- I am, through and through, a Georgian.

And I've always been fascinated by the history of our state.

Georgia's backstory is all kinds of things, brave, fascinating, and also complicated.

All men created equal, liberty for all.

That just wasn't the case for large swaths of the population.

And being a native, I always thought I had a pretty good grasp on our history.

That is, until I started traveling all over and learning how the 13th colony actually became the fourth state.

And today's show about two particular historical markers feels like a natural place to start because of the stories they tell.

Three Georgia men, the Declaration of Independence, and the path all three of them took to put their name on it.

(bright stirring music) He was a Savannah shopkeeper who ran into money problems, and went on to sign the Declaration of Independence and become the namesake for one of Georgia's largest counties.

His death was the end of a bitter political tug of war.

And where he was finally laid to rest still, more than 200 years later, is a mystery kind of.

This is "Marked," a show that zooms in on Georgia and its backstory one historical marker at a time.

I'm Maiya May, and I'm here at Georgia Historical Marker 067-1 to tell you the story of a man named Button.

(bright stirring music) (clock ticking) If you've ever been to Gwinnett County, just north of Atlanta, you may have heard the phrase, "Gwinnett is great."

Locals love to remind you, they've even put it on their water tower.

But if you've ever wondered where the name Gwinnett actually comes from, well, that story starts more than 260 years ago.

- Gwinnett County's named for Button Gwinnett.

there's successes, there's failures, there's politics.

And, of course, when you have politics, you will have conflict.

- If you're looking for someone with an interesting backstory, Button Gwinnett might be your guy.

His last name actually comes from the Kingdom of Gwinnett in northern Wales.

Button is born in Gloucestershire, England in 1735.

And in 1762, he is married with three daughters.

Gwinnett runs a shipping business in England.

And in 1765, he decides to go across the ocean to America.

His first stop is Charleston.

- [Maiya] But he doesn't stay long, and soon heads south to Savannah.

- Button comes to America first, and then he sends for his family later.

And this is a full 10 years before the American Revolution.

- And spoiler alert, we're doing a bit of foreshadowing here.

- So while he's in Savannah, he sets up business as a merchant.

So he's literally setting up shop.

- Does what he thinks he knows, but he clearly doesn't know it very well.

He always had a hard time keeping his finances in order, business and personal.

- He even puts a huge ad in the "Georgia Gazette," which at the time was Georgia's only newspaper.

His ad promises goods that are, quote, "Just imported" and "Sold on the most reasonable terms."

- [Greg] He brags of this massive influx of goods freshly imported from England.

And he lists all of these things which would make him look like a Sears and Roebuck or a Walmart of today.

- So while he's in Savannah, he's running his business.

But he unfortunately realizes he's not able to make as much money in Savannah as he was in England, because exporting things back to England is not as lucrative as importing and exporting things in England.

- [kelly So the mercantile business does not work out and Button Gwinnett wants to try something new.

He decides he wants to run a plantation.

So he buys a region of coastal land known as St.

Catherine's Island.

- Yes, he buys the entire island.

- [Greg] He bought it from legally Sarah Bosomworth, who was related to Thomas Bosomworth and Mary Musgrove, who were missionaries.

- [Vanessa] Gwinnett is extremely protective of this land, and he puts it out in the Georgia Gazette that anyone found fishing, hunting, or trespassing will be prosecuted.

He even offers a reward of 20 pounds of silver to anyone who catches trespassers.

- But after a while, Button's payments on that land are late and his island and his house are repossessed.

- [Kelly] Unfortunately, he has to file bankruptcy and his life on St.

Catherine's, his beautiful plantation that he loved so much, no longer his.

- So with his business in Savannah folded and his island home repossessed, Button's next move, politics, of course.

- And even with these financial issues, he had gotten enough support from the community to become Justice of the Peace.

- It's really interesting to be chosen as a Justice of the Peace, which requires no training per se.

It is just a trusted member of society.

- And this is when Button Gwinnett's political aspirations really come into view.

- Being in those circles where on some level, everybody has to respect you.

I imagine that's probably pretty intoxicating to a guy who hasn't met with much success in the business world.

- At this point, Georgia has become a Royal colony and it is managed by the Commons House of Assembly.

Essentially it's a group of white land owners, men who had 500 acres or more.

And since Button was at one point a large landowner, he qualifies to be a part of that.

- Okay, quick lesson.

Just in case you weren't paying attention in your history class, revolutionary Georgia has two sides.

The first are the Whigs and they're the home team.

- Hooray!

- These are the guys who strongly oppose royal influence.

And they've declared their loyalty to the original 13 colonies.

And then there's the other side, the Tories.

- Boo!

- They've sworn their allegiance to the king, they're pro monarchy, the royal cause.

And by royal cause, we mean King George III.

He's the man in charge.

- [Greg] King George III, he had just become king in his early 20s.

You've seen the musical "Hamilton," there's great scenes with the king.

- And within the Whigs, who are kind of like the rabble rousers of the day, Button is seen as kind of a radical.

Even within the Whigs, you've got two sides.

You've got the more rural Georgians who have their own way of believing things.

And you've got the more urban people living in Savannah that have a completely different light.

So even though they want the same thing, they're also pretty different.

- There's an internal split between these two groups.

- Gwinnett is able to, unlike many radical leaders in America at the time, he is able to kind of bridge some gaps that allows for the Whig party to function more closely as one in a much more united fashion.

- It's him uniting those two groups that leads him to be the leader of the Georgia Continental Army.

But there's some controversy around that selection.

And instead, he takes an appointment to the Continental Congress.

- So when Button steps down as Commander, the man who takes his place is Lachlan McIntosh.

