JOSEPH HEWES

Kingston, New Jersey
January 23, 1730−November 10, 1779
Man of Mystery

Joseph Hewes worked tirelessly in the background for his country while keeping the details of his life a closely guarded secret. He became an expert on maritime affairs while building a shipping business and worked tirelessly on committees to share his knowledge in the best interests of the country, especially its fledgling navy. Hewes went so far as to renounce his Quaker religion and sacrifice a large part of his business to promote independence. His early, adamant opposition to independence set him apart from many of the Founding Fathers. But he eventually came around to their way of thinking.

Hewes the Delegate

By the time he was thirty years old, the young Princeton graduate was a wealthy man living in New Jersey, where he had acquired a reputation as an honorable and ethical businessman. Despite his early success in New Jersey, Hewes moved to North Carolina in 1760 and launched successful shipping and merchant businesses in Wilmington. Within three years he was elected to the North Carolina legislature and was on his way to a successful political career.

In 1775, the royal governor of North Carolina dissolved the colony’s provincial legislature. Hewes, a Quaker and an outspoken critic of the British government but a proponent of reconciliation rather than independence, had been a member of the legislature for nine years by that time. North Carolinians disenchanted with British legislation issued a notice on February 11, 1775, requesting the election of representatives for a shadow provincial congress to be held on April 3rd. On March 1, 1775, Governor Josiah Martin informed his council that such proceedings were “highly derogatory to the dignitary of the Legislature, which had been appointed to meet on the same day, and in every light illegal, and inconsistent with good order and government.”

The North Carolina patriots defied Martin and created a separate legislature. Hewes went on to represent North Carolina at the ongoing Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia in 1775, and again in 1776, along with William Hooper and John Penn.

The North Carolina Provincial Congress, the colony’s shadow legislature, provided clear instructions to its delegates. It told Hewes, Hooper, and Penn “to concur with the delegates of other colonies in declaring Independence and to form foreign alliances.”

A Tireless, Quiet Worker

Joseph Hewes was an anomaly at the Second Continental Congress. Instructions to the contrary, he was firmly anti-independence at the beginning, even though he disagreed with British tax policies. He tried to convince pro-independence delegates that the country did not have to separate from Britain to get the relief they wanted from Parliament.

Hewes was not always successful in getting his points across, though, because he did not possess well-refined persuasive skills. Therefore, when he tried to convince his peers that independence was not the way to go, they often laughed at or scolded him. So he stopped talking and started working on committees instead. Strangely enough, he generally worked with committees that favored independence. Finally, he had an epiphany and accepted independence as a solution.

In the end, he had to make personal sacrifices to support his principles. As a Quaker, he was expected to abide by pacifist beliefs.

Early in 1775, the Society of Friends (the Quakers) held a convention to denounce the congress meeting in Philadelphia. Not only did they oppose war, they also opposed the committees formed by delegates at the Second Continental Congress.

As a result, Hewes broke his affiliation with the Quakers in favor of independence, committee work—and war. In so doing, he acted on both his religious and political convictions.

Even though he was not always willing to put his mouth to work in Congress, Hewes was willing to put his money where his mouth was. That, more than anything, set him apart from other members of the group.

Quotations to Live (and Die) By!

“IT IS DONE! AND I WILL ABIDE BY IT.”

—JOSEPH HEWES’S EPIPHANY ON JULY 1, 1776, AS JOHN ADAMS ARGUED FOR INDEPENDENCE

What’s Mine Is Yours

In 1774 the First Continental Congress had recommended a system of nonimportation to hit the British in their pocketbooks. The suggestion had not gained much traction between then and 1776. Hewes changed that. He and some of his counterparts worked to develop a nonimportation association.

Belonging to the nonimportation association was costly for Hewes. A large chunk of his business involved imports from British merchants, with whom he had been dealing for over twenty years. When Hewes gave them up voluntarily, it cost him a considerable amount of money.

Hewes also put his ships at the new country’s disposal. In one of those little coincidences of history that rarely—if ever—get into history books, Hewes pushed hard to get a navy commander’s assignment for his friend John Paul Jones. And Jones went on to become the country’s first naval hero. Hewes’s knowledge of maritime affairs was invaluable to the Americans. In 1776, he offered his ships to the Continental armed forces.

Hewes served on a committee to rig the first navy ship and as the secretary of the Naval Affairs Committee until 1779. As a result of his work, he can be considered the “Father of the Navy,” although he has stiff competition for the claim from people like Jeremiah O’Brien and John Paul Jones.

By the time Hewes signed the Declaration of Independence, he had given the country a lot more than his time. He had provided ships, sacrificed part of his business, brought John Paul Jones’s name to the attention of military leaders, and denounced his Quaker heritage. Sadly, he would not live to see his dedication pay off.

No Airs, No Heirs

Hewes was tired and ill when he signed the Declaration of Independence. He went home afterward to settle some of his business and private affairs and serve with the North Carolina legislature. Hewes was reelected to Congress again in 1779, and returned to Philadelphia.

REVOLUTIONARY REVELATIONS

Few people knew much about Hewes’s private affairs. The soft-spoken man was a lifelong bachelor, only because his fiancée, Isabella Johnston, died a few days before their wedding. Thus, he had no heirs to carry on his family name—or his history.

On October 29, 1779, Hewes fell ill and never recovered. He died on November 10. The entire Congress attended his funeral the next day, along with the general assembly of Pennsylvania, its president and supreme executive council, the minister plenipotentiary of France, and a large number of citizens.

The ceremony was a fitting sendoff for a man whom few people actually knew well, and whom history books seldom mention. All they knew was that he had given up a lot to help create the United States, which was a price he was willing to pay.

FEDERAL FACTS

Congress resolved to wear crepe armbands for one month in honor of Joseph Hewes after his death.