Founding Fathers - Josiah Bartlett

Josiah Bartlett Born: December 2, 1729 (Amesbury, MA) Died: May 19, 1795 (Kingston, NH) Welcome back from Spring Break! This week we will look at yet another Founding Father from one of the northern colonies, Josiah Bartlett. In fact, as a representative of New Hampshire he served the farthest north of all colonies and was the first person to sign the Declaration of Independence after John Hancock. The family of Josiah had lived near Amesbury, MA, since 1635 when his great-great-grandfather sold off his inherited land in southern England (which had been granted to his earliest documented relative, Adam Barttelot, by William the Conqueror after the Battle of Hastings in 1066) and ventured to the New World alongside his brother. As a child, Josiah received not only the standard education from the local schoolmaster, but also learned Latin and Greek from a relative who acted as both a doctor and reverend. While still a teenager, the boy began learning about medicine from the Amesbury