Lie Pie Title:  The 56 Men who Signed the Declaration of Independence
Lie Pie Classification:  flag wrap, lie sausage, crotchety old pie

Editor's note:  Here's an oldy but goody just in time for the 4th of July!  Looks like Snopes collected this one back in 1999.  It appears to be a mix of fact and fiction, but mostly fiction.  I can't think of a worse way to honor our Founding Fathers than to fabricate stories about their suffering.

I found the closing line of this viral email particularly entertaining:  

It's time we get the word out that patriotism is NOT a sin, and the Fourth of July has more to it than beer, picnics, and baseball games.

Mercy!  I didn't realize patriotism ever WAS declared a sin.  That came as news to me!  Well, I for one will be on the lookout for all these beer-drinking, picnicking, baseball playing ingrates who are so busy cramming hot dogs into their mouths and watching fireworks they can't be bothered to take pride in America and say a silent prayer of thanks on this solemn occasion!  Maybe we need to cut out altogether this "celebrating" on the Fourth of July in consideration of those sanctimonious super-citizens (albeit liars) who can tell by the way we eat our hamburgers that we aren't mindful that "freedom is never free."  There's nothing worse than a bunch of undeserving folks enjoying their freedom on Independence Day.   --Granny, 7/3/09

Subject: 4th of July

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men

who signed the Declaration of Independence?

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors,

And tortured before they died.

Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.

Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army;

another had two sons captured.

Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or

hardships of the Revolutionary War.

They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes,

and their sacred honor.

What kind of men were they?

Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists.

Eleven were merchants,

nine were farmers and large plantation owners;

men of means, well educated,

but they signed the Declaration of Independence

knowing full well that the penalty would be death if

they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and

trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the

British Navy. He sold his home and properties to

pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British

that he was forced to move his family almost constantly.

He served in the Congress without pay, and his family

was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him,

and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer,

Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that

the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson

home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General

George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed,

and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed.

The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying.

Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill

were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests

and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his

children vanished.

So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and

silently thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the price they paid.

Remember: freedom is never free!

I hope you will show your support by sending this to as many

people as you can, please. It's time we get the word out that patriotism

is NOT a sin, and the Fourth of July has more to it than beer,

picnics, and baseball games.