<P> Seventy - four individuals were selected to attend the Constitutional Convention, but a number of them could not attend or chose not to attend . In all, fifty - five delegates participated in the convention, though thirteen of them dropped out, either for personal reasons in protest over decisions made during the deliberations . Three individuals remained engaged in the work of the convention until its completion, but then refused to sign the final draft . </P> <P> The names of thirty - nine delegates are inscribed upon the proposed constitution . Among them is John Dickinson, who, indisposed by illness, authorized George Read to sign his name by proxy . Additionally, the convention's secretary, William Jackson, while not himself a delegate, signed the document to authenticate the results of the Convention's sessions and the signatures . George Washington, as president of the Convention, signed first, followed by the other delegates, grouped by states in progression from north to south . Washington, however, signed near the right margin of the page, and when the delegates ran out of space they began a second column of signatures to the left . </P> <P> Jonathan Dayton, aged 26, was the youngest to sign the Constitution, while Benjamin Franklin, aged 81, was the oldest . Franklin was also the first signer to die, in April 1790, while James Madison was the last, dying in June 1836 . Virtually every signer had taken part in the Revolution; at least 29 had served in the Continental forces, most of them in positions of command . All but seven were native to the thirteen colonies: Pierce Butler, Thomas Fitzsimons, James McHenry, and William Paterson were born in Ireland, Robert Morris in England, James Wilson in Scotland, and Alexander Hamilton in the West Indies . </P> <P> When the Constitutional Convention adjourned on September 17, 1787 William Jackson was ordered to carry the Constitution to Congress in New York City . He also carried two letters with him . One was a resolution, adopted by the delegates, that the recommendation of the Constitutional Convention be received by Congress and distributed to the states, for their approval or disapproval . The other was written by George Washington, on behalf of the delegates, to the President of the Continental Congress, Arthur St. Clair, regarding the proposed Constitution . </P>

Where were the signers of the constitution born
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