Joseph Hewes

Worked hard, played hard, self made with profitable gain;

But into Hewes' life came more than a fair share of rain.

              The parents of Joseph Hewes, Aaron and Providence Hewes, were natives of Connecticut and belonged to the Society of Friends (Quakers).  Immediately after their marriage, they moved to New Jersey where they purchased a small farm at Kingston, within a short distance of Princeton. 

            It was in New Jersey that Joseph was born, raised with a strict religious upbringing, and educated at Princeton College.  He learned a trade from a local merchant in Philadelphia to qualify him for a commercial life, later moving to North Carolina to enter business.  As he was well skilled and diligent, he earned good money and reputation as a large ship-owner and merchant, trading with England and the West Indies.  His neighbors respected his character and abilities, and they encouraged him to enter the world of politics. 

        The convention that met in the summer of 1774 elected him as delegate in the Continental Congress at Philadelphia.

      "During that session he was actively engaged in maturing a plan for a general non-importation agreement throughout the Colonies, and he voted for and signed it.  In this act his devoted patriotism was manifest, for it struck a deadly blow at the business in which he was engaged. It was a great sacrifice for him to make, yet he cheerfully laid it upon the altar of Freedom."  Benson J. Lossing, Signers of the Declaration of Independence, George F. Cooledge & Brother: New York (1848) [reprinted in Lives of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, WallBuilder Press: Aledo, Texas (1995)], pages 205.

         He was again elected delegate to Congress in 1775 and became head of the naval committee, thus making him the first Secretary of the Navy of the United States, such as it was.  It was he who would competently lay its foundation, and he was directly responsible for the selection of John Paul Jones as naval officer.  Jones wrote of his gratitude to Hewes: "You are the Angel of my happiness; since to your friendship I owe my present enjoyments, as well as my future prospects."  http://www.edenton.com/history/histtext.htm

 

        In 1776, North Carolina was in favor of independence, and Hewes subsequently voted for and signed the Declaration.  He placed his own entire fleet of ships at the service of the Continental Armed Forces.

 

Image by Ole Erekson, Engraver, c1876, Library of Congress

 

        When John Adams was asked whether every member of Congress was inclined to adopt the Declaration of Independence, he replied, "Majorities were constantly against it. For many days the majority depended on Mr. Hewes of North Carolina.  While a member one day was reading documents to prove that public opinion was in favor of the measure, Mr. Hewes suddenly started upright, and lifting up both hands to heaven, as if in a trance, cried out: 'It is done, and I will abide by it.' I would give more for a perfect painting of the terror and horror of the faces of the old majority at that moment than for the best piece of Raphael." http://www.worldwideschool.com/library/books/hst/northamerican/ThomasJefferson/Chap1.html viewed February 2008

        As soon as he could afford a break from his business with Congress, he returned home because of all the troubles there.  His fortune had scattered quickly away, and he tried to rebuild some of his business interests.  He was overworked and his health declined.  In his diary, he wrote that he was a sad and lonely man who never intended to remain a bachelor.  In the past, he had been engaged to a girl he loved very much, but she had died a few days before their wedding.  In 1779 he died just before his 50th birthday.¹  Joseph Hewes was a Quaker and an Episcopalian.  His grave is in Christ Church Burial Ground. Ian Dorion, "Table of the Religious Affiliations of American Founders," 1997.   North Carolina State Library.

  ¹Benson J. Lossing, Signers of the Declaration of Independence, George F. Cooledge & Brother: New York (1848) [reprinted in Lives of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, WallBuilder Press: Aledo, Texas (1995)], pages 205-207.      Robert G. Ferris (editor), Signers of the Declaration: Historic Places Commemorating the Signing of the Declaration of Independence, published by the United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service: Washington, D.C. (revised edition 1975), pages 73-75.
<         .              U.S. Navy Combatant Ship Destroyer, USS Joseph Hewes is named for him. http://www.bluejacket.com/usn_ship_insig_dde-dlg.html   Bluejacket.com  All rights reserved 2008

USS Joseph Hewes (FF 1078)  Navy.mil the Official Web Site of the United States Navy

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 Brethren, let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God.

I Corinithians 7:24