It’s Father’s Day. What did you get him? Another tie?

Wouldn’t it be great if we celebrated our fathers every day? Wouldn’t it be great if we showed dad that we loved him and appreciated him more than just once a year or instead of only on special holidays? I sure do. That’s why I let the dads in my life know that I care for them each and every time I see them. That’s why I let them know that what they do really does matter to me. Sometimes it’s with a hug; sometimes, with a kind gesture or even dinner.

As a Father, I must admit that I am not a big fan of Father’s Day. I’m not a big fan of any “Hallmark Holiday,” for that matter. Sure, I am thankful for the extra time I get with my kid, but more often than not, we just do the same old things anyway. I think we should take occasions such as Father’s Day and turn them into something REALLY special. Maybe Father’s Day could be something like Founding Father’s Day.

Think about that for a moment; that could be really neat. When people think about the Founding Fathers, they think about George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, James Monroe, and, of course, Benjamin Franklin. To be honest, many probably don’t even think about that many. We should, though. There were so many more, and many with amazing stories and heroism, and sacrifice.

It’s unfortunate, really. If one were to really review a list of Founding Fathers, they would see several very important things. To begin with, they would see that the list includes whites, blacks, males, and females. It included the rich and the poor, the left and the right, writers and spies, political officials, and military experts. Basically, anyone who chose to be involved could be involved, and many were. More importantly, that list of Founding Fathers represents a long list of people who worked together (in spite of their differences) to make something wonderful happen. It wasn’t seven rich white guys; it was a nation of people and an army of the motivated.

So today I want to provide a list of people considered to be Founding Fathers. This is not all of them, and you can find similar lists (including this one) on documents such as the Declaration of Independence (1776), the Articles of Confederation (1777), the United States Constitution (1787), or even places like Wikipedia.

Today I give homage to the following Fathers (and mothers) of our country. Review the names and see if you recognize any of the names or remember their stories. Is your family surname on this list?

