I come from a long line of Braxtons.

My father’s name is Braxton. His mother was Agnes Braxton. My youngest brother is Carter Braxton. My older brother is Hugh Braxton. His elder son is Hugh Braxton III.

It’s not unusual for a family name to be widely distributed. But for generations it has been a point of pride in our clan that we are direct descendants of Carter Braxton, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

Aside from this single fact, however, I’d never known much about my illustrious forebear.

That changed two weeks ago when I visited Monticello with friends and picked up a copy of Signing Their Lives Away, a collection of biographical essays about the signers by Denise Kiernan and Joseph D’Agnese.

It was an eye-opener.

The Declaration, of course, is our nation’s birth certificate, our most celebrated document, a model and inspiration for freedom movements and struggling peoples around the world and throughout history.

Taking my cue from John Trumbull’s famous painting, I’d always imagined my ancestor, surrounded by leaders of the American Revolution, striding forward to sign his name - with an emphatic flourish - to that famous document at that historic moment.

Except that’s not what happened.

According to Kiernan and D’Agnese, “Carter Braxton was the most reluctant of all Virginia’s signers. Some say he was the most reluctant of the whole lot.”

Perhaps that explains why his name is the last two words at the bottom of the parchment.

(If you’re buying your dream home or marrying the love of your life, put your John Hancock on the legal documents. If you’re signing foreclosure papers or a receipt for certified mail, just offer your Carter Braxton.)

Still, as every school child knows, the signers gave their assent to the proposition that all men are created equal, risking their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor.

Carter Braxton was no exception. A wealthy landowner, he had much to lose, including plantations worked by hundreds of slaves.

This itself is nothing extraordinary. Most of the signers were aristocrats and many of the Founding Fathers - including the author of the Declaration himself  - were slave owners. Most had serious misgivings about it.

Thomas Jefferson wrote, “There is nothing I would not sacrifice to a practicable plan of abolishing every vestige of this moral and political depravity.”

Benjamin Franklin called slavery “an atrocious debasement of human nature.”

George Washington said, “There is not a man living who wishes more sincerely than I do to see a plan adopted for the abolition of slavery.”

Carter Braxton wrote, “I am told there is a great trade carried on from Rhode Island to Guinea for Negroes and I should be very glad to enter into partnership with some gentleman for a voyage or two and have [the slaves] sent here where I believe they will sell as well as anywhere.”

He further offered that, “The Gold Coast slaves are esteemed the most valuable and sell best. The prices of Negroes keep up amazingly. They have sold from 30 to 35 sterling a head clear of duty all summer.”

Apparently, Carter Braxton believed that all men are created equal. But some are worth more at the point of sale.

“Despicable as they are,” write Kiernan and D’Agnese, “Braxton’s surviving letters help historians shed light on the unsavory world of slave trading.”

Historical research further reveals that as late as July 1, 1776, Braxton opposed American independence. He wasn’t just reluctant to break with Britain. Turns out he was uncomfortable with the very idea of democracy. Yet he intensely disliked the Crown picking his pocket.

This intelligence makes a letter from the “Descendants of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence” ring a bit hollow:

“The fifty-six Signers of the Declaration of Independence were inspired by as high a patriotic purpose as humanity has ever known… It is, therefore, extremely fitting, that the direct lineal descendants of the men who inscribed their names upon the first page of the history of the United States of America should form an association.”

Yes, well… whatever.

Pride isn’t one of the deadly sins for nothing. And some family trees need trimming.

Personally, I’d rather take my inspiration from Abraham Lincoln, who said, “I don’t know who my grandfather was; I am much more concerned to know what his grandson will be.”

Carter Braxton was nothing if not prolific, incidentally. He had 18 children.

If each of them had two children who survived to adulthood, and each in turn had two children of their own, and so on down the line, there are more than 146,000 direct descendants of Carter Braxton alive today. Hardly an exclusive club, whatever the benefits of membership.

I understand it’s fun to have distinguished friends or relatives or ancestors. But the glory belongs to them, not to us.

Perhaps our responsibility is not to recite their accomplishments, but to work at becoming worthy ancestors ourselves.

As short story writer Dana Burnet said, “I’d rather have an inch of dog than miles of pedigree.”

Carpe Diem,

Alex