Edward Rutledge was the youngest signer of the Declaration of Independence, whose legacy America250 commemorates, at age 26.
Rutledge represented South Carolina in the Second Continental Congress. He was part of the South Carolina delegation that initially opposed immediate independence during the June 1776 debate, but the colony later changed its position and supported the independence resolution.
Rutledge’s age is easy to confuse with the ages of other well-known signers. Thomas Jefferson was 33, John Hancock was 39, and Charles Carroll of Carrollton was 39 when the Declaration was signed. Rutledge later served as governor of South Carolina and was captured by the British during the Revolutionary War.