Hingham Commemorates its April 3, 1776 Declaration of Independence
Today's Elected Leaders Honor Action taken by Town Meeting 250 Years Ago Today
On April 3, 1776, Town Meeting, meeting at the First Meetinghouse (what is now known today as Old Ship Church), issued instructions to Theophilus Cushing, Enoch Lincoln, and John Fearing, its newly elected representatives to the Continental Congress.
With Town Clerk Benjamin Lincoln leading the drafting, these representatives were "instructed and directed at all times to support" the present struggle with Great Britain. And, "... in case the honourable Provincial Congress should for the safety of the United Colonies declare themselves independent of the Kingdom of Great Britain, solemnly to engage, in behalf of your constituents, that they will with their lives & fortunes support them in the measure."
Hingham Town Meeting, acting three months before the Declaration of Independence was signed, was one of the first in the colonies to declare independence. The stakes were high, as war against the king was treason.
Today, Hingham leaders honor the courageous action of Town Meeting 250 years ago with a reading from the original 1776 Hingham Town Records, as hand written by Benjamin Lincoln. The reading is led, by order of appearance:
Jim Conroy, Town Historian
Michael Puzo, Town Moderator
Liz Klein, Select Board Member
Julie Strehle, Select Board Member
Carol Falvey, Town Clerk