Walton, George, c. 1749-1804

<ul><b>RACES</b>
<li> 10/08/1798 GA At-Large Lost 0.01% (-37.27%)</li>
<li> 11/01/1795 GA US Senate - Appointment Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li> 12/31/1780 GA Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li> 12/31/1779 GA Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<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>
</ul>

<p>George Walton (c. 1749 – February 2, 1804), a Founding Father of the United States, signed the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Georgia and also served as the second Chief Executive of Georgia.</p>

<p>George Walton was born in Cumberland County, Virginia. The exact year of Walton's birth is unknown; it is believed that he was born in 1749. Research has placed it as early as 1740, others as late as 1749 and 1750. The biographer of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, Della Gray Bartholomew, uses the date of 1741. His parents died when he was an infant, resulting in his adoption by an uncle with whom he entered apprenticeship as a carpenter. Walton was a studious young man, but his uncle actively discouraged all study, believing a studious boy to be an idle one. Walton continued studying and once his apprenticeship ended, he moved to Savannah, Georgia, in 1769 to study law under a Mr. Young, and was admitted to the bar in 1774. His brother was John Walton.</p>

<p>By the eve of the American Revolution, he was one of the most successful lawyers in Georgia. He became an advocate of the patriot cause and was elected Secretary of the Georgia Provincial Congress and became president of the Council of Safety. In 1776 he served as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia, a position he held until the end of 1778. On July 2, 1776, he voted in favor of the Declaration of Independence for Georgia along with Button Gwinnett and Lyman Hall.</p>

<p>George Walton was born in Prince Edward County, Virginia, in 1741. His parents died soon after, and he was adopted by an Uncle who apprenticed him as a carpenter. Little else is know about his early years. He appeared again in 1769 when he moved to Savannah and began to study Law. He was admitted to the Bar in 1774. Deeply involved with the patriot movement in Georgia, he would ultimately serve an important role in the development of the state.</p>

<p>At the formation of the Georgia provincial Congress, Walton was elected Secretary, and made President of the Council of Safety. In 1776 he was elected to the Continental Congress, where he signed the Declaration of Independence. He spent many of the following years engaged in the defense of his state, and in a messy political battle with Button Gwinnett, another signer from Georgia. In 1778 Walton was commissioned a Colonel of the First Regiment of the Georgia Militia. He was injured in Battle and taken prisoner. He gained his freedom in 1779 through a prisoner exchange and was soon after elected Governor of Georgia, an office he held for only two months. Political conflict colored all of Walton's career. He was allied with General Lachlan McIntosh in a fierce struggle against Gwinnett for political dominance of the state. Walton was dispatched from office on several occasions, indicted for alleged criminal activities on others, in an interminable battle between two factions of the patriot movement in Georgia.</p>

<p>He was returned to congress in 1780 and stayed through 1781. He remained in Philadelphia until 1783. That year he was censured by the legislature for his involvement in a duel which led to the death Gwinnett by the hand of his rival, commissioned to treat with the Cherokee nation in Tennessee, and appointed Chief Justice of his state. In 1789 he served in the college of Electors and again elected Governor. The government was reorganized under an new constitution in November of that year, at which time Walton stepped down. He was immediately appointed a superior court judge. In 1795 he was sent to fill an unfulfilled term in the US Senate. He was not reelected. He then retired to farming. He died in Augusta in 1804 at the age of 64.</p>