Rare Copy Of Declaration Of Independence Coming To NJ

CAMDEN COUNTY, NJ — A rare copy of the Declaration of Independence will soon be on public display in South Jersey, George E. Norcross III announced.

Norcross’s family purchased the document that was created in 1823 by William Stone at the direction of then-Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams during an auction at Freeman’s in Philadelphia on July 1, said Norcross.

Bidding started at $450,000, and Norcross’s winning bid was $3.7 million, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.With the buyer’s premium fee, the final cost was $4.4 million.

"My family and I are so proud that we have the opportunity to protect and preserve this incredibly important link to our nation's founding,” Norcross said. “As our country continues the essential conversation about how best to ensure that every American benefits from the privileges and protections enunciated in the Declaration of Independence, we hope that making this copy public will remind us all of the principles that guide and unite us. I am especially happy that we will be able to display this Declaration copy at Cooper University Hospital where Cooper staff, patients and visitors, as well as members of the community, will be able to see this rare historical document up close."

The family is making the document available to the National Park Service to be displayed at Independence National Historical Park as part of the Liberty Bell Center exhibit beginning this fall after it is properly preserved and protected. It will also be publicly displayed later in the year at Cooper University Hospital in Camden.

"We are honored and delighted to have the opportunity to make this important historical document available for public display," Independence National Historical Park Superintendent Cynthia MacLeod said. "Thank you to the Norcross family for lending it to us, and thank you to Congressman Donald Norcross for helping make the initial connection between his family and us."

The copy purchased by the Executive Chairman of Conner Strong & Buckelew and the Chairman of the Board of Cooper University Health Care and MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper is one of six copies that were given to the only living signers at the time -- President John Adams, President Thomas Jefferson and Charles Carroll of Carrollton.

This copy belonged to Carroll, and it was recently discovered in an attic in Scotland, said Norcross, a history buff who has visited almost every presidential museum. Carroll was a member of the Continental Congress and instrumental in getting his home state of Maryland to approve the Constitution.

He was the only Catholic to sign the Declaration, and he outlived all the other 55 signers. He died in 1832 at the age of 95. For his contributions to the country, President Jackson closed government upon Carroll's passing, the first time that happened since George Washington's death.

The nearly two century old printing was sold at auction by Freeman's auction house in Philadelphia in July. It is the only copy of the William Stone printing given to one of the original signers that is still in private hands.

Bidding started at $450,000, and Norcross’s winning bid was $3.7 million, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.With the buyer’s premium fee, the final cost was $4.4 million.

He said he purchased the copy in memory of Martin F. McKernan, Jr., Esq., a longtime friend and colleague who recently passed away. McKernan, a Knight of St. Gregory, was a dedicated member of the greater Camden community.

McKernan was a legal counsel to the City of Camden as well as the Diocese of Camden and the Camden County Board of Social Services. A devout Catholic, he was renowned for his personal generosity and compassion to the less fortunate. McKernan passed away in August following a brief illness.

“Marty will forever be lovingly remembered by our family — my father, my mother Sandy, my brother Alex and me — as a dear friend, mentor, and someone endowed with a shining intellect and remarkable sense of humor," said Lexie Norcross, his goddaughter, who also noted that they had the opportunity to privately show McKernan the Declaration copy before his passing. "Marty’s humility and kindness knew no bounds, and therefore we could not think of anyone more deserving of having his name on a plaque permanently displayed with this amazing piece of history.”

Over the next few months, the document will undergo an expert-led preservation process to protect it before it is allowed to be publicly displayed. Beginning this fall, the document will be open to public viewing inside the Liberty Bell Center at 6th and Market Streets. Later this fall, it will be displayed at Cooper, before returning to Independence National Historical Park for ongoing display. The exact timing of the display will be determined by the preservation process.