The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1916-08-25
WORK OF TIMOTHY MATLAcK.
He Was a Clerk In the Continental
Congress When That immortal Docu-
ment Was Adopted and Was Also the
Finest Writer In the Country.

Congress When That immortal Docu-
ment Was Adopted and Was Also the
Finest Writer In the Country.
Who wrote the Declaration of indie
pendence? Thomas jefferson, of course;
every one knows that. But who held
the pen and formed the letters on the
great piece of parchment that the
members of the Continental congress
signed2 1t Is one of the largest official
papers In eXistence-on skin OF parch-
ment nearly three feet long and more
than two feet vide The writing Is
nearly twice the normal size and is
unusually handsome and clear.
The secretary who was ordered to
promulgate the work was Charles
Thomson, man OF high character,
who had been the principal Of school
at New Castle, Del, and an active pa
triot. The first congress chose him as
secretary in 1774 and he held the Of
flee until the Continental congress
passed out Of existence on March 2,
1889. During all those fifteen years it
was only on rare occasions that any
other hand than his wrote in the jour
nal
One of the clerks in Thomson's Office
In 1775 and 177G was Timothy Matlack,
who died at Holmesburg, Pa, in 1929,
when he was ninety-nine years of age.
To carry out the order of the con
gress that the Declaration be pro
claimed, Thomson needed more than
score Of copies. for he had to send 1t
to every one of the states and TO the
army So, to save time, he did not
attempt to have any copies written off
with the pen, but sent the original
draft, which the congress had passed
to the official printer, John Dunlap.
The following morning the printed
copies were In Thomson's hands. They
were printed ON one side Of the paper
ON large sheets eighteen inches long
and fourteen and half inches wide in
the form known as broadSides.
1t was from one OF those copies that
Philadelphia first heard the Declara-
tlon read and it was one Of them that
became the official copy. for Thomson
had not copied the Declaration even
into the journal Of the congress before
he gave it TO the printer; but when he
wrote the journal for iuly / he left
blank space for the Declaration. and
the next day, with two WATERS Of red
wax he fastened IN the printed broad
side
have said that sometimes an entry
was made ia the Journal of the con
gress by another hand than Thomson )
The filst of those occasions was on
June II, 1T75. Wheu Timothy Matlack
recorded Il resolution to set aside a
day for fasting and prayer to avert the
desolating calamitics that seemed to be
impending Matlack had been appoint
ed clerk In Thonson's office ON May
8. ana five days later, on May 20 he
wrote out the most important docu
ment that the congress had issued up
to that time-the commission TO George
Washington to be commander IN chief
of the American army The identitica
ton OF the penmanship of the commits
sion with that OF the entry in the
journal and Of both with an autograph
letter OF Matlack's that Is among the
papers Of the Continental congress Is
certain
Probably there was not at that time
man in the country who was Mat
lacks equal as a penman Fortun.
ately. Matack was still clerk In
Thomson's office when the Dcclara
ton OF Independence was ordered to
be engrossed for final signature, and
the task OF copying 1t was assigned to
him He copied from the printed
broadside That is clearly shown by
the heading of the broadside, In Con.
gress, July 4. 1776,' which is repro
duced in the written Declaration In the
same form OF lettering.
few years ago some of the officials
in the library of congress, who knew
that Matlack was the best penman EN-
ployed by Thomson made a compari
son of General Washington's commits
sion, which was known to have beer
written by him, with the Declaration.
The i-st peculiar letter In the com
mission Is the capital IN in New
Hampshire, and we find It's counter
part In Natures" In the second line o.
the body Of the Declaration. The
graceful flourish at the top of the TT
In the word ITO" In the commission +
repeated In the second of the sentence!
beginning That in the Declaration
In the word offer in the commission
there Is n marked peculiarly in tht
double "f" The first "f'' Is made lik,
the old fashionedaong IS" 1t appear
in the word effect in the Declaration
then in suffer and "sufferable.' Tha
is the most noteworthy popularity Il
Matlack's writing. The capital d. Il
the commission and III the last line o
the Declaration, the capital "B'' in tn
commission and in the word British
in the Declaration, the whole wor
Congress" IN both Recommendations
and other details established beyond
doubt that the writer OF the great Dec
MARATHON was Timothy Matlack.
In 1924, when John Quincy Adam
was secretary Of state, skilled er
grayer, William j. Stone made Il COZ
perplate facsimile of the Declaration
That Is the only one that has &C. 49,