Ian Dorion, a retired aeronautical engineer now living in Catemaco, Veracruz, Mexico, has been doing some research on this issue, and contributes the following table. The table lists the religious affiliation of every person that was a signatory to the Declaration of Independence and Articles of Confederation, and every delegate to the Constitutional Convention, as best these affiliations can be determined from history. Founders are listed alphabetically. A key to symbols is found at the bottom of the table.
As you'll see, this list is not yet complete. Ian will continue to research this table, and will send us updates as he compliles information. Additionally, we should issue a word of caution concerning the vagaries of historical research. First, it's sometimes very difficult to determine a person's religion; historians can only go by the documents people leave behind, and many founders never wrote or said much about their religious beliefs. Additionally, church affiliation is an imprecise way of determining a person's beliefs; some religious people rarely attended church, only a small percentage of church attenders in the late 1700s were actually church members, and some church members were not particularly religious. George Washington, for example, was a lifelong member of the Episcopal Church, but he was neither deeply religious, nor particularly Christian (most historians count him as a Deist). Similarly, just because two people are of the same relgion doesn't mean they see the world the same way. Both Jerry Falwell and Jesse Jackson, for example, are Baptists, but you'd be on shakey ground in claiming that their common religion implies anything like political similarity. These vagaries aside, this table should be a substantial help to anyone interested in getting a handle on the religious beliefs of America's founders.
You'll note that more than one affiliation is listed for some of the founders. Ian contributes the following explanation:
Additionally, Ian provides us with some specific comments about difficulties in determining the religious affiliations of the following signers: Daniel of St. Thomas Jennifer, William Blount, Richard Dobbs Spaight, Jonathon Dayton, James Wilson, Hugh Williamson, Abraham Baldwin, George Clymer, and Gouverneur Morris.
Ian welcomes the help of anyone that wants to help him complete research on this table. Please e-mail him with relevant documentation at:
Don't e-mail us; Ian wants to verify all information relevant to the table before it gets placed on this page.
A Table of the Religious Affiliations
of American Founders
Signer State Doc. Office Affiliation (Ref.)
Adams, Andrew CT A CO(l)
Adams, John MA D President CO(b)UN(a)
Adams, Samuel MA D/A CO(b)
Adams, Thomas VA A
Banister, John VA A
Baldwin, Abraham GA C CO(j,k)PR(n)
Bartlett, Josiah NH D/A CO(b)
Bassett, Richard DE C ME(g,j,m,n)
Bedford, Gunning, Jun. DE C PR(j,m)
Blair, John VA C Justice PR(a)EP(n)
Blount, William NC C EP(n)PR(f,j)
Braxton, Carter VA D
Brearly, David NJ C EP(n)
Broom, Jacob DE C QU(n)EP(m)
Butler, Pierce SC C EP(j,m)
Carroll, Charles MD D RC(d)
Carroll, Daniel MD A/C RC(d,j,n)
Chase, Samuel MD D Justice EP(a)
Clark, Abraham NJ D PR(c,e)
Clingan, William PA A
Collins, John RI A Governor
Clymer, George PA D/C QU(j,n),EP(j)
Dana, Francis MA A
Dayton, Jonothan NJ C PR(n)EP(j)
Dickenson, John DE A/C QU(j,m,n)EP(j)
Drayton, William Henry SC A
Duane, James NY A EP(l)
Duer, William NY A
Ellery, William RI(A)MA(D) D/A CO(b)
Few, William GA C ME(j,k,n)
Fitzsimons, Thomas PA C RC(j,n)
(variant spellings: Fitzsimmons, Fitz-Simons)
Floyd, William NY D PR(c,e)
