<P> Some delegates were away on business when the Declaration was debated, including William Hooper and Samuel Chase, but they were back in Congress to sign on August 2 . Other delegates were present when the Declaration was debated but added their names after August 2, including Lewis Morris, Oliver Wolcott, Thomas McKean, and possibly Elbridge Gerry . Richard Henry Lee and George Wythe were in Virginia during July and August, but returned to Congress and signed the Declaration probably in September and October, respectively . </P> <P> New delegates joining the Congress were also allowed to sign . Eight men signed the Declaration who did not take seats in Congress until after July 4: Matthew Thornton, William Williams, Benjamin Rush, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, George Ross, and Charles Carroll of Carrollton . Matthew Thornton did not take a seat in Congress until November . By the time that he signed it, there wasn't any space for his name next to the other New Hampshire delegates, so he placed his signature at the end of the document . </P> <P> The first published version of the Declaration was the Dunlap broadside . The only names on that version were Congress President John Hancock and Secretary Charles Thomson, and those names were printed rather than signatures . The public did not learn who had signed the engrossed copy until January 18, 1777, when the Congress ordered that an "authenticated copy" be sent to each of the 13 states, including the names of the signers . This copy is called the Goddard Broadside; it was the first to list all the signers except for Thomas McKean, who may not have signed the Declaration until after the Goddard Broadside was published . Congress Secretary Charles Thomson did not sign the engrossed copy of the Declaration, and his name doesn't appear on the Goddard Broadside, even though it does appear on the Dunlap broadside . </P> <P> Various legends emerged years later concerning the signing of the Declaration, when the document had become an important national symbol . In one famous story, John Hancock supposedly said that Congress, having signed the Declaration, must now "all hang together", and Benjamin Franklin replied: "Yes, we must indeed all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately ." The quotation did not appear in print until more than 50 years after Franklin's death . </P>

Who didn't sign the original declaration of independence