William Greenleaf (1725-1803)

Before you become sheriff you are an apothecary
with a shop near the center of town. You are appointed by the Massachusetts Provincial Congress as sheriff in 1775 and keep your post until 1780. You are the first to read the Declaration of Independence from the Old State House balcony on July 18, 1776. Although you are not the only man to read the Declaration that day, you are so proud of this event that you keep the copy that you read, frame it, and hang it over your fireplace.