Joseph Hawley Papers - 1767 related to American Revolution

Joseph Hawley III (October 8, 1723 – March 10, 1788) was a political leader from Massachusetts during the era of the American Revolution. He was born in Northampton, Massachusetts, a son of Joseph Hawley II and Rebekah Stoddard, the daughter of Solomon Stoddard. Stoddard, a minister who held the pulpit of Northampton's First Congregational Church for sixty years, was succeeded in his pulpit by his grandson, Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758). Thus, Joseph Hawley III was a first cousin to Jonathan Edwards.

Hawley graduated from Yale College in 1745 and studied law. He served as a justice of the peace in Hampshire County and as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1754 to 1765. In 1765, he was a member of the Stamp Act Congress. He was a strong advocate for the rights of the colonists and was a leading figure in the resistance to British rule.

In 1774, Hawley was elected to the First Continental Congress. He was a member of the committee that drafted the Declaration of Rights and Grievances. He was a member of the committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence.

Hawley was a strong supporter of the war effort. He served on the Board of War and Ordnance and was a member of the committee that negotiated the Treaty of Paris in 1783. He was also a member of the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention in 1780.

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