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Delegates to the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence July 4, 1776. The 56 delegates who signed the formal break from Britain are all considered Founding Fathers; three represented Georgia.
The Georgia delegates included Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall and George Walton. Their signatures are on the far left of the document.
Gwinnett was born in Gloucestershire, England, March 3, 1735, to the Rev. Samuel Gwinnett and his wife, Anne.
His early work included selling fruits and vegetables and metal work.
On April 19, 1757, he married Ann Bourne. By 1762, the couple had three daughters and began moving to various places in North America in search of opportunities.
In 1765, he moved to the Georgia coast, eventually settling on a plantation on St. Catherine's Island, where he met Hall. He held several political positions, and in 1775, Gwinnett joined Hall in Philadelphia at the Second Continental Congress.
After signing the declaration, he was elected speaker of the Georgia assembly.
In 1777, after the failed attack by Georgia troops on British East Florida, Gwinnett argued with Continental Army Brig. Gen. Lachlan McIntosh.
Reportedly, McIntosh called Gwinnett "a scoundrel and lying rascal." As a result, Gwinnett challenged McIntosh to a duel on May 16, 1777. The two stood 12 paces apart and fired their pistols; both were shot, but Gwinnett's wound eventually proved fatal.
Gwinnett died May 19, 1777, from an infected gunshot wound, and is buried in Colonial Park Cemetery, Savannah, Georgia.
Gwinnett County, Georgia, is named after him, as was the SS Button Gwinnett, a World War II Liberty ship launched in May 1943.
Hall was born April 12, 1724, in Wallingford, Connecticut. His parents were John and Mary Hall; John Hall was a minister. In 1747, he graduated from Yale College. For a brief time, he served as a minister, following in his father's footsteps.
He married Abigail Burr in 1752, but she died a year later. He married Mary Osborne in 1757, and they moved to South Carolina, where he worked as a physician. Shortly before the Revolutionary War, they moved to Georgia, and in 1783, just before it ended, he was elected governor of Georgia.
Hall later left politics to resume a career in medicine. He died Oct. 19, 1790, and was buried on his land overlooking the Savannah River.
Hall's remains were exhumed in 1848 and reinterred beneath the Signers Monument, an obelisk that stands in front of what is now the Augusta, Georgia, Municipal Center. The obelisk memorializes the three Georgia representatives who signed the Declaration of Independence.
Hall County, Georgia, is named for him.
Walton was born in Cumberland County, Virginia, around the middle of the 18th century. His parents, Robert and Mary Walton, both died before he was 12, and his uncle adopted him. He grew up poor and apprenticed as a carpenter, but he studied at night.
In 1769, Walton moved to Savannah, Georgia, to study law.
During the Revolutionary War, he was a militia colonel in the First Georgia Regiment.
During the Battle of Savannah in 1778, he was wounded and taken prisoner by the British. In a 1779 prisoner exchange, he was released. He held several political positions, including secretary of the Georgia provincial congress, the Continental Congress and governor of Georgia.
In 1795, he was appointed to the U.S. Senate. He died Feb. 2, 1804, and was buried at Rosney Cemetery in Augusta. In 1848, his remains were exhumed and reinterred beneath the Signers Monument with Hall.
Walton County, Georgia, is named after him.
This is the first installment in a series of articles about the men who signed the Declaration of Independence. The 56 delegates to the Second Continental Congress, representing the 13 colonies, are all considered Founding Fathers.
