I'll give you the short version."
"Who knew I'd be getting a history lesson this
early in the morning," Jane said.
Perry's face fell at the hint of sarcasm in Jane's
voice. "Would you rather I didn't go into it? I mean all you need to know
in order to search for Belle is that she was looking for a rare document."
"Sorry," Jane said. "I'm not a
morning person. I really do want to hear about it."
Perry perked up and he seemed fully in the moment
for the first time. "Okay. It's early June, 1776 and the Continental
Congress has pretty much decided they're going to vote to declare independence
from Britain."
Nods of agreement. Lucy did know this much but she
found herself getting into the story. This was obviously Perry's forte. The
subject on which he could shine.
"The Congress needs a document they can vote
on, something to publish and send to King George, so they appoint a committee
of five men to write one. The five men include John Adams, Benjamin Franklin
and Thomas Jefferson and they all agree Jefferson is the guy to write the
declaration. He humbly accepts the task and goes home to get busy." He
paused and sipped at his coffee.
Lucy couldn't wait to see where this was going. The
guy seemed to know what he was talking about but she had serious doubts that
the Morris family ever had anything more than a copy of the Dunlap Broadside.
Still, if she heard something that would help her find Belle she'd listen to
Perry recite the phone book.
"So, Jefferson writes a first draft of the
Declaration of Independence and sends it to the other committee members for
their input. They do some editing, making their changes right on the draft and
send it back to him. Jefferson now has this original that's had stuff crossed
out and other stuff added. It's looking a little messy so he makes a brand new
copy that incorporates the input of the rest of the committee. You with me so
far?"
Lucy nods. "At that point there are two copies
of the declaration. The original that's been edited and had stuff crossed out
and added. And a nice neat copy Jefferson made to present to Congress."
"Exactly!" Perry said. "So Jefferson
and the rest of the committee of five take their nice neat copy to Congress.
It's read and debated and now Congress has a few suggestions and changes which
they make on the page. On July 4, 1776, everyone's happy and they vote to adopt
the Declaration of Independence. Now this final somewhat messy copy was
supposedly signed by John Hancock, President of the Congress and Charles
Thomson, Secretary of the Congress. Congress then tells the original committee
of five to get the Declaration printed.
"Now, things get a little fuzzy. No one knows
who took the signed copy of the Declaration to John Dunlap's print shop but
somehow it made it there. John Dunlap was the official printer for the
Continental Congress and risked his life by adding his name as printer of the
Declaration to the names of Hancock and Thomson as signers. The story goes that
Dunlap turned out somewhere around two hundred copies of the Declaration late
July 4 and into early July 5 when the first printed copies were sent out.
Twenty-five of those Broadsides are accounted for today. But the original
handwritten document, approved by Congress and signed by John Hancock
disappeared, presumably destroyed at the print shop after John Dunlap was
finished with it. The same way you'd destroy a draft of a letter today after
it's been printed."
"So what's on display in Washington?" Mae
asked.
"The official engrossed copy of the
Declaration made in August of 1776 and signed by almost all the members of
Congress. Thomas Jefferson's personal first draft with changes by the committee
is also accounted for and housed in the Library of Congress. But that final
version signed by John Hancock and used as a master to set the type for the
Broadside has never been found."
"And you think Belle has some idea where to
find this original?" Lucy said. "I don't remember the story that
"Who knew I'd be getting a history lesson this
early in the morning," Jane said.
Perry's face fell at the hint of sarcasm in Jane's
voice. "Would you rather I didn't go into it? I mean all you need to know
in order to search for Belle is that she was looking for a rare document."
"Sorry," Jane said. "I'm not a
morning person. I really do want to hear about it."
Perry perked up and he seemed fully in the moment
for the first time. "Okay. It's early June, 1776 and the Continental
Congress has pretty much decided they're going to vote to declare independence
from Britain."
Nods of agreement. Lucy did know this much but she
found herself getting into the story. This was obviously Perry's forte. The
subject on which he could shine.
"The Congress needs a document they can vote
on, something to publish and send to King George, so they appoint a committee
of five men to write one. The five men include John Adams, Benjamin Franklin
and Thomas Jefferson and they all agree Jefferson is the guy to write the
declaration. He humbly accepts the task and goes home to get busy." He
paused and sipped at his coffee.
Lucy couldn't wait to see where this was going. The
guy seemed to know what he was talking about but she had serious doubts that
the Morris family ever had anything more than a copy of the Dunlap Broadside.
Still, if she heard something that would help her find Belle she'd listen to
Perry recite the phone book.
"So, Jefferson writes a first draft of the
Declaration of Independence and sends it to the other committee members for
their input. They do some editing, making their changes right on the draft and
send it back to him. Jefferson now has this original that's had stuff crossed
out and other stuff added. It's looking a little messy so he makes a brand new
copy that incorporates the input of the rest of the committee. You with me so
far?"
Lucy nods. "At that point there are two copies
of the declaration. The original that's been edited and had stuff crossed out
and added. And a nice neat copy Jefferson made to present to Congress."
"Exactly!" Perry said. "So Jefferson
and the rest of the committee of five take their nice neat copy to Congress.
It's read and debated and now Congress has a few suggestions and changes which
they make on the page. On July 4, 1776, everyone's happy and they vote to adopt
the Declaration of Independence. Now this final somewhat messy copy was
supposedly signed by John Hancock, President of the Congress and Charles
Thomson, Secretary of the Congress. Congress then tells the original committee
of five to get the Declaration printed.
"Now, things get a little fuzzy. No one knows
who took the signed copy of the Declaration to John Dunlap's print shop but
somehow it made it there. John Dunlap was the official printer for the
Continental Congress and risked his life by adding his name as printer of the
Declaration to the names of Hancock and Thomson as signers. The story goes that
Dunlap turned out somewhere around two hundred copies of the Declaration late
July 4 and into early July 5 when the first printed copies were sent out.
Twenty-five of those Broadsides are accounted for today. But the original
handwritten document, approved by Congress and signed by John Hancock
disappeared, presumably destroyed at the print shop after John Dunlap was
finished with it. The same way you'd destroy a draft of a letter today after
it's been printed."
"So what's on display in Washington?" Mae
asked.
"The official engrossed copy of the
Declaration made in August of 1776 and signed by almost all the members of
Congress. Thomas Jefferson's personal first draft with changes by the committee
is also accounted for and housed in the Library of Congress. But that final
version signed by John Hancock and used as a master to set the type for the
Broadside has never been found."
"And you think Belle has some idea where to
find this original?" Lucy said. "I don't remember the story that
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