When you hear the word “father” what comes to mind? Most of us are inclined to think first and foremost about our own fathers, especially in light of the upcoming Father’s Day holiday, which falls on Sunday, June 16 of this year. But the term “father” can take on many other kinds of meanings in addition to its traditional designation.
You’ve no doubt heard of the Founding Fathers, for example. Folks also generally have at least the basic knowledge about the identity of some of these key figures in American history most often assigned to such a status. But do you know which of the Founding Fathers were residents of the same Mid-Atlantic state you also call home?
For this Flashback Friday Feature, I’m providing an extensive list of all the men considered Founding Fathers hailing from Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. My list will comprise those famously familiar names everyone has heard about in addition to lesser-known ones. And in true Father’s Day fashion, I’ve generously extended the term “Founding Father” to cover all the important men who fall under the broader umbrella term.
What Is a “Founding Father” Exactly?
Despite the now-frequent use of the term “Founding Father” in the context of describing the earliest founders and framers of the United States, it didn’t come about until much later. Warren G. Harding is credited with being the first one to designate the phrase “Founding Fathers” which he applied during his keynote speech for the Republican National Convention back in 1916. He echoed these words on March 4, 1921, during his inauguration speech as President of the United States.
Now the question arises as to what permits a foundational figure in early American history to be assigned the status of Founding Father. The dictionary defines a “founding father” as a person who starts or assists in establishing a movement or institution. A more specific definition, as it pertains to American history directly, is “a member of the convention that drew up the United States Constitution in 1787.” Some historians broaden the status of Founding Fathers to include signers of the Declaration of Independence and those who later approved the Constitution. Others considered all of the then-delegates of the Constitutional Conventional to have been Founding Fathers, regardless of whether they approved of the United States Constitution or not. Additionally, signers of the Articles of Confederation are often included. So, as to not cut corners or leave out any important names, I’m listing them all and then some!
Delaware’s Founding Fathers
Richard Bassett: Born: April 2, 1745, Cecil County, MD; Died: 1815 (age 70 years), Kent County, DE. Bassett was one of the original signers of the United States Constitution and Delaware’s fourth governor.
Gunning Bedford, Jr.: Born: April 13, 1747, Philadelphia, PA; Died: March 30, 1812 (age 64 years), Wilmington, DE. Bedford was a delegate to the Congress of the Confederation, Attorney General of Delaware, a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1787, and a district judge in Delaware.
Jacob Broom: Born: October 17, 1752, Wilmington, DE; Died: April 25, 1810 (age 57 years), Philadelphia, PA. Broom was a businessman, a delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787, and a signer of the United States Constitution. He also served in the Delaware General Assembly.
John Dickinson: Born: November 13, 1732, Talbot County, MD; Died: February 14, 1808 (age 75 years), Wilmington, DE. Dickinson was known as the “Penman of the Revolution,” supporting the rights of the colonists. He was an attorney and politician, serving in the Continental Congress, and later became the Fifth President of Delaware/Pennsylvania.
Thomas McKean: Born: March 19, 1734, New London Township, PA; Died: June 24, 1817 (age 83 years), Philadelphia, PA. McKean was a Delaware delegate to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, where he signed the Continental Association, the Declaration of Independence, and the Articles of Confederation. He served as the Second President of Delaware and Second Governor of Pennsylvania as well as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in Pennsylvania.
George Read: Born: September 18, 1733, Cecil County, MD; Died: September 21, 1798 (age 65 years), New Castle, DE. Read was a Continental Congressman from Delaware, a delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787, president of Delaware, and Chief Justice of Delaware.
Caesar Rodney: Born: October 7, 1728, East Dover Hundred, DE; Died: June 26, 1784 (age 55 years), Kent County, DE. Rodney was a Major General in the Delaware Militia. He was also a Continental Congressman from Delaware and served as the state’s fourth president.
Nicholas Van Dyke: Born: September 25, 1738, New Castle, DE; Died: February 19, 1789 (age 50 years), New Castle, DE. Van Dyke was a lawyer and politician who served in the Delaware General Assembly, as well as the Continental Congress, where he signed the Articles of Confederation. He was also the Seventh President of Delaware.
