Andrew Adams.

LIST OF MEMBERS.

CONNECTICUT.

Elected: Oct. 11, 1777.

Did not attend in 1777.

Eliphalet Dyer.

Elected: (See vol. I.); Oct. 10, 1776 (" for the Year ensuing and
untill new be chosen "); Oct. 11, 1777 (" for the year ensuing, and
until new be chosen and arrive in Congress, if sitting ").1
Attended: June 25 to Dec. 31, 1777.

Oliver Ellsworth.

Elected: Oct. 11, 1777.

Did not attend in 1777.

Titus Hosmer.

Elected: (See vol. I.); Oct. 12, 1775; Oct. 11, 1777.
Did not attend in 1776 or 1777.

Samuel Huntington.

Elected: (See vol. I.); Oct. 12, 1775; Oct. 10, 1776; Oct. II, 1777 (see under Dyer).

Attended: (See vol. I.); July 5 to Oct. (near the end), 1776.

Huntington received committee appointments Oct. 17, but had gone home before
Nov. 6 (see nos. 193, 215). He was in Connecticut Nov. 13 (Force, Am.
Arch., fifth ser., III. 665), and although expected in early December he did
not return (see nos. 222, n. 2, 244, 260, 459, n. 3).

Richard Law.

Elected: Oct. 10, 1776.

Attended: June 25 to Dec. 3, 1777.

Law obtained leave of absence Dec. 3, and it is presumed that he took his departure that day (see note under Williams).

A few days after Law's appearance in Congress he gave his adherence to the resolution of secrecy, which had been adopted Nov. 9, 1775, and signed by members from time to time (see vol. I., no. 363, note 2). The document signed by Law was not, however, the original copy to which previous signatures had been appended, but a new copy which Secretary Thomson had made (June 28, 1777), including the names of all previous signers, the last being George Frost, who had signed the resolution some time in the month of June. Law's signature was doubtless the first to be placed on the new copy, that of Nathaniel Folsom being on the same line with it, and followed by the date July 21, 1777. For an account of this document see J. C. Fitzpatrick, in Am. Hist. Rev., XXVII. 489.

Roger Sherman.

Elected: (See vol. I.); Oct. 12, 1775; Oct. 10, 1776; Oct. 11, 1777. Attended: (See vol. I.); July 5 to Oct. 8, 1776; Jan. 2 to July 2, 1777. Sherman was appointed Sept. 20 on a committee, with Gerry and Lewis, to go to headquarters, and was absent Sept. 21-30. The committee mention in their report (Journals, Oct. 3) that they left Philadelphia Sept. 21, and as both Sherman and Gerry were appointed on another committee Oct. 1, it is presumed they had returned Sept. 30. (See also the Journals, Oct. 25, where the expense account mentions "ten days ".) Wolcott writes Oct. 8: "Mr. Sherman goes home for a short visit" (no. 222, n. 2). Sherman himself says, Mar. 20, 1777 (no. 412): "The day before I went home Congress agreed to augment the Pay of the Regimental Officers" (see the Journals, Oct. 7). In the same letter he says, "I arrived at Baltimore the 2d of January". The Journals

1 The terms of election apply to all members elected at the same time, unless otherwise stated.

record his attendance Jan. 3, 1777. He obtained leave of absence June 30, and took his departure July 2 (no. 537; cf. no. 533). Although his return shortly was expected (see no. 537), he does not appear to have attended again in 1777. The "Motion from Connecticut". in the writing of Sherman, recorded in the Journals under Nov. 15 (p. 927), was doubtless prepared at an earlier date. The passage in the report presented Nov. 19, stated (p. 941) to be in Sherman's writing, is, instead, in the writing of Eliphalet Dyer. William Williams.

Elected: (See vol. I.); Oct. 12, 1775; Oct. 10, 1776.

Attended: (See vol. I.); July 30 (?) to Nov. 12, 1776; June 25 to Dec. 3, 1777.

