Edward Biddle Edward Biddle ( 1738 – 1779 ) was an American soldier , lawyer , and statesman from Pennsylvania . He was a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1774 and 1775 . Biography . Edward was the son of William ( 1698 – 1756 ) and Mary ( Scull ) ( 1709 – 1790 ) Biddle . He was born in 1738 at Philadelphia , Pennsylvania and had nine brothers and sisters , although two died in infancy . His formal education was limited to the common ( public ) schools and ended at about age fourteen . When the French and Indian War began in 1754 he joined the provincial forces as an Ensign . By the time he left the service , at the end of the war in 1763 he had been promoted to Captain . On June 6 , 1761 Edward married Elizabeth Ross , the sister of George Ross . After the war he read law in the offices of her brother . By 1767 he had been admitted to the bar , and the couple moved to Reading where he began his practice . Although the couple had no children , they both came from large families . The Betsy Ross who gained fame as the seamstress of the first American flag was the wife of her nephew . He was the uncle of Congressman Richard Biddle . Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly . Also in 1767 Biddle began his career in the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly as a representative for Berks County . He would serve there until the colonial assembly went out of business during the Revolution . He was also a member of the rebel provincial congress , and later the state $ 3 until 1778 . He was a leader within that body of the Whig or radical group in the struggle to set Pennsylvania ' s course in the revolution . In 1774 Pennsylvania was divided about the looming revolution . The loyalists and the supporters of the Penn family in the Assembly were joined by the Quakers who opposed any war . As a result , in July , the Assembly sent a split delegation to the Continental Congress : Galloway , Humphreys , and Rhoads were all moderates , while Biddle , Mifflin , Morton , and Ross were radicals . That first Continental Congress produced a statement or Declaration of Rights , as well as a plan of union and pleas to King George to resolve the issues that separated the colonies from Great Britain . They also produced a renewal of the non - importation agreement that had been used during the Stamp Act protests . Edward Biddle was a member of the committee that drafted to Declaration of Rights , and later oversaw the printing of the resolutions the Congress had passed . Early in 1775 , Governor John Penn called the Assembly into session , intent on having Pennsylvania send its own declarations to the crown . These would be based on the Galloway Plan that had been rejected by the Continental Congress , and would try to reconcile Pennsylvania with the British government . But the legislature mirrored the growing split within the colonies . The Whigs , led by Biddle and George Ross and John Dickinson won the day . Edward Biddle was elected speaker , replacing Joseph Galloway who had held the post the previous year . The actions of the Continental Congress were approved , and a more radical delegation was named to the next Congress . Biddle died in Chatsworth , Baltimore County , Maryland on September 5 , 1779 . He is buried in St . Pauls Churchyard in Baltimore .