My Heroes... George Walton

I did not know that Georgia was the last state to send delegates to the Continental Congress and not until February of 1776. Better late than never.

Walton descended from an obscure background and became an apprentice to a carpenter, who had no use for education or reading. Walton studied on his own at every opportunity. When he finished his apprenticeship, he moved to Georgia where he studied law.

He associated with the likes of Dr. Hall and soon sided with the republican cause. The governor was not amused. The Assembly elected Walton to be one of the five delegates to go to Congress. He served there and returned home to serve in the military. He was shot in the thigh and captured. Because he was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, England determined to trade him for someone high profile. Traded he was, and he was elected governor, returned to Congress, and was elected governor again. He was made a Chief Justice and retired to private life.

In his sixty-forth year, he passed from this life. He had but one child, a son, who was later to become a Secretary of State. Ripples on a pond. The beat of a butterfly's wing.