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		Edmund Pendleton: A forgotten Patriot 1721-1803 Edmund Pendleton, who was born in 1721 and died in 1803, may be the most influential character of the American Revolution you have never heard of. Among his close friends were George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. He drafted the letter to Virginia's Delegates in the 2nd Contenintal Congress to Declare Independence from England and was one of Virginia's delegates to the 1st Contenintal Congress. He was the head of Virginia's Revolutionary Government. Why then are there no Universities named after him, no streets in his honor, no mention of him in the history books? Why must one dig for information about this man who was so intertwined into the stories we all know? Hopefully this small web page can enlighten a few people as to how great of a man Edmund Pendleton was. Courtesy of (or From) the Gilder Lehrman Collection, on deposit at the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, GLC 99. http://www.gilderlehrman.com Pictures from Williamsburg: June 2007 (Click on a picture to see a larger version ) Bruton Parish Church in Colonial Williamsburg Virginia. Edmund Pendleton is Buried Inside this Church. Edmund Pendleton's Headstone Inside Bruton Parish Church. Plaque Commemorating Jefferson, Pendleton, Wythe, Mason and Lee inside Church Plaque in Pendletons box ( adjacent to Thomas Jefferson ) inside Church The Letters and Correspondence of Edmund Pendleton Excerpt from Edmund Pendleton's Bible Detailing his Family Tree Story About Edmund Pendleton By Susan F. Beason Born in Caroline County,  Virginia on September 9th,  1721. Admitted to the bar in 1742. Became a Justice of the Peace in Caroline County in 1751. Elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses. Chosen a member of the Virginia colonies Committee of Correspondence in 1773. Delegate to the first Continental Congress in 1775. President of Virginia's Committee of Saftey and was therefore head of the Revolutionary government there. Drafted the instructions for Virginia's delegates in the Continental Congress to move for independence. Worked with Thomas Jefferson and George Wythe to revise the laws of Virginia. First Speaker of the House of Delegates under Virginia's first Government. Named first president of the supreme court of appeals in 1779. President of the Virginia convention that voted to ratify the constitution in 1788. Declined several federal post offered by his good friend George Washington.   Minuets from Congress, October 1803   Mourning For Edmund Pendleton Mr. Eustis rose and observed that within a few days past the House were called upon to take notice of an event which perhaps would be more interesting to posterity than to the present generation; the death of one of those illustrious patriots who, by a life devoted to his country, had bequeathed a name and an example to posterity which he would not attempt to describe. He had information that another of these sages, Edmund Pendleton, of Virginia, had paid the last tribute to nature.   On this occasion he begged leave to offer to the house the following resolution:   Resolved, That this House, impressed with a lively sense of the important services rendered to his country by Edmund Pendleton, deceased, will wear a badge of mourning for thirty days, as an emblem of their veneration for his illustrious character, and of their regret that another star is fallen from the splendid constellation of virtue and talents which guided the people of the United States in their struggle for independence.   The resolution was immediatly taken up and agreed to - Ayes 77, Nayes 0 Other Edmund Pendleton Sights of interest Caroline County Virginia Website James Madison/Edmund Pendleton Inventories Thomas Jefferson/Edmund Pendleton Letter #1 Jefferson/Pendleton Letter #2 Web site on early colonial history A short Bio on Pendleton can be found here Sources :  The Life and Times of Edmund Pendleton, Robert Leroy Hilldrup, 1939, UNC Press  Edmund Pendleton 1721-1803,  A  Biography, two volumes, David John Mays,  1952, Harvard Press                      The Letters and Papers of Edmund Pendleton,  1734-1803,two volumes, David John Mays 1967, UVa Press  Gilder Lehrman Collection, on deposit at the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, GLC 99. Susan F. Beason of the Caroline County Website. Go Back to Main Page   Email Me