Maryland’s Founding Fathers
Charles Carroll: Born: September 19, 1737, Annapolis, MD; Died: November 14, 1832 (age 95 years), Baltimore, MD. Known as the “First Citizen” of the American Colonies,” Carroll was an American politician, planter, and the longest-surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence. He served as a member of the Maryland Senate and was a United States Senator.
Daniel Carroll: Born: July 22, 1730, Upper Marlboro, MD; Died: May 7, 1796 (age 65 years), Forest Glen, Silver Spring, MD. Cousin to Charles Carroll, Daniel Carroll served in the Confederation Congress, was a delegate to the Philadelphia Convention of 1787, and was a U.S. Representative in the First Congress. He was one of five men to sign both the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution.
Samuel Chase: Born: April 17, 1741, Somerset County, MD; Died: June 19, 1811 (age 70 years), Baltimore, MD. Chase was a representative of Maryland, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and signer of the Continental Association and the Declaration of Independence.
John Hanson: Born: April 14, 1721, Port Tobacco, MD; Died: November 15, 1783 (age 62 years), Oxon Hill, MD. As a well-known Patriot, Hanson took on many roles. He served as a delegate to the Continental Congress, signed the Articles of Confederation in 1781, and was elected First President of the Confederation Congress.
Daniel of St. Thomas of Jenifer: Born: 1723, Port Tobacco, MD; Died: November 16, 1790 (age 67 years), Annapolis, MD. Jenifer was one of the original signers of the United States Constitution. He also served as the First President of the Maryland State Senate.
John McHenry: Born: November 13, 1753, Ballymena, Ireland; Died: May 3, 1816 (age 62 years), Baltimore, MD. McHenry was a military surgeon, Maryland Statesman, and signer of the United States Constitution. It was for him that Fort McHenry was named, as he was the one who recommended the formation of the Navy to Congress. He served as a delegate to the Maryland State Convention of 1788 and was Secretary of War between 1796 and 1800.
William Paca: Born: October 31, 1740, Wye Hall, MD; Died: October 13, 1799 (age 58 years), Wye River. Paca was a signatory of the Continental Association and the United States Declaration of Independence. He also served as United States District Court Judge for Maryland and was the state’s third governor.
Thomas Stone: Born: 1743, Charles County, MD; Died: October 5, 1787 (age 44 years), Alexandria, VA. Stone served as a delegate for Maryland and was one of the original signers of the United States Declaration of Independence. He was also part of the committee that formed the Articles of Confederation in 1777 and served as President of the Congress briefly in 1784.
Luther Martin: Born: February 1748, New Jersey; Died: July 10, 1826 (age 78 years), New York, NY. Despite being counted as one of the framers of the Constitution, Martin did not himself sign it, having left the Constitutional Convention (where he served as a delegate for Maryland) early owing to his sentiments on states’ rights.
John Francis Mercer: Born: May 17, 1759, Stafford County, VA; Died: August 30, 1821 (age 62 years), Philadelphia, PA. Mercer served as an officer during the Revolutionary War. He was also part of the Virginia House of Delegates and Maryland State Assembly and became the 10th Governor of Maryland.
John Rogers: Born: 1723, Upper Marlboro, MD; Died: September 23, 1789 (age 66 years), Upper Marlboro, MD. Rogers was a delegate for Maryland to the Continental Congress between 1775 and 1776. Even though he voted in support of the Declaration of Independence, he became ill before signing it. He served as Maryland’s Chancellor, the equivalent of governor, between 1778 and 1789.
Pennsylvania’s Founding Fathers
William Clingan: Born: 1721, Scotland; Died: May 9, 1790 (age 68-69 years), PA. Clingan was a delegate in the Continental Congress for Pennsylvania from 1777 to 1779 and one of the signers of the Articles of Confederation.
George Clymer: Born: March 16, 1739, Philadelphia, PA; Died: January 23, 1813 (age 73 years), Morrisville, PA. As one of the earliest American Patriots advocating independence from Great Britain, Clymer was one of just six men to sign both the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution.
