Matthew Thornton
The Late Signer – Irish Doctor Who Refused to Be Left Out of HistoryBy Cole Rourke
Length50m
About this audiobook
Matthew Thornton — the Irish immigrant physician and last man to sign the Declaration of Independence.
Arriving in New Hampshire as a young boy, Thornton became a respected doctor, judge, and militia leader. He missed the main signing in August 1776 but demanded the record be reopened so he could add his name on November 4 — refusing to be left out of the birth of a nation.
In this 4-episode deep dive, we follow his remarkable journey: from poor Irish immigrant to successful New England doctor, revolutionary patriot, and one of the longest-living signers (dying at 89 in 1803). His simple gravestone reads only “An Honest Man” — a fitting epitaph for a brother who lived by the square with quiet determination.
A member of the Craft, Thornton showed up late but stayed true, proving that principle and persistence matter more than being first.
Audiobook details
GenreHistory, Biography and Memoir
Length50 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateMay 8, 2026
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Chapter 1 - Irish Ashlar to Frontier Surgeon: Immigrant Grind & Battlefield Steel
2Chapter 2 - The Flip: From Royal Commission to Provincial Leader
3Chapter 3 - Signing Late: The Insistence on the Privilege
4Chapter 4 - Final Square: Long Service, Honest Legacy & the Man Who Showed Up
More from Cole Rourke
Richard StocktonCole Rourke52m$4.99 · $0.00
Independence MasonsCole Rourke6h 1m$4.99 · $0.00
William HooperCole Rourke56m$4.99 · $0.00
John HancockCole Rourke1h 4m$4.99 · $0.00
Benjamin FranklinCole Rourke1h 35m$4.99 · $0.00
George WaltonCole Rourke56m$4.99 · $0.00
A Brief History of IntelligenceMax S. Bennett12h 18m4.6 (6.6K)$29 · $0.00
The Daughter of AuschwitzTova Friedman, Malcolm Brabant7h 54m4.6 (16.7K)$26 · $0.00
Lily's PromiseLily Ebert, Dov Forman8h 54m4.6 (16.1K)$29 · $0.00
On Democracies and Death CultsDouglas Murray10h 38m4.6 (6.5K)$29 · $0.00
Across the RiverKent Babb11h 40m4.6 (927)$29 · $0.00
Balcony Over Jerusalem: A Middle East Memoir - Israel, Palestine and BeyondJohn Lyons12h 37m4.6 (1.4K)$33 · $0.00
BeyondStephen Walker15h 39m4.6 (3.2K)$33 · $0.00
Kings and PawnsHoward Bryant10h 9m4.6 (678)$29 · $0.00
No EscapeNury Turkel9h 30m4.6 (809)$28 · $0.00
Jubal Stone: U.S. Marshal: Blood Trail To Hell: A Western Adventure NovelCasey Nash3h 42m4.6 (3.2K)$18 · $0.00
Fall and RiseMitchell Zuckoff17h 23m4.6 (9.8K)$40 · $0.00
The SurvivorJosef Lewkowicz, Michael Calvin9h 22m4.6 (2.5K)$29 · $0.00
Always FaithfulThomas Schueman, Zainullah Zaki12h 12m4.6 (977)$29 · $0.00
The State of Society in France Before the Revolution of 1789 (Annotated)Alexis de Tocqueville17h 25m4.6 (1.2K)$2 · $0.00
All the Gallant MenDonald Stratton, Ken Gire5h 55m4.6 (11.8K)$24 · $0.00
Saint Joan (Annotated)George Bernard Shaw6h 20m4.6 (1.2K)$1.20 · $0.00
Medgar and MyrlieJoy-Ann Reid10h 52m4.5 (27.8K)$29 · $0.00
The History of the Peloponnesian War (Annotated)Thucydides24h 3m4.6 (1.1K)$2 · $0.00
Where the Birds Never SingJack Sacco10h 31m4.6 (3.8K)$29 · $0.00