66

Williams says in his letter of Aug. 12 (no. 73) that he reached Philadelphia near the last of July". He signed the resolution of secrecy July 30 (see vol. I., no. 363, n. 2). Wolcott says in a letter to his wife, Nov. 12, “This goes by Col Williams who is returning home" (Conn. Hist. Soc., Oliver Wolcott Papers, II. 24); and in his letter to Griswold Nov. 18 (no. 215) he says: "Col Williams returned the 13th int." Williams rendered an account for attendance in Congress from July 22 to Nov. 21, 1776, 123 days. These are the dates of his departure from his home and his return (see Mass. Hist. Soc., Proceedings, second ser., III. 375). He was in Lebanon July 18 (letter copied from the original in possession of Mr. Stan. V. Henkels), and in Hartford July 22, for he on that day answered a letter of Titus Hosmer dated June 27 (see no. 491, n. 4). His return to Congress June 25, 1777, is recorded in the Journals. He obtained leave of absence Dec. 3 (cf. no. 759). Oliver Wolcott.

Elected: (See vol. I.); Oct. 12, 1775; Oct. 10, 1776; Oct. 11, 1777.
Attended: (See vol. I.); Oct. 1, 1776, to May 2, 1777.

Wolcott's first appearance in the Journals is Nov. 8, but a letter to his wife
Oct. I says:
"This morning I arrived safe in this City" (Memorial of Henry
Wolcott, p. 165; see also no. 222). He appears to have attended consecutively
until May 2, 1777, when he obtained leave of absence (see the Journals). He
rendered an account for attendance from Jan. 4 to July 4, 1776 (see vol. I.),
and from Sept. 24, 1776, to May 12, 1777 (see Mass. Hist. Soc., Proceedings,
second ser., III. 374). May 12 was the date of his arrival at his home in
Connecticut (see his letter of May 13, to William Ellery, Emmet Coll., no.
2435).

John Dickinson.

DELAWARE.

Elected: Nov. 8, 1776 (superseded Feb. 22, 1777).

Attended: (See vol. I., under Pennsylvania). He did not attend as a delegate from Delaware either in 1776 or 1777.

Prior to July 4, 1776, Dickinson had served as a delegate from Pennsylvania, and he was not superseded in that delegation until July 20 (see under Pennsylvania). Jan. 20, 1777, Dickinson wrote to George Read that ill health and other reasons had prevented him from taking his seat in Congress, and asked to be relieved (Life of Read, p. 253). Feb. 22 Nicholas Van Dyke and James Sykes were chosen in the places of Dickinson and John Evans, who had also asked to be relieved.

John Evans.

Elected: Nov. 8, 1776 (superseded Feb. 22, 1777).

Did not attend.

Evans wrote to George Read, Jan. 6, 1777, that his health would not permit him to attend Congress and asked to be relieved (Life of Read, p. 251; see also ibid., p. 222). Feb. 22 both Evans and Dickinson were relieved and Nicholas Van Dyke and James Sykes were chosen in their stead.

Thomas McKean.

Elected: (See vol. I.); Oct. 21, 1775; Dec. 17, 1777.

Attended: (See vol. I.); July 5-11 (?), 1776; Sept. 25 to Oct. 13 (or later), 1776.

It is very uncertain whether McKean attended Congress after July 4 until Sept. 25. The Journals contain no definite record of his presence during that period; and he himself stated in his letter to Caesar A. Rodney in September,

