Hall, Lyman, 1724-1790

<ul><b>RACES</b>
<li>12/31/1776 GA Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>12/31/1775 GA Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>12/31/1774 GA Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
</ul>

<p>Lyman Hall was born in Connecticut in 1724. He studied medicine at Yale College, graduated in 1756 and went to Charleston, South Carolina, shortly after to establish a medical practice. He bought land in Georgia in 1760 and established a plantation there, while continuing to practice medicine. Two years later he returned to South Carolina, still as a physician. In 1774, by this time partisan in revolutionary politics, he again came to Georgia and earned the unflattering attention of the Royal Governor, James Wright. He also secured election to the Continental Congress, where he was involved in provisioning food and medicine for the Revolutionary Armies. He was reelected to congress through 1780 but retired to his adopted state in 1777 when state matters, including the situation of his longtime friend Button Gwinnett, demanded his attention. A short time later, the war reached Savannah. Hall's property was burned and he stood accused of high treason. He fled to Charleston, which was also overtaken by the British. He then fled to Connecticut, some say, where he was harbored by family.</p>

<p>He returned to Georgia in 1782, to reclaim his lands, was elected to the House of Assembly in 1783 and then elevated to the office of the Governor. After a single year as Governor, he served one more year in the Assembly, then a year as judge. He then returned to private life and was involved in the continued development of agriculture in the state. Hall died in 1790 at the age of 66.</p>

<p>Lyman Hall (April 12, 1724 – October 19, 1790) was a Founding Father of the United States, physician, clergyman, and statesman who signed the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Georgia. Hall County is named after him. He was one of four physicians to sign the Declaration of Independence, along with Benjamin Rush, Josiah Bartlett, and Matthew Thornton.</p>

<p>Hall was born on April 12, 1724, in Wallingford, Connecticut. He was the son of John Hall, a minister, and Mary (née Street) Hall. He studied with his uncle Samuel Hall and graduated from Yale College in 1747, a tradition in his family. In 1749, he was called to the pulpit of Stratfield Parish (now Bridgeport, Connecticut). His pastorate was a stormy one: an outspoken group of parishioners opposed his ordination; in 1751, he was dismissed after charges against his moral character which, according to one biography, "Were supported by proof and also by his own confession." He continued to preach for two more years, filling vacant pulpits, while he studied medicine and taught school.</p>

<p>In 1752, he married Abigail Burr of Fairfield, Connecticut; she died the following year. In 1757, he married Mary Osborne. He migrated to South Carolina and established himself as a physician at Dorchester, South Carolina, near Charleston, a community settled by Congregationalist migrants from Dorchester, Massachusetts, decades earlier. When these settlers moved to the Midway District – now Liberty County – in Georgia, Hall accompanied them. Hall soon became one of the leading citizens of the newly founded town of Sunbury.</p>