Franklin, Benjamin PA D/C EP(n)DE(j)
Gerry, Elbridge MA D/A EP(j)
Gilman, Nicholas NH C CO(j,n)
Gorham, Nathaniel MA C CO(j,n)
Gwynnett, Button SC D EP(k,o)
Hall, Lyman SC D CO(b,k)
Hamilton, Alexander NY C EP(j,n)
Hancock, John MA A/D CO(b)
Hanson, John MD A
Harnett, Cornelious NC A EP(f)DE(f)
Harrison, Benjamin VA D Governor
Hart, John NJ D PR(c)
Harvie, John VA A
Hewes, Joseph NC D EP?(f)
Heyward, Thomas SC A
Heyward, Thomas, Jr. SC D
Holton, Samuel MA A
Hooper, William NC D EP(f)
Hopkins, Stephen RI D
Hopkinson, Francis NJ D Ep(l)
Hosmer, Titus CT D
Huntington, Samuel CT D/A CO(b)
Hutson, Richard SC A PR(l)
Ingersoll, Jared PA C PR(j,n)
Jefferson, Thomas VA D President DE(a)
Jennifer, Dan oF St. Thomas MD C EP(j,n)
Johnson, Wm. Saml. CT C Justice PR(a)EP(j,n)
King, Rufas MA C EP(j)CO(n)
Langdon, John NH C CO(j,n)
Langworthy, Edward GA A EP(o)
Laurens, Henry SC A HU(l)
Lee, Henry Lightfoot VA D/A
Lee, Richard Henry VA D/A Senator
Lewis, Francis NY D/A
Livingston, Phil. NY D P(c)
Livingston, Wil. NJ C PR(j,n)
Lovell, James MA A
Lynch, Thomas Junr. SC D
Madison, James Jr. VA C President EP(a,j,n)TH(i)
Marchant, Henry RI A
Mathews, John SC A
McHenry, James MD C PR(j,n)
Middleton, Arthur SC D
Miflin, Thomas PA C QU(n)LU(j)
M'Kean, Thomas DE D/A PR(m)
Morris, Gouv. NY(A)PA(C) A/C EP(j)DE(i,n)
Morris, Lewis NY D
Morris, Robert PA D/A/C EP(j,n)
Morton, John PA D
Nelson, Thomas Jr. VA D
Paca, William MD D
Paine, Robert Treat MA D CO(b)
Paterson, William NJ C Justice PT(a)PR(j,n)
Penn, John NC D/A UK(f)
Pinckney, Charles SC C EP(j,n)
Pinckney, Chas. Cotesworth SC C EP(j,n)
Read, George DE D/C EP(j,m,n)
Reed, Joseph PA A
Roberdeau, Daniel PA A
Rodney, Caesar DE D EP(m)
Ross, George PA D
Rush, Benjamin PA D PR(c,e)UN
Rutledge, Edward SC D Justice CE(a)
Rutledge, J. SC C EP(j,n)
Scudder, Nathaniel NJ A
Sherman, Roger CT D/A/C CO(b,j,n)
Smith, James PA D PR(c,e)
Smith, Jona. Bayard PA A
Spaight, Richard Dobbs NC C EP(f,j,n)
Stockton, Richard NJ D PR(c,e)
Stone, Thomas MD D
Taylor, George PA D PR(c,e)
Telfair, Edward GA A
Thornton, Matthew NH D PR(c,e)
Van Dyke, Nicholas DE A EP(m)
Walton, George GA D AN(o)
Walton, Jno. GA A
Washington, George VA C President EP(a,j,n)TH(i)
Wentworth, John Junr. NH A
Whipple, William NH D CO(b)
Williams, Jonothan NC A UK(f)
Williams, William CT D CO(b)
Williamson, Hu NC C PR(f,n)DE(j)
Wilson, James PA D/C Ch. Justice* EP(a)PR(e,n)DE(j)
Witherspoon, Jonothan NJ D/A Minister PR(c)(e)
Wolcott, Oliver CT D/A CO(b)
Wythe, George VA D EP(j)
______________________________________________________________________________
DOCUMENT
A = Articles of Confederation
D = Declaration of Independence
C = United States Constitution
AFFILIATION
CE = Church of England
CO = Congregationalist
DE = Deist
EP = Episcopalian
HU = Huguanot
LU = Lutheran
ME = Methodist
QU = Quaker
PR = Presbyterian
PT = Protestant
RC = Roman Catholic
TH = Theist
UK = Unknown
UN = Unitarian
REFERENCES
a = 1995 Information Please Almanac
b = The Congregationalist Library
c = Presbyterian Historical Society
d = U.S. Catholic Historical Society
e = Presbyterian Church, USA
f = North Carolina State Library
g = United Methodist Church
h = Lutheram
i = Memoirs & Correspondence of Thomas Jefferson, IV, p.512
j = A Worthy Company: Brief Lives of the Framers of the United States
Constitution, M. E. Bradford
k = Georgia Public Library Service
l = Dictionary of American Biography (1936)
m = A History of Delaware Through its Governors 1776-1984 by Roger A. Martin
n = Library of Congress
o = Georgia Historial Society
*
Served without being confirmed by the Senate
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