1813: "I was not in Congress after the 4th for some months, having marched
with my regiment of associators of this city, as Colonel" (see vol. I., p.
535). He was, however, in Philadelphia July 5 and served as chairman of a
conference with the Pennsylvania committee of safety, etc., authorized by
Congress July 4, and a report of this conference, prepared by him, was
presented to Congress July 5. Another report prepared by him was brought
in July 11; yet this report (the committee, Read and McKean, was appointed
June 4) may have been drawn up prior to July 5 and have been presented
by his associate on the committee. McKean was in Philadelphia from Sunday
night, Aug. 25, to Tuesday morning, Aug. 27, but there is no evidence that he
attended Congress. In the letter to A. J. Dallas, Sept. 26, 1796, McKean
says that he returned to Congress in October (see vol. I., p. 533); although
in the letter to Caesar A. Rodney, already referred to, he is somewhat less
definite. In fact, he must have returned immediately after the adjournment
of the Delaware convention; for he was given a committee appointment
Sept. 25, and another Sept. 27. He must have remained at least until Oct. 13,
for his name is appended to a letter of the secret committee of that date
(Continental Congress, Miscellaneous). One might infer from Rodney's
letter of Oct. 2 (see under Read) that he was at that time alone in the
delegation; but in earlier letters Rodney had spoken of the requirement that
two delegates be present in Congress to give the state representation. In a
letter to Thomas Rodney, Sept. 12, he says: "When Mr. Read went to New.
castle he prevailed on me to stay in Congress, and that he would get the
Convention to give a power to one Member to Act, so that our Government
might be Represented by me alone, till the Convention should Rise. I mentioned
this to Mr. McKean who directly declared they should make no appointments
of Delegates, nor even alter the powers Given them, least they (meaning the
Convention) should plead this as a precedent for giving into some other
appointments, which they were not Authorized to do by their Choice"
(Henkels, Catalogue, no. 1236, item 87). In his letter of Aug. 28, in which
he makes a similar statement, he mentions that the conversation occurred
during McKean's hurried visit to Philadelphia Aug. 25-27, and adds: "He
says, for his part, he is tired of attending the Congress; but is determined
they the Deleware convention shall turn him nor no one else out; that if
they are determined to do those things by the strength of their majority, he
will try the strength of the country with them, even at the risk of the Court-
House (Force, Am. Arch., fifth ser., I. 1192). In the election which shortly
took place (by the council, Nov. 8, concurred in by the assembly Nov. 9)
representation by one delegate was authorized; but both McKean and
Rodney were left out. Whether McKean remained for any length of time
after Oct. 13 is uncertain. A statement of Hooper, Nov. 8 (no. 199), that
Delaware had for some time past" been unrepresented, is understood to
mean that no delegates from Delaware had been present for some time (cf.
no. 215). On the other hand, from a letter of Caesar Rodney to Col. Samuel
Patterson, Nov. 18 (Force, Am. Arch., fifth ser., III. 745), wherein Rodney
mentions that he had sent some articles "to the care of Thomas McKean, Esq.,
in Philadelphia ", it is possible to infer that McKean had quite recently been
in attendance at Congress. At all events, the election of Nov. 8, 1776, brought
his attendance to a close (cf. his letters to George Read, Sept. 26, Dec. 6, 1777,
in Life of Read, pp. 278, 287) until the new election, Dec. 17, 1777, when he
was again chosen a delegate. (He took his seat in Congress Jan. 30, 1778.)
The statement that he "served in Congress from its opening till the peace
(see Appleton, Cyclo. of Am. Biog.) is therefore incorrect.

George Read.

Elected: (See vol. I.); Oct. 21, 1775; Nov. 8, 1776.
Attended: (See vol. I.); July 5 (?) to Aug. 24 (?), 1776; Dec. 2-12 (?),
1776; Mar. 12 to Apr. 4 (?); Apr. 25 (or earlier) to May
Sept. 9 (or earlier)-18, 1777.

— (?) ;

Besides two committee appointments, July 15, the Journals contain no record of Read's attendance in 1776 after July 4. There are other evidences, however, that he was in attendance most if not all the time until about Aug. 24. His name is appended to a letter of the marine committee, Aug. 6 (Force, Am. Arch., fifth ser., I. 784), and Rodney's letter of Aug. 8 indicates that he was in Congress at that time (see no. 58, note 6). Rodney's letter of Aug. 21 (no. 90, note 2) states that Read was going to the convention, and the letter of