Thomas Fitzsimons: Born: October 1741, Kingdom of Ireland; Died: August 26, 1811 (age 69 years), Philadelphia, PA. Fitzsimons was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention and represented Pennsylvania in the Continental Congress. He also served in U.S. Congress and signed the United States Constitution.
Jared Ingersoll: Born: October 24, 1749, New Haven, CT; Died: October 31, 1822 (age 73 years), Philadelphia, PA. A lawyer and statesman from Pennsylvania, Ingersoll served as a delegate to the Continental Congress and was also one of the original signers of the United States Constitution.
Thomas Mifflin: Born: January 10, 1744, Philadelphia, PA; Died: January 20, 1800 (age 56 years), Lancaster, PA. Mifflin was one of the original signers of the United States Constitution. He fulfilled many roles in Pennsylvania history, even serving as the state’s seventh president and first governor.
Gouverneur Morris: Born: January 31, 1752, The Bronx, New York, NY; Died: November 6, 1816 (age 64 years), Morrisania, New York, NY. Morris was both a signer of the Articles of Confederation and the writer of the Preamble to the United States Constitution. He acted as a representative of Pennsylvania at the 1787 Constitutional Convention.
Robert Morris: Born: January 20, 1734, Liverpool, England; Died: May 8, 1806, (age 74 years), Forked River, NJ. Morris was a noted signer of the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the United States Constitution. He also served as a member of the Pennsylvania legislature the Second Continental Congress, and the United States Senate.
John Morton: Born: 1725, Ridley Township, PA; Died: April 1, 1777 (age 52 years), Ridley Park, PA. Morton was a delegate to the Continental Congress during the American Revolution, as well as a signatory to the Continental Association and Declaration of Independence. It was by his swing vote that Pennsylvania voted in favor of the Declaration. Morton also chaired the committee that wrote the Articles of Confederation but died before he could sign it.
Joseph Reed: Born: August 27, 1741, Trenton, NJ; Died: March 5, 1785 (age 43 years), Philadelphia, PA. Also a lawyer and politician, as a military officer Reed served as aide-de-camp to George Washington and was an adjutant general of the Continental Army. He also served as a delegate to the Continental Congress from Pennsylvania, later the state’s third president, and was a signatory to the Articles of Confederation.
Daniel Roberdeau: Born: 1727, Caribbean; Died: January 5, 1795 (age 68 years), Winchester, VA. Roberdeau acted as a representative of Pennsylvania from 1777 to 1779 in the Continental Congress, He was a signer of the Articles of Confederation and also served as a brigadier general in the Pennsylvania state militia during the Revolutionary War.
George Ross: Born: May 10, 1730, New Castle, DE; Died: July 14, 1779 (age 49 years), Philadelphia, PA. A representative of Pennsylvania, Ross was a signatory of the Continental Association and the United States Declaration of Independence.
Benjamin Rush: Born: January 4, 1746, Byberry, Philadelphia; Died: April 19, 1813 (age 67 years), Philadelphia, PA. Rush was one of the original signers of the United States Declaration of Independence. He was also a noted physician, politician, social reformer, humanitarian, educator, and the founder of Dickinson College.
James Smith: Born: 1719, Dublin, Ireland; Died: July 11, 1806 (age 87 years), York, PA. Originally born in Ireland, Smith was a well-known lawyer and representative of Pennsylvania. He was one of the original signers of the United States Declaration of Independence.
Jonathan Bayard Smith: Born: February 21, 1742, Philadelphia, PA; Died: June 16, 1812 (age 70 years), Philadelphia, PA. As a politician and merchant from Philadelphia, Smith was a Pennsylvania delegate to the Continental Congress in 1777 and one of the signers of the Articles of Confederation.
George Taylor: Born: 1716, (possibly Ulster), Ireland; Died: February 23, 1781 (age 64-65 years), Easton, PA. An ironmaster and politician, Taylor represented Pennsylvania in the Continental Congress and was another of the original signers of the U.S. Declaration of Independence.
James Wilson: Born: September 14, 1742, Fife, United Kingdom; Died: August 21, 1798 (age 55 years), Edenton, NC. As a legal scholar, jurist, and statesman who served as an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1789 to 1798, Wilson was also an original signer of the Declaration of Independence. He also participated in the drafting of the U.S. Constitution.
