The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1916-10-27
He WHO WROTE IT
The Man Who Penned the Dec
Iaration of Independence.
WORK OF TIMOTHY MATLACK.

ment was Adopted and Was Also the
Finest Writer In the Country.
Who wrote the Declaration OF Inde.
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
signed? 1t Is one OF the largest official
papers in eXistence-one skin Of parch.
ment nearly three feet long and more
than two feet wide. 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 1IT4, and lie held the Of.
flee until the Continental congress
passed out of existence on March g
1TS9. During all those fifteen years 1T
was only on rare occasions that any
other hand than his wrote in the iour.
nal.
One of the clerks I'm Thomson's office
in 1II5 and 17I6 was Timothy Matlack
who died at IlolmeSburg, Pa. in 1929
when he was ninety-nine years of age
TO carry out the order of the con-
grcss that the Declaration be pro-
claimed. Thomson needed more than a
score of copies. for he had to send 1t
n n hn ctn Il
army. So, to save time. he did not
attempt 10 have any copies written oil
with the pen. but sent the original
draft, which the congress had passed
10 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 largo sheets eighteen inches long
and fourteen and half inches wide in
the form known rs broadSides
1t was from one OF those copies that
Philadelphia first heard the Declara-
tion 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 July he left
blank space for the Declaration. and
the next day, with two waters Of red
wax, he fastened in the printed broad.
side
l have said that sometimes an entry;
was made in the Journal Of the con-
gress by another hand than Thomson's.
The first Of those occasions was on
June II. 1775, when Timothy Matlack
recorded resolution to set aside a
day for fasting and prayer to avert the
desolating calamities that seemed to be
impending. Matlack had been appoint
ed clerk In Thomson's office on May
10. and 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 identif1ca-
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 penman. Forum.
ately. Matlack was still a clerk In
| Thomson's office when the Declara-
tion 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.
A 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 been
written by him. with the Declaration.
! The first peculiar letter in the com.
mission is the capital IN" in New
Hampshire. and we find its counter
part I'm Natures" I'm the second line Of
the body or the Declaration. Tho
graceful flourish Mt the top Of the ''T"
In the word "To" in the commission Is
repeated in the second of the sentences
beginning THAT" I'm the Declaration
| In the word "offer" in the commission
there Is marked popularity in the
double a." The first "f'' ~ made like
the old fashioned long "s." 1t appears
I'm the word "effect" I'm the Declaration,
then I'm suffer" and "sufferable." That
Is the most noteworthy peculiarity in
| Matlacks writing. The capital I'D" in
the commission and I'm the last line Of
the Declaration, the capital "B" I'm the
commission and in the word British"
in the Declaration. the whole word
Congress" in both documents-those
and other details established beyond a
doubt that the writer of the great Dec.
| In tinn NInInnlr