Aug. 28 indicates that he had already gone (ibid.; see the letters in Am. Arch.). Read was made president of the Delaware convention, which met at New Castle Aug. 27-Sept. 21. He was evidently expected to return to Congress upon the adjournment of the convention, for Caesar Rodney wrote to Thomas Rodney, Oct. 2: "Mr. Read is not yet come up. However, I shall set out for Kent on Saturday or Sunday at farthest, whether he comes or not" (Force, Am. Arch., fifth ser., II. 840). He does not appear however to have returned until Dec. 2, when he presented his credentials of Nov. 8 (Journals). Numerous letters to him as late as Nov. 25 indicate that he was during this period either at New Castle or Wilmington (Life, pp. 195-216; cf. nos. 199, 215). A letter from Read to, Robert Morris, Nov. 5, is dated at New Castle, and a letter from a committee of Congress, Nov. 25, is addressed to him there. On the other hand, a letter from Col. Samuel Patterson (who kept in close communication with Read), written from Brunswick, Nov. 30, is addressed to him "at Congress" (ibid., p. 216; cf. ibid., pp. 217, 218, 220; see also no. 236). He remained, presumably, until Congress adjourned from Philadelphia; but he did not follow it to Baltimore (see Life, p. 223). His next appearance in the Journals is Mar. 12, upon the return of Congress to Philadelphia (cf. nos. 304, 327, 332, 401; also Life, pp. 251-259). He may have remained until James Sykes took his seat, Apr. 4, but certainly not longer (see ibid., pp. 259-262; also no. 434). He was evidently absent Mar. 17 and 18 (see the Journals). He appears to have responded to the appeal of Sykes (Apr. 10, no. 434), for he was appointed on a committee Apr. 25 (to confer with the president and council of Delaware at Wilmington), which made a report Apr. 29. Read doubtless returned to Philadelphia with the other members of the committee (see nos. 462, 465); but he was not in attendance May 13 (see no. 490). He resumed his seat in Congress at some time between Aug. 27 and Sept. 9 (there is no record of yeas and nays between these dates), for he is recorded as voting Sept. 9, 10, 11, and 16, and James Lovell records his presence Sept. 17 (no. 645). Upon the adjournment of Congress to Lancaster, Sept. 18, Read remained in Philadelphia until Sept. 26, when he made his way to Delaware (see his Life, pp. 275, 279).

Caesar Rodney.

Elected: (See vol. I); Oct. 21, 1775; Dec. 17, 1777.
Attended: (See vol. I.); July 5 to Oct. 6, 1776.

The Journals and Rodney's letters show that he attended Congress consecutively
during the period indicated. (In addition to the items in these volumes see
Force, Am. Arch., fifth ser., I. 169, 740, 944, II. 510; also a letter to Col.
John Haslet, Sept. 12, in Henkels, Catalogue, no. 1236, item 87.) In the letter
of Oct. 6 (no. 160) he says: "I Set out this day for Kent, and don't intend
to return to Congress soon again, at least not in the present Reign. . . . P. S.
Don't suppose from what I said They have left me out of Congress. They
have not (cf. a letter of Nov. 3 to John Capley, Emmet Coll., no. 1613).
Nevertheless he was not included in the election of Nov. 8.

James Sykes.

Elected: Feb. 22, 1777.

Attended: Apr. 4-18 (or later ?), 1777.

The Journals record that Sykes took his seat Apr. 4, but his letter of Apr. 10 (no. 434) and a committee appointment Apr. 18 are the only other indications of his attendance. Indeed he may not have tarried until Apr. 18, for in his letter of Apr. 10 he declared that he would not remain alone, and the committee of Apr. 18 consisted of a member from each state. He was not in attendance May 13 (see no. 490). In a letter to George Read, Dec. 6, 1777, McKean expresses the hope that Sykes would attend (Life of Read, p. 287), but there is no evidence that he did so.

Nicholas Van Dyke.

Elected: Feb. 22, 1777; Dec. 17, 1777.
Attended: June 2 to Aug. 15 (or later), 1777.