Serviceman J: The Untold Story of an NZSAS SoldierJamie Pennell5h 51m4.6 (452)$24 · $0.00
You Are Worth ItKyle Carpenter, Don Yaeger8h 53m4.7 (4.8K)$29 · $0.00
The Happiest Man on EarthEddie Jaku3h 48m4.6 (178K)$7 · $0.00
MotherlandJulia Ioffe17h 52m4.7 (2.5K)$40 · $0.00
Evidence Not SeenDarlene Deibler Rose11h 11m4.6 (11.9K)$29 · $0.00
Where Cowards Go to DieBenjamin Sledge8h 42m4.7 (351)$20 · $0.00
Will You Love Me?Cathy Glass9h 5m4.6 (9.3K)$29 · $0.00
Designing Terry Pratchett’s DiscworldPaul Kidby3h 52m4.7 (343)$20 · $0.00
HostageEli Sharabi5h 25m4.6 (10.8K)$24 · $0.00
Finding MeViola Davis9h 15m4.6 (256.4K)$29 · $0.00
The Dangerous Truth about Today’s MarijuanaLaura Stack CSP, MBA9h 57m4.7 (385)$20 · $0.00
Birdie & HarlowTaylor Wolfe7h 50m4.6 (6.5K)$26 · $0.00
The Lives of BrianBrian Johnson9h 45m4.6 (3.5K)$29 · $0.00
I Am The StormJanice Dean9h4.6 (1.5K)$8 · $0.00
Black History CollectionFrederick Douglass, Harriet Ann Jacobs, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois27h 9m4.6 (2.6K)$18 · $0.00
Just as I AmCicely Tyson16h 8m4.6 (99K)$33 · $0.00
Unbroken Bonds of BattleJohnny Joey Jones8h 31m4.6 (2.6K)$8 · $0.00
The Daughter of AuschwitzTova Friedman, Malcolm Brabant7h 54m4.6 (16.7K)$26 · $0.00
My Bondage and My Freedom (Annotated)Frederick Douglass15h 30m4.6 (2.4K)$2 · $0.00
Lily's PromiseLily Ebert, Dov Forman8h 54m4.6 (16.1K)$29 · $0.00
CrossroadsKaleb Dahlgren7h 56m4.6 (4.9K)$26 · $0.00
You may also like
The Umpire Strikes BackDavid Fisher, Ron Luciano5h 52m4.2 (1.4K)$23
The Life of George Washington (Summarized Edition)John Marshall13h 26m4.1 (309)$2
One Man Great EnoughJohn C. Waugh12h 1m4.2 (256)$23 · $0.00
Life of George Washington (Illustrated)Washington Irving34h 45m4.2 (627)$1.99 · $0.00
Abraham LincolnAllen C. Guelzo18h 27m4.2 (1.1K)$28 · $0.00
A Warrior of the PeopleJoe Starita8h 48m4.2 (1.6K)$20
AutobiographyMargaret Sanger21h 43m4.1 (318)$2 · $0.00
YellenJon Hilsenrath11h 55m4.2 (711)$29 · $0.00
History of the American Civil War (Annotated)James Ford Rhodes16h4.1 (875)$2 · $0.00
Do it Like a WomanCaroline Criado-Perez8h 6m4.2 (1.5K)$20
Women in White CoatsOlivia Campbell11h 30m3.9 (8.6K)$29 · $0.00
The Extraordinary Life of Frederick DouglassFrederick Douglass24h 34m4.4 (300)$2 · $0.00
The Autobiography of Benjamin FranklinBenjamin Franklin6h 3m4.0 (115.1K)$20
Across Five AprilsIrene Hunt5h 47m3.9 (23.3K)$20
Life and public services of Martin R. DelanyFrank A. Rollin11h 50m4.3 (45)$2 · $0.00
Angels of the Battlefield - Medical Heroes on the Civil War FrontlinesSusie King Taylor, Louisa May Alcott, William E. Barton, C. T. Quintard, George Barton, S. Emma E. Edmonds, Phoebe Yates Pember, Myrta Lockett Avary, Frederick Law Olmsted, Fannie A. Beers95h 30m$1.99
LINCOLN – Complete 7 Volume Edition: Biographies, Speeches and Debates, Civil War Telegrams, Letters, Presidential Orders & ProclamationsTheodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, Carl Schurz, Francis F. Browne, Joseph Choate95h4.5 (18)$1 · $0.00
The Better AngelsRobert C. Plumb9h 25m3.8 (25)$20
Outlines Of Jewish History From B.C. 586 to C.E 1885Lady Katie Magnus9h 11m3.9 (34)$2.30
We Choose ToCurtis Boyd, Glenna Halvorson-Boyd7h 49m4.5 (87)$30 · $0.00