John Hancock

John Hancock inherited his uncle's trading business and was one of the richest men in the colonies when he threw in with the Revolution. When customs officers seized his sloop Liberty in 1768, Boston rioted in his defense. He presided over the Continental Congress in 1776 and later served as governor of Massachusetts.

His signature is the biggest on the Declaration of Independence, which is why Americans still ask you for your John Hancock when they want you to sign. On the Freedom Trail, the Massachusetts State House stands on what was his family's cow pasture on Beacon Hill, and his grave is in the Granary Burying Ground just down the street, marked by a tall monument.