On July 4, 1776 twelve states had voted for the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. The thirteenth one, New York, accepted it on July 9. On July 19, a resolution was adopted by the Second Continental Congress to have the July 4 Declaration engrossed on parchment entitled "The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America" and, upon its completion, to have it signed by each member. Fifty of the fifty-six members signed the official document by August 2, and, of the remaining six signers, two were Virginians: George Wythe who signed it later in August and Richard Henry Lee who signed it in September. The seven Virginia delegates who signed the Declaration of Independence were Carter Braxton (farmer), Benjamin Harrison (farmer), Thomas Jefferson (lawyer), Richard Henry Lee (farmer), Francis Lightfoot Lee (farmer), Thomas Nelson, Jr. (soldier) and George Wythe (lawyer). After Richard Henry Lee had introduced his independence resolution, he proposed another one suggesting that a permanent central government be created for the new United States. A committee was appointed to draw up such a plan and, in 1777, it submitted the Articles of Confederation to Congress. From 1775 to 1781, the Continental Congress acted as the central governing body of the United States. After Lord Dunmore had bombarded Norfolk in January 1776, he went up the Chesapeake Bay to Gwynn's Island, near the present-day Mathews County mainland. With about 500 men he set up a camp there in May 1776. General Andrew Lewis, whom he had fought previously along the Ohio River, encamped with a small Virginia army on the shore opposite the island on July 8. Although it was very difficult to plant the cannon on the sandy shores, the next day General Lewis and his troops fired upon the camp and the fleet and badly damaged many of the ships. However, when his men invaded the island on the next day, they found it evacuated. Lord Dunmore had sailed away from Virginia taking with him the last governorship endowed with royal power. Thus, the Battle of Gwynn's Island or Cricket Hill was famous because of its effect of driving the last royal Governor from Virginia. It was, in a sense, ironic that Patrick Henry, who had been detested by Lord Dunmore while Dunmore was Governor of Virginia, became the first elected Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia.