George Walton | |
|---|---|
.png) Portrait byCharles Willson Peale,c. 1781 | |
| United States Senator fromGeorgia | |
| In office November 16, 1795 – February 20, 1796 | |
| Appointed by | George Mathews |
| Preceded by | James Jackson |
| Succeeded by | Josiah Tattnall |
| Acting Governor of Georgia | |
| In office January 7, 1789 – November 9, 1790 | |
| Preceded by | George Handley |
| Succeeded by | Edward Telfair |
| Delegate from Georgia to theContinental Congress | |
| In office 1776 – 1777, 1780–1781 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | c. 1749 Cumberland County, Virginia, British America |
| Died | February 2, 1804 (aged 54–55) Augusta, Georgia, U.S. |
| Political party | Federalist Party |
| Relations | The Walton family of Atlanta, Georgia; North Carolina. |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service | Georgia Militia |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Battles/wars | American Revolutionary War |
George Walton (c. 1749 – February 2, 1804) was aFounding Father of the United States who signed theUnited States Declaration of Independence while representingGeorgia in theContinental Congress.[1] Walton also served briefly as thesecond chief executive of Georgia in 1779 and was again named governor in 1789–1790. In 1795, he was appointed to theU.S. Senate, to complete the unexpired term of a senator who had resigned.
Walton was born inCumberland 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, but others as late as 1749 and 1750. The biographer of thesigners of the Declaration of Independence, Della Gray Bartholomew, uses 1741.[2] His parents died when he was an infant, which resulted 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 and believed a studious boy to be an idle one. Walton continued studying, and once his apprenticeship had ended, moved toSavannah, Georgia, in 1769 to study law under a Mr. Young and was admitted to the bar in 1774. His brother wasJohn Walton. By the end of theAmerican Revolution, he had become one of the most successful lawyers in Georgia.
He became an advocate of thePatriot cause, was elected secretary of the GeorgiaProvincial Congress, and became president of theCouncil of Safety. In 1776, he served as a delegate to theSecond Continental Congress inPhiladelphia, a position that he held until the end of 1778. On July 2, 1776, he voted in favor of theDeclaration of Independence for Georgia, along withButton Gwinnett andLyman Hall.
During theAmerican Revolutionary War, he was in the battalion of GeneralRobert Howe. On January 9, 1778, Walton received a commission as colonel of the First Georgia Regiment of Militia. During theBattle of Savannah in 1778, Walton was injured in the battle and taken prisoner. He was hit in the thigh by a musket ball that threw him from his horse. He was subsequently captured by the British, who allowed his wound to heal before sending him to Sunbury Prison, where other colonial prisoners were held. Walton was released under aprisoner exchange in October 1779.[3]
In October 1779, Walton was elected governor of Georgia for the first time, a position that he held for only two months.
In November 1795, he was appointed to theUS Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation ofJames Jackson. Walton served in that position from November 16, 1795, to February 20, 1796, when a successor,Josiah Tattnall, was officially elected. He was a political ally of Scottish GeneralLachlan McIntosh and a foe of Button Gwinnett. He and Gwinnett had political battles that resulted in his expulsion from office and indictment for various criminal activities. He was later censured for his support ofa duel that resulted in Gwinnett's death by McIntosh.
Walton was for theYazoo land sales, the massive real estate fraud perpetrated in the mid-1790s by Georgia GovernorGeorge Mathews and theGeorgia General Assembly. The scandal brought Jackson home from the US Senate to lead a reform movement. Appointed to fill the vacant seat, a feud erupted between Jackson and Walton over the sale of land to speculators. Jackson won, and Walton left the office.
In 1788,Alexander McGillivray and otherCreek Indian leaders met with Georgia leaders at Rock Landing,[4] but the meeting failed to result in a peace treaty. That led Governor Walton to worry that "our prospects of peace have been obliged to yield to the impressions of war."[5] Walton wrote to ColonelJared Irwin and expressed both his concern and his surprise at the recent Indian depredations near theOconee River.[6] A treaty was not signed at Rock Landing, but eventually, theTreaty of New York (1790) ceded Creek lands to the state of Georgia.
During the 1780s, Walton devoted himself almost exclusively to Georgia state politics. He served as chief justice, commissioner to negotiate a treaty with theCherokee in 1783, member of the Augusta Board of Commissioners (1784 and 1785), and commissioner to settle the border dispute between South Carolina and Georgia in 1786. He was elected as a delegate to theConstitutional Convention in 1787, but he declined since his commitments at the state level occupied his time to the exclusion of all else. In 1789, he was apresidential elector and served at the state convention to adopt a new constitution.[7] Walton was elected to a second term as governor in 1789 and served for one year. During his term, Georgians adopted the newGeorgia Constitution, moved the capital toAugusta, and concentrated on settling the western frontier. After completing his tenure as governor, Walton served as a judge of the superior court from 1790 to his death. He also filled the unexpired term of James Jackson in the US Senate in 1795 to 1796. He was a founder and trustee of theAcademy of Richmond County in Augusta and ofFranklin College (now theUniversity of Georgia) inAthens.
The offices he held were:
During his second term as governor, he builtMeadow Garden, a cottage constructed on confiscatedTory land outside of Augusta, where he died. He was survived by his wife Dorothy, née Camber,[8] whom he had married in 1775, and one of his two sons. He was initially buried at Rosney, home of his nephew Robert Watkins; he was re-interred in 1848 beneath theSigners Monument in front of the courthouse on Greene Street in Augusta. Even though Walton was from Georgia and Virginia, he did not own slaves.[9]
Walton County, Georgia, is named for him.[10] There are also at least two schools that bear his name:George Walton Comprehensive High School inMarietta, Georgia, andGeorge Walton Academy, a private school inMonroe, Georgia.
His son George Walton, Jr., was the first secretary of theTerritory of Florida. He was also the first civilian to serve in the role of governor of the territory, being named as acting governor until the arrival ofWilliam Duval.Walton County, Florida, is named for him. His granddaughter,Octavia Walton Le Vert, was a noted socialite and author.[11] His great nephew Thomas George Walton builtCreekside nearMorganton, North Carolina.[12]
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | President of the Georgia Council of Safety 1775–1776 | Succeeded by William Ewen |
| Preceded by | Governor of Georgia 1779–1780 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Governor of Georgia 1789–1790 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. senator (Class 2) from Georgia November 16, 1795 – February 20, 1796 Served alongside:James Gunn | Succeeded by |
| Class 2 |  | |
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| Class 3 | ||
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