• Andrew Adams – Connecticut
• John Adams – Massachusetts
• Samuel Adams – Massachusetts
• Thomas Adams – Virginia
• John Alsop – New York
• Abraham Baldwin – Georgia
• John Banister – Virginia
• Josiah Bartlett – New Hampshire
• Richard Bassett – Delaware
• Gunning Bedford, Jr. – Delaware
• David Brearley – New Jersey
• Edward Biddle – Pennsylvania
• John Blair – Virginia
• William Blount – North Carolina
• Simon Boerum – New York
• Carter Braxton – Virginia
• Jacob Broom – Delaware
• Pierce Butler – South Carolina
• Charles Carroll of Carrollton – Maryland
• Daniel Carroll – Maryland
• Richard Caswell – North Carolina
• Samuel Chase – Maryland
• Abraham Clark – New Jersey
• William Clingan – Pennsylvania
• George Clymer – Pennsylvania
• John Collins – Rhode Island
• Stephen Crane – New Jersey
• Thomas Cushing – Massachusetts
• Francis Dana – Massachusetts
• Jonathan Dayton – New Jersey
• Silas Deane – Connecticut
• John De Hart – New Jersey
• John Dickinson – Delaware and Pennsylvania
• William Henry Drayton – South Carolina
• James Duane – New York
• William Duer – New York
• Eliphalet Dyer – Connecticut
• William Ellery – Rhode Island
• William Few – Georgia
• Thomas Fitzsimons – Pennsylvania
• William Floyd – New York
• Nathaniel Folsom – New Hampshire
• Benjamin Franklin – Pennsylvania
• Christopher Gadsden – South Carolina
• Joseph Galloway – Pennsylvania
• Elbridge Gerry – Massachusetts
• Nicholas Gilman – New Hampshire
• Nathaniel Gorham – Massachusetts
• Button Gwinnett – Georgia
• Lyman Hall – Georgia
• Alexander Hamilton – New York
• John Hancock – Massachusetts
• John Hanson – Maryland
• Cornelius Harnett – North Carolina
• Benjamin Harrison – Virginia
• John Hart – New Jersey
• John Harvie – Virginia
• Patrick Henry – Virginia
• Joseph Hewes – North Carolina
• Thomas Heyward, Jr. – South Carolina
• Samuel Holten – Massachusetts
• William Hooper – North Carolina
• Francis Hopkinson – New Jersey
• Stephen Hopkins – Rhode Island
• Titus Hosmer – Connecticut
• Charles Humphreys – Pennsylvania
• Samuel Huntington – Connecticut
• Richard Hutson – South Carolina
• Jared Ingersoll – Pennsylvania
• John Jay – New York
• Thomas Jefferson – Virginia
• Thomas Johnson – Maryland
• William Samuel Johnson – Connecticut
• Rufus King – Massachusetts
• James Kinsey – New Jersey
• John Langdon – New Hampshire
• Edward Langworthy – Georgia
• Henry Laurens – South Carolina
• Francis Lightfoot Lee – Virginia
• Richard Henry Lee – Virginia
• Francis Lewis – New York
• Philip Livingston – New York
• William Livingston – New Jersey
• James Lovell – Massachusetts
• Isaac Low – New York
• Thomas Lynch – South Carolina
• Henry Marchant – Rhode Island
• James Madison – Virginia
• John Mathews – South Carolina
• James McHenry – Maryland
• Thomas McKean – Delaware
• Arthur Middleton – South Carolina
• Henry Middleton – South Carolina
• Thomas Mifflin – Pennsylvania
• Gouverneur Morris – New York and Pennsylvania
• Lewis Morris – New York
• Robert Morris – Pennsylvania
• John Morton – Pennsylvania
• Thomas Nelson, Jr. – Virginia
• William Paca – Maryland
• Robert Treat Paine – Massachusetts
• William Paterson – New Jersey
• Edmund Pendleton – Virginia
• John Penn – North Carolina
• Charles Cotesworth Pinckney – South Carolina
• Charles Pinckney – South Carolina
• Peyton Randolph – Virginia
• George Reed – Delaware
• Joseph Reed – Pennsylvania
• Daniel Roberdeau – Pennsylvania
• Caesar Rodney – Delaware
• George Ross – Pennsylvania
• Benjamin Rush – Pennsylvania
• Edward Rutledge – South Carolina
• John Rutledge – South Carolina
• Nathaniel Scudder – New Jersey
• Roger Sherman – Connecticut
• James Smith – Pennsylvania
• Jonathan Bayard Smith – Pennsylvania
• Richard Smith – New Jersey
• Richard Dobbs Spaight – North Carolina
• Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer – Maryland
• Richard Stockton – New Jersey
• Thomas Stone – Maryland
• John Sullivan – New Hampshire
• George Taylor – Pennsylvania
• Edward Telfair – Georgia
• Matthew Thornton – New Hampshire
• Matthew Tilghman – Maryland
• Nicholas Van Dyke – Delaware
• George Walton – Georgia
• John Walton – Georgia
• Samuel Ward – Rhode Island
• George Washington – Virginia
• John Wentworth, Jr. – New Hampshire
• William Whipple – New Hampshire
• John Williams – North Carolina
• William Williams – Connecticut
• Hugh Williamson – North Carolina
• James Wilson – Pennsylvania
• Henry Wisner – New York
• John Witherspoon – New Jersey
• Oliver Wolcott – Connecticut
• George Wythe – Virginia
• Abigail Adams- adviser, wife, and mother of presidents.
• Ethan Allen – military and political leader in Vermont.
• Richard Allen – African-American bishop.
• John Bartram – botanist, horticulturist, and explorer.
• Egbert Benson – a politician from New York.
• Elias Boudinot – New Jersey delegate to Continental Congress.
• Aaron Burr – Vice President under Jefferson.
• George Rogers Clark – army general.
• George Clinton – New York governor and Vice President of the U.S.
• Tench Coxe – economist in Continental Congress.
• Albert Gallatin – politician and Treasury Secretary.
• Horatio Gates – army general.
• Nathanael Greene – army general.
• Nathan Hale – captured U.S. soldier executed in 1776.
• James Iredell – advocate for Constitution, judge.
• John Paul Jones – navy captain.
• Henry Knox – army general, Secretary of War.
• Tadeusz Kościuszko – Polish army general.
• Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette – French army general.
• Henry Lee III – army officer and Virginia governor.
• Robert R. Livingston – diplomat and jurist.
• William Maclay – Pennsylvania politician and U.S. Senator.
• Dolley Madison – spouse of President James Madison.
• John Marshall, fourth Chief Justice of the United States.
• George Mason, a revolutionary writer who refused to sign Constitution.
• Philip Mazzei, Italian physician, merchant, and author.
• James Monroe – fifth President of the United States.
• Daniel Morgan – military hero and Virginia Congressman.
• James Otis, Jr. – Massachusetts lawyer and politician.
• Thomas Paine – author of Common Sense.
• Andrew Pickens – army general and SC congressman.
• Timothy Pickering – U.S. Secretary of State from Massachusetts.
• Israel Putnam – army general.
• Edmund Randolph – first United States Attorney General.
• Comte de Rochambeau – French army general.
• Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton – wife of Alexander Hamilton.
• Thomas Sumter – SC military hero and congressman.
• Haym Solomon – financier and spy for Continental Army.
• Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben – Prussian officer.
• Joseph Warren – doctor, revolutionary leader.
• Mercy Otis Warren – political writer.
• Anthony Wayne – army general and politician.
• Noah Webster – writer, lexicographer, educator.
• Thomas Willing – banker.
• Paine Wingate – oldest survivor, Continental Congress.

There were just a few more than the seven most people have come to know. Many of these people have an amazing story just waiting to be learned about. I hope you find a connection with one of them and learn something new.

Happy Father’s Day.

Check my article about The Leadership of Thomas Jefferson