Edward Rutledge was the youngest signer of the Declaration of Independence, a figure linked to America250 history.
Rutledge was a delegate from South Carolina and was 26 years old when he signed. He was part of the South Carolina delegation alongside Thomas Heyward Jr., Thomas Lynch Jr., and Arthur Middleton.
Rutledge later served as governor of South Carolina and remained an important political figure in the early United States. His age is often compared with Benjamin Franklin’s: Franklin, also a signer, was the oldest at 70. The youngest and oldest signers therefore represented a 44-year age difference.