Thomas Heyward Jr.
Politician
Best remembered as a member of the Continental Congress and a signer of both the Articles of Confederation and the Declaration of Independence, this South Carolina-born political figure also had a twenty-year career as a judge.
After growing up in St. Luke's Parish, South Carolina, he studied law in England.
He was imprisoned by British troops during the 1780 Siege of Charleston.
His marriage to Elizabeth Matthews resulted in one surviving son, Daniel (five other children passed away in infancy or childhood, and Elizabeth died while giving birth in the early 1780s). His second marriage, to Elizabeth Savage, produced three children: William, Elizabeth, and Thomas.
He and Maine-born political leader William Whipple were both signers of the Declaration of Independence.