Mount Pleasant Magazine May/June 2019

37 www.MountPleasantMagazine.com | www.BestOfMP.com | www.ReadMPM.com Hopsewee Plantation near Georgetown, South Carolina, is the birthplace of Thomas Lynch, the second- youngest signer. Lynch’s father attended the First and Second Continental Congresses in Philadelphia but suffered a stroke while there. The younger Lynch, 26, left his post with the state militia and went to be with his father, joining him at the Congress and making the Lynches the only father- son delegates present. But since the elder Lynch was too ill to sign the Declaration, the task was left to Thomas. (A blank space on the Declaration shows where the elder Lynch was supposed to sign.) The younger Lynch battled health problems himself as a result of an illness he’d contracted while serving with the militia, so he was unable to resume his military career fighting the British. As the war raged, he hoped to reclaim good health with a trip to France, but the ship on which he was travelling was lost at sea, making him the youngest signer to die at the age of 30. Because Lynch’s life was cut short before he established himself in politics or business, his signature on the Declaration of Independence is one of only a few of his autographs known to exist, making it a rare find for collectors. The Lynch family’s planation at Hopsewee is privately owned but opens for public tours during different times of the year. So, this July, plan an additional activity around the Fourth and visit one of the local sites that are linked to these four men who helped to found our nation and gave us reason to celebrate. The South Carolina state seal. 2205 middle street | sullivan’s island 817 st. andrews blvd | west ashley 1109 park west blvd | mount pleasant