would go for a “Thomas Jefferson” or a “John Hancock.” But that’s not so.
A guy named Button Gwinnett has the most valuable autograph of the 56. He’s not well known at all. And that gives it all a surprising twist. It is Gwinnett’s obscurity that makes his signature so much more valuable than those of the other signers.
Button was his real name. Let’s just get that off the board. I bet he had a brother named Zipper. And a sister named Snap.
Anyway, he was born in England in 1735. At age 30, he moved to the American colonies. He settled down in Georgia, the Peach State. But things were not so peachy for good Button. He suffered through multiple failed business endeavors, which didn’t exactly make him a celebrity.
Eventually, though, Button got into politics and became very passionate about the move toward independence. And wouldn’t you know it? There Button was, in Independence Hall in 1776, signing that Declaration. He wrote his name right below and to the left of John Hancock’s.
Unfortunately for Button, he wasn’t very good with a gun, either. In 1777, he was killed in a duel with a political rival.
So. Nearly 50 years later, people decided that things ought to be preserved around the founding of our nation. In the mid-1820s, very few signers of the Declaration were still alive. So history buffs began searching for and collecting 1776 things, like the signatures of all the 56 founding fathers.
As you might imagine, the well-known signers had put their marks down hundreds of times. Their signatures weren’t hard to find. Ben Franklin, in particular, wrote scores of letters. Same with John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and others involved in politics. But Button? He was shot and killed a year after the deal. Finding his signature wasn’t so easy.
As a result of his short life, his signature is the rarest of the 56, by far. The fewer the signatures, the higher the value. At auction, a “Button Gwinnett” goes for more than George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and many other prominent historical figures.
In 2010, a Gwinnett signature sold for $722,500 in New York City.
Which just goes to show.
We might be more famous than we think. Button sure was.
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Fame is the thirst of youth.
— Lord Byron
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The ultimate value of life depends upon awareness and the power of contemplation rather than upon mere survival.
— Aristotle
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Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.
— Albert Einstein
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Signed. Sealed. Delivered. How much is it worth to you?
