George Walton Research Paper

George Walton
George Walton was one of three representatives from Georgia to sign the Declaration of Independence. The exact date of his birth is unknown but it is believed to be in the year 1749 in Prince Edward County Virginia. At a young age his parents died and he was adopted by and uncle who trained him to be a carpenter. In 1769 George moved to Savannah Georgia to pursue a legal career. He soon became one of the most successful lawyers in Georgia. He became increasingly active in the Georgia Revolutionary government and was elected to provincial congress in 1775. In 1776 he first served in the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia where he signed the Declaration of Independence.
He returned to Savannah soon after and was quickly

injured and captured by a British assault on the city in 1778. After a prisoner exchange he returned to Georgia and was elected governor in 1779. However during his time as governor he switched he alliances from conservative to radical faction. He served two controversial months before being reelected to congress. He remained in Philadelphia until 1783, but that year he was censored from the legislature for his involvement in a duel which led to the death of Button Gwinnett After the Revolution, Walton served as the Chief of Justice of Georgia, as a delegate to the state constitutional convention in1788, as governor that same year, as a U.S. senator, and as a justice of the state superior court. In 1795 he was sent to fill an unfulfilled term in the US Senate but was not reelected. He retired to farming in the 1790’s to his Augusta home where he died on February 2, 1804 at the age of 64. He is buried in Augusta and Walton County is named after him.