Thomas Willing: Born: December 19, 1731, Philadelphia, PA; Died: January 19, 1821 (age 89 years), Philadelphia, PA. Willing is famous for having been a delegate from Pennsylvania to the Continental Congress. He was also the first president of the Bank of North America and the First Bank of the United States as well as Philadelphia’s mayor between October 4, 1763 and October 2, 1764.
Hugh Henry Brackenridge: Born: 1748, Campbeltown, United Kingdom; Died: June 25, 1816 (age 68 years), Carlisle, PA. Brackenridge acted as a lawyer, judge, and justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.
William Maclay: Born: July 20, 1737, New Garden Township, PA; Died: April 16, 1804 (age 66 years), Dauphin, PA. Maclay is famous for being a member of Pennsylvania’s first two-member delegation to the United States Senate.
John Dickinson: Born: November 13, 1732, Talbot County, MD; Died: February 14, 1808 (age 75 years), Wilmington, DE. Dickinson served in the First Continental Congress and was a signer of the Continental Association. He’s also the one who drafted most of the 1774 Petition to the King. Acting as a member of the Second Continental Congress, he wrote the 1775 Olive Branch Petition. Dickinson later reworked Thomas Jefferson’s language for the final draft of the 1775 Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms.
Benjamin Franklin: Born: January 17, 1706, Milk Street, Boston, MA; Died: April 17, 1790 (age 84 years), Philadelphia, PA. Arguably the most famous of Pennsylvania’s founding fathers, Franklin has many well-known credits to his name. First and foremost, he was an American polymath: a leading writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. As for being a Founding Father, Franklin is famously known as one of the drafters and signers of the Declaration of Independence. He also served as the first Postmaster General.
Virginia’s Founding Fathers
Thomas Adams: Born: c. 1730, New Kent County, VA; Died: August-October, 1788 (age 58 years), Augusta County, VA. Adams acted as a delegate of the Continental Congress and was one of the original signers of the Articles of Confederation.
John Banister: Born: December 26, 1734, Hatcher’s Run near Petersburg, VA; Died: September 30, 1788 (age 53 years), Battersea Plantation, Petersburg, VA. Banister acted as a member of the Second Continental Congress and assisted in framing the Articles of Confederation.
John Blair, Jr.: Born: April 17, 1732, Williamsburg, VA; Died: August 31, 1800 (age 68 years), Williamsburg, VA. A delegate of Virginia, Blair was one of the original signers of the United States Constitution. He would also go on to be appointed Associate Justice on the first U.S. Supreme Court by George Washington.
Carter Braxton: Born: September 10, 1736, King and Queen County, VA; Died: October 10, 1797 (age 61 years), Richmond, VA. Braxton was another of the original signers of the Declaration of Independence.
Benjamin Harrison V: April 5, 1726, Charles City County, VA; Died: April 24, 1791 (age 65 years), Charles City County, VA. Harrison served as a legislator in colonial Virginia and later became the state’s fifth governor. He was also one of the signers of the Continental Association, as well as the United States Declaration of Independence.
John Harvie: 1743, Albemarle County, VA; Died: February 6, 1807 (age 64-65 years), Richmond, VA. Harvie acted as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress and signed the Articles of Confederation. He was also the Mayor of Richmond and Secretary of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Francis Lightfoot Lee: Born: October 14, 1734, Stratford Hall Historic Preserve, Stratford, VA; Died: January 11, 1797 (age 62 years), Menokin, VA. Lee served as a delegate to the Virginia Conventions and the Continental Congress. He too was one of the original signers of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation.
Richard Henry Lee: Born: January 20, 1732, Stratford Hall Historic Preserve, Stratford, VA; Died: June 19, 1794 (age 62 years), Chantilly, VA. Lee’s most prominent claims to fame are the June 1776 Lee Resolution and the motion in the Second Continental Congress that called for independence from Great Britain. This was the precursor for creating the United States Declaration of Independence. He signed the aforementioned as well as the Articles of Confederation and the Continental Association. He also served a one-year term as the president of the Continental Congress and as a United States Senator from Virginia between 1789 and 1792.
