Joseph Hawley

1723-1788. Lawyer, Patriot, Orator and one of the founding fathers of the Revolution. One of the "River Gods" but by temperament a consistent rebel. Refused to attend chapel at Yale. Served as Chaplain to a Massachusetts regiment at Louisbourg in King George's War. Turned to law and became the leader of the faction that secured the dismissal of Jonathon Edwards as pastor of the First Church. Member of the General Court in 1766. Became known for his oratorical ability and soon became a leading figure of the radical group that included James Otis, Samuel Adams, John Hancock and John Adams. Called by Governor Hutchinson "the most attended to member of the House." Samuel Adams called him "the only man I can confide in." Chosen with Samuel Adams as a delegate to the Continental Congress, but when he was unable to attend John Adams was chosen in his place. One of the earliest advocates of independence his health was seriously impaired from 1777 onwards. During the controversy over the Massachusetts Constitution he led the fight for universal manhood suffrage and bitterly opposed the requirement that the officeholder take an oath of belief in Christianity holding it an affront to the "inalienable Right of Conscience."

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