In a letter to George Read, Apr. 7, 1777 (Life of Read, p. 260), Van Dyke indi-
cated that he might attend Congress "the first of the week after next";
but it was not until June 2 that he took his seat (Journals). He signed the
pledge of secrecy probably June 5, for his name follows next after that of
William Duer, to which that date is appended (see vol. I., no. 363, note 2).
He was present and voting as late as Aug. 14, and Delaware is not recorded

among the absentees Aug. 15 (see the record of absentee states in the (Journals). As the next record of the yeas and nays, Aug. 22, does not include the name of Van Dyke, he must have taken his departure at some time between Aug. 15 and 22.

Nathan Brownson.

GEORGIA.

Elected: Oct. 9, 1776 (for the year ensuing); June 7, 1777. Attended: Jan. 3 (or earlier) to May 1, 1777; Aug. 23 to Oct. 9, 1777. The first positive record of Brownson's presence in Congress is of a committee appointment Jan. 3, 1777; but it is probable that it was he who brought the Georgia credentials presented in Congress Dec. 20, 1776. The Journals record that the delegates from Georgia (without naming them) presented the credentials of their reappointment (see under Hall and Walton), and nowhere mention the first attendance of Brownson. In addition to the evidences of the Journals it is to be noted that Brownson signed the resolution of secrecy (see vol. I., no. 363, n. 2) Feb. 4, 1777, and a letter of the marine committee Feb. 5 (Library of Congress, Accession no. 2605); also that John Adams mentions him as one of a supper party Feb. 16 (Diary, Works, II. 434). He obtained leave of absence May 1, and was the bearer of a letter from John Adams to James Warren May 2 (see Warren-Adams Letters, I. 321). His name next appears in the Journals (in the yeas and nays) Aug. 23, and that was probably the day when he resumed his seat; for he was evidently absent Aug. II (see nos. 584, 585, where it is indicated that only Walton of the Georgia delegates was present), and he is not recorded as voting Aug. 14 or 22. From that time until Oct. 9 he appears to have been in constant attendance. He was one of the party of delegates who, on the journey to Lancaster, signed a document at Bethlehem, Sept. 22 (see no. 652, n. 2). At the expiration of the delegation year (Oct. 9) he probably had not learned that he had been re-elected June 7, 1777, for it was not until Nov. 17 that the new credentials were produced in Congress (see under Langworthy and Wood). The remarks of Thomas Burke in nos. 380, 384, and 503 concerning a Georgia delegate evidently appertain to Brownson, as Hall had left Congress in February, and Burke himself, in the last of the letters referred to, eliminates Walton, who is mentioned as having been absent on the occasions to which he had referred. Furthermore, he remarks that the delegate to whom he alluded was "by birth a Connecticut man", a characterization which could apply only to Brownson and Hall. (C. C. Jones, jr., remarks, in Biographical Sketches of the Delegates from Georgia to the Continental Congress, p. 11: "We are not informed of what colony he was a native"; but see Dexter, Yale Biographies, II. 690; also Adams's letter of May 2, mentioned above.)

Archibald Bulloch.

Elected: (See vol. I.); Feb. 2, 1776 (for the term of nine months).
Did not attend in 1776.

Button Gwinnett.

Elected: (See vol. I.); Feb. 2, 1776 (for the term of nine months);
Oct. 9, 1776 (for the year ensuing).

Attended: (See vol. I.); July 5 to Aug. 2 (?), 1776.

Gwinnett is recorded by John Adams as taking part in the debates July 26 (see the Journals, VI. 1077), but the Journals mention his absence Aug. 2. Inasmuch as he signed the Declaration of Independence and could not have signed it earlier than Aug. 2, he must have taken his departure that day. He was at all events in North Carolina about Aug. 17 on his way to Georgia (McRee, Life of Iredell, I. 331), and was in Georgia at the end of the month (C. C. Jones, jr., Biographical Sketches, p. 51).

Lyman Hall.

Elected: (See vol. I.); Feb. 2, 1776 (for the term of nine months);
Oct. 9, 1776 (for the ensuing year); June 7, 1777.

Attended: (See vol. I.); July 5 to Nov. 2, 1776; Dec. 20, 1776, to Feb. 11
(or later), 1777.