Greater Nashua
Remembering the final signer of the Declaration of Independence
John Hancock will forever be known as the first of 56 delegates to sign the Declaration of Independence while Dr. Matthew Thornton of Londonderry has the distinction of being the last delegate to leave his mark on one of America’s greatest documents. Born in Northern Ireland in 1714, Thornton and his family immigrated to the U.S. when he was three years old and settled in what is now Wiscasset, Maine. However, they were compelled to leave in the summer of 1722 when the settlement was attacked by Abenaki indians. Following the attack, Thornton and his family moved to the safe haven of Worcester, Mass. where he received his medical training. In 1740, Thornton moved to Londonderry to begin his medical practice and served as a doctor in the New Hampshire Militia during King George's War. Thornton’s rise to prominence began in 1775 when he was elected president of the New ...