Remember his name.

We'll circle back to him, I promise.

- The Continental Congress can get a little confusing because there's actually two of them.

But it's the second Continental Congress that makes Button Gwinnett Button Gwinnett.

So in the spring of 1775, he goes to Philadelphia with Lyman Hall and George Walton, the other two representatives from Georgia.

- As in Walton and Hall Counties.

In Georgia, getting a county named after you is kind of a thing.

- And while in Philadelphia, it's the second Continental Congress that drafts the document that puts everything in motion, the Declaration of Independence.

And on July 4th, 1776, after a number of revisions, the Declaration of Independence is officially adopted.

- [Greg] But it takes nearly a month, until August 2nd of that same year, before guys like Button Gwinnett or a John Hancock and the other 54 delegates officially sign the document.

- [Maiya] Fun fact, Button Gwinnett and Pennsylvania's Robert Morris are the only two signers of the Declaration of Independence that were actually born in England.

- Signing the Declaration of Independence makes Button a pretty big deal.

So he's now got political influence.

- [Maiya] He's got sway.

- Once he returns to Georgia, later in 1776, early 1777, he becomes the Speaker of the Georgia Provincial Congress, which is like the not officially official Georgia government.

Georgia's now operating its first democratic government, and Button is leading the legislative part of that government.

One of the other leaders is 46-year-old Archibald Bulloch.

- As in Bulloch County, Statesboro.

See, everyone gets a county.

- Which, fun fact, is the great-great-grandfather of President Theodore Roosevelt.

- He's the governor and it's his job to lead the state and protect it from a British invasion, but Bulloch dies.

What it is that kills him is still a mystery.

For years, they said it could be poison.

- There would be no way to prove that at the time, but certainly not now.

- So Georgia needs a new leader.

And once again, Button Gwinnett finds himself in the middle of the fray.

He is the man picked for the job.

- [Kelly] So then the Georgia Council of Safety officially appoints Button the President and Commander in Chief of Georgia, which we would know as governor.

And it's at this point that East Florida is under British control.

They are a Royal colony with their own Royal military.

- They're kind of overlooked a great deal.

If you were going to mount a campaign to retake your colonies, it might not be a bad place to start.

- And the East Florida situation becomes kind of like a pivot point for our man, Button Gwinnett.

As governor, he wants to send an army into the region to basically help protect the border.

But this is ultimately what will start to become his downfall because this is where the McIntosh-Gwinnett feud rears its ugly head.

- McIntosh, you remember the name?

But let's avoid confusion because there are three McIntosh brothers.

There's Colonel William McIntosh, who Button Gwinnett accuses of being a lousy leader.

There's George McIntosh who opposes Button as governor and, because of that, is accused of treason.

And then there's Lachlan who, in 1777, is the Brigadier General of the Georgia Military Forces.

(gentle stirring music) - Lachlan was originally chosen for that position over Button Gwinnett.

And Button, even though he's governor, is still a little bitter about it.

So he sends troops to East Florida to help secure Georgia's southern border.

- Lachlan McIntosh, the man with military experience, disagrees with that decision, which further angers Gwinnett, further divides the two men in professional and personal terms.

- [Kelly] Lachlan strongly disagrees with this strategy.

According to records, Button doesn't even let him go with his own brigade.

And Lachlan says, "This is all politics."

- Ah, some things never change.

- The resulting engagement between the forces in South Georgia and in East Florida is a disaster for the Georgians.

- And it's probably a big reason why Button Gwinnett's term as governor only lasted two months.

- In the spring of 1777, the new Georgia legislature convenes.

And when it comes time to elect a new governor, they choose fellow Whig, John Treutlen.

He's the first elected governor of Georgia.

- Treutlen defeats Gwinnett, and this is absolutely wonderful in Lachlan McIntosh's eyes.

This is where the feud reaches a boiling point - After the election of Treutlen, McIntosh goes before the Georgia assembly, the Commons Assembly, and puts Gwinnett on notice.

McIntosh calls Gwinnett "A lying rascal and a scoundrel."

I mean, that is attached to his integrity and his honor as a man.

- Today, you might call this putting someone on blast - And Button Gwinnett is not one to just go away quietly.

So Button challenges McIntosh to a dual, a two guys, two guns, and one doesn't come out alive kind of dual.

(bright stirring music) So on May 16th, 1777, just after he loses his second bid for governor, Gwinnett and McIntosh meet at sunrise just outside of Savannah.

Gwinnett and McIntosh are facing each other with about 25 feet between them.

They raise their pistols and they fire.

McIntosh takes a shot to the leg and Button Gwinnett is injured, taking a shot just above the knee.

And just three days later, on May 19th, 1777, Button Gwinnett dies of an infection, a pretty common occurrence in those days.

(gentle bright music) - [Kelly] But even in death, Button Gwinnett is still a man of mystery and intrigue.

- Button Gwinnett is of a larger than life, yet also smaller than life character.

He is a failure in really most everything he does, but always fails forward.

- Because we still honestly have no idea the exact location of his remains.

- He then dies in something of a disgrace, being shot in a dual.

And is purportedly buried in Savannah's colonial cemetery.

Purportedly, we don't know.

- [Kelly] There is a memorial to him in the Colonial cemetery in Savannah, but there's no definitive evidence that he was ever buried there.

- And although Button Gwinnett's name isn't as well known as Thomas Jefferson or Benjamin Franklin, among the signers of the Declaration of Independence, his signature is one of the most valuable because it's so rare.

And it's rare because he died at 42 years old.

So he just wasn't around long enough.

- He was this kind of enigma in his life.

This failure turned success turned failure.

But when we add up