Denominational Affiliations of the Framers of the Constitution

Dr. Miles Bradford of the University of Dallas did a study on the denominational classifications that the delegates to the Constitutional Convention accepted
for themselves. Contrary to myth, the following list, published by Bradford, indicates that only 3 out of 55 (5%) of the framers classified themselves as Deists:

New Hampshire
        John Langdon, CONGREGATIONALIST
        Nicholas Gilman, CONGREGATIONALIST

Massachusetts
        Elbridge Gerry, EPISCOPALIAN
        Rufus King, EPISCOPALIAN
        Caleb Strong, CONGREGATIONALIST
        Nathaniel Gorham, CONGREGATIONALIST

Connecticutt
        Roger Sherman, CONGREGATIONALIST
        William Johnson, EPISCOPALIAN
        Oliver Ellsworth, CONGREGATIONALIST

New York
        Alexander Hamilton, EPISCOPALIAN
        John Lansing, DUTCH REFORMED
        Robert Yates, DUTCH REFORMED

New Jersey
        William Patterson, PRESBYTERIAN
        William Livingston, PRESBYTERIAN
        Jonathan Dayton, EPISCOPALIAN
        David Brearly, EPISCOPALIAN
        William Churchill Houston, PRESBYTERIAN

Pennsylvania
        Benjamin Franklin, DEIST
        Robert Morris, EPISCOPALIAN
        James Wilson, DEIST (?)
        Gouverneur Morris, EPISCOPALIAN
        Thomas Mifflin, QUAKER
        George Clymer, QUAKER
        Thomas FitzSimmons, ROMAN CATHOLIC
        Jared Ingersoll, PRESBYTERIAN

Delaware
        John Dickinson, QUAKER
        George Read, EPISCOPALIAN
        Richard Bassett, METHODIST
        Gunning Beford, PRESBYTERIAN
        Jacod Broom, LUTHERAN

Maryland
        Luther Martin, EPISCOPALIAN
        Daniel Carroll, ROMAN CATHOLIC
        John Mercer, EPISCOPALIAN
        James McHenry, PRESBYTERIAN
        Daniel Jennifer, EPISCOPALIAN

Virginia
        George Washington, EPISCOPALIAN
        James Madison, EPISCOPALIAN
        George Mason, EPISCOPALIAN
        Edmund Randolph, EPISCOPALIAN
        James Blair, Jr., EPISCOPALIAN
        James McClung, PRESBYTERIAN
        George Wythe, EPISCOPALIAN

North Carolina
        William Davie, PRESBYTERIAN
        Hugh Williamson, DEIST (?)/PRESBYTERIAN
        William Blount, PRESBYTERIAN
        Alexander Martin, PRESBYTERIAN
        Richard Spaight, EPISCOPALIAN

South Carolina
        John Rutledge, EPISCOPALIAN
        Charles Pinckney, EPISCOPALIAN
        Pierce Butler, EPISCOPALIAN
        Charles Pinckney, III, EPISCOPALIAN
 
Georgia
        Abraham Baldwin, CONGREGATIONALIST
        William Leigh Pierce, EPISCOPALIAN
        William Houstoun, EPISCOPALIAN
        William Few, METHODIST



Some may say, "well, this list only shows what churches these men were members of, it doesn't show what they believed." Which is a veiled way of suggesting that these men were liars when they swore to God to adopt the confessions of their churches when they became members of these churches (most churches back then required an "examination" of members when they were received into full membership).

In the case of Franklin, he was educated as a "presbyterian," and wrote a theological defense of the Calvinist position on Predestination, but later in life he said that he began to embrace the teachings of the deists; in reality, according to his confession given to Ezra Stiles at the end of Franklin's life, Franklin embraced Unitarian ideals, not Deist. For the entirety of his life, Franklin believed that orthodox Christianity was a blessing for society, and he urged people to attend church and memorize the Catechism (Westminster).

In the case of Hugh Williamson, he was licensed by the Presbyterian church in North Carolina as a preacher and did lead orthodox church services, but later in life he too made statements which classified himself with the Deists.

James Wilson had originally intended to be an Anglican minister, but instead was a great lawyer and student of Blackstone. His views were quite orthodox, but his dissociation from the church and his lipservice to the Enlightenment categorizes him as a Deist. It is not a solid classification.