Heyward, Thomas, 1746-1809

Thomas Heyward Jr. (July 28, 1746 – March 6, 1809) was a Founding Father of the United States who signed the United States Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation as a delegate of the Continental Congress from South Carolina. His loss of a considerable number of slaves led to him being widely proclaimed as a martyr of the revolution.

Born in St. Luke's Parish (now Jasper County), South Carolina, he was educated at home, then traveled to England to study law where he was a member of the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple. He was elected to the Continental Congress in 1775 and the following year was the last delegate to sign the Declaration of Independence. Heyward returned to South Carolina in 1778 to serve as a judge. In 1778, he presided over a trial in which several persons were tried for treason; they were convicted and executed within view of the British lines. In command of a militia force, he was taken prisoner by the British during the siege of Charleston.

On August 27, 1780, British troops took him from White Hall Plantation, his Charleston home, and detained him in the Old Exchange Building. They confiscated all of his slaves, and although he later reclaimed some of them, 130 were permanently confiscated and transported to sugar plantations in Jamaica, a loss of $50,000 in property. Hours after being arrested, he and 28 other "ringleaders of the rebellion" were relocated to a guard ship in the harbor. On September 4, they were transported to St. Augustine, Florida, and remained there for about 11 months until they were freed in a prisoner exchange.

In 1784, he was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society. He continued to serve as a judge after the war, retiring from the bench in 1798. Following his death in Jasper County, Heyward was buried at Old House Plantation near Ridgeland, South Carolina.