Thomas Nelson, Jr.: Born: December 26, 1738, Yorktown, VA; Died: January 4, 1789 (age 50 years), Hanover County, VA. Nelson’s accolades include being a general in the Revolutionary War, acting as a member of the Continental Congress, and serving multiple terms in the Virginia General Assembly. He was an original signer of the United States Declaration of Independence and became the Fourth Governor of Virginia.
George Wythe: Born: December 3, 1726, Hampton, VA; Died: June 8, 1806 (age 79 years), Richmond, VA. Wythe was the first of seven signers of the Declaration of Independence from Virginia. He acted as a representative to both the Continental Congress and the Philadelphia Convention.
George Mason: Born: December 11, 1725, Fairfax County, VA; Died: October 7, 1792 (age 66 years), Fairfax County, VA. Acting as a delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, Mason was one of three delegates who refused to sign the Constitution.
James McClurg: Born: 1746, Hampton, VA; Died: July 9, 1823 (age 77 years), Richmond, VA. Physician and surgeon in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, McClurg was also a delegate to the Philadelphia Convention. He also served as the 18th, 21st, and 24th Mayor of Richmond.
Edmund Randolph: Born: August 10, 1753, Williamsburg, VA; Died: September 12, 1813 (age 60 years), Millwood, VA. Randolph acted as a delegate from Virginia, attending the Constitutional Convention and assisting in conceptualizing the Constitution while serving on its Committee of Detail. He was later appointed the first United States Attorney General and subsequently served as the second Secretary of State under George Washington.
James Monroe: Born: April 28, 1758, Monroe Hall, VA; Died: July 4, 1831 (age 73 years), New York, NY. Best known as the Fifth President of the United States, Monroe was another delegate to the Continental Congress, also acting as delegate to the Virginia Ratifying Convention. He was one of the opposers to the ratification of the United States Constitution. In addition to his other claims to fame, Monroe was the Seventh United States Secretary of State, Eighth United States Secretary of War, and the 12th and 16th Governor of Virginia.
Peyton Randolph: Born: September 10, 1721, Williamsburg, VA; Died: October 22, 1775 (age 54 years), Philadelphia, PA. Randolph was the speaker of Virginia’s House of Burgesses, the president of the first two Virginia Conventions, and president of the First Continental Congress. He was also the president of the Second Continental Congress for a short time. He was a signer of the Continental Association.
Henry Lee III: Born: January 29, 1756, Leesylvania; Died: March 25, 1818 (age 62 years), Cumberland Island, GA. Lee served as a cavalry officer in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. His other credits include serving as a delegate to the Confederation Congress and becoming the Ninth Governor of Virginia. He was the father of Robert E. Lee—the famed general who led the South during the American Civil War.
Daniel Morgan: Born: 1736, Hunterdon County, NJ; Died: July 6, 1802 (age 66 years), Winchester, VA. Morgan was one of the most respected battlefield tacticians of the American Revolutionary War. He also became a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia’s First District.
Thomas Jefferson: Born: April 13, 1743, Shadwell, VA; Died: July 4, 1826 (age 83 years), Monticello, VA. Jefferson has so many accolades to his credit. In addition to serving as the Second Vice President of the United States before becoming the Third President, he was the official writer of the Declaration of Independence. He also acted as the First Secretary of State, the Second United States Prime Minister to France, and the Governor of Virginia.
James Madison: Born: March 16, 1751, Belle Grove; Died: June 28, 1836 (age 85 years), James Madison’s Montpelier, Montpelier Station, VA. Another renowned president, Madison is often hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for his pivotal role in drafting and promoting the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights.
George Washington: Born: February 22, 1732, Westmoreland County, VA; Died: December 14, 1799 (age 67 years), George Washington’s Mount Vernon, Mount Vernon, VA. You can’t overlook the First President of the United States. Appointed by the Second Continental Congress as commander of the Continental Army in 1775, it was Washington who led Patriot forces to victory during the American Revolutionary War. He later served as president of the Constitutional Convention in 1787 before going on to become the exemplification of an American President two years later.
Throughout American History we’ve seen many other brave “father figures” who have gone on to do great things and contributed immensely to the foundational framework of the nation. That alone is the true signification of a founding father.