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'''Carter Braxton''' (1736-1797) was an early American statesman and one of the signers of the [[Declaration of Independence]]. He was born the son of a wealthy farmer in Newington, [[Virginia]] and received his education at [[William and Mary]] college. In 1765, he was appointed to the [[House of Burgesses]] and in 1769 was part of the [[Virginia Convention]]. He was chosen to be a delegate to the [[Continental Congress]] in 1775 to replace a recently deceased [[Peyton Randolph]]. There Braxton voted for and signed the [[Declaration of Independence]]. He passed away at the age of sixty on October 10, 1797.

 

'''Carter Braxton''' (b. September 10, 1736; d. October 10, 1797) was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention from the state of [[Virginia]] and one of the [[Founding Fathers]] that signed the Declaration of Independence. He was a county sheriff in 1772-73 and was a well known moderate from a wealthy family. Braxton served in the Virginia House of Burgesses and was a delegate to the Continental Congress. Originally, he opposed independence but later changed his mind. Braxton would become a member of the Virginia state legislature and Governor's Council of State until his death.

 

Braxton was born at Newington Plantation, on the Mattaponi River, in King and Queen County, Virginia. His grandfather was a landowner and the wealthiest man in Virginia. His father was a politically influential planter and his mother died giving birth. Braxton graduated from the College of William and Mary. He married at age 19 but his wife would die two years later in child birth. <ref>[http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/signers/braxton.htm Carter Braxton, USHistory.org]</ref> The following year, he left for an extended visit to [[England]] where he attended Cambridge University. Braxton returned to Virginia in 1760 and at the age of 25, in 1761, Carter remarried and entered the House of Burgesses.

 

In 1769 he signed the Virginia Resolves, a document protesting parliamentary regulation of the colony's affairs. Braxton was instrumental in preventing the outbreak of war in Virginia after the Royal Governor seized the the Williamsburg Magazine. <ref>[http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/declaration/bio4.htm Carter Braxton, National Park Service]</ref> Upon dissolution of the royal government, he accepted a position on the council of safety, the temporary governing body. In 1775, Braxton was selected to fill a vacancy in Congress caused by the death of [[Peyton Randolph]] and arrived in Philadelphia in 1776. At first sharply criticized the independence movement, but eventually yielded to the majority. Eventually, the Virginia Convention voted to recall Braxton from Congress, but he served there just long enough to vote for independence and sign the Declaration.

 

During the War, he had loaned £10,000 sterling to support the revolutionary cause. He had also used his wealth to sponsor shipping and privateering during the conflict. The British captured most of his vessels and ravaged some of his plantations and extensive landholdings. His personal fortune was hit hard, leaving him in a state of virtual insolvency for which he never recovered. In 1786, was forced to leave his inherited country estate. Braxton moved to Richmond, where he died in 1797 at the age of 61.

 

 

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[[Category:Signers of the Declaration of Independence]][[Category: Founding Fathers]]

[[Category:Signers of the Declaration of Independence]]

[[Category: Founding Fathers]]

[[Category:Virginia]]