After Hewes signed the Declaration of Independence, he retreated to his home in New Jersey because of his ailing health. Despite his health problems, Hewes ran for re-election in Congress but failed to win. In 1779 he finally served his last few months as a congressman and on November 10, 1779, Joseph Hewes died just before his fiftieth birthday. All of the Continental Congress came to his funeral the following day and mourned the great loss that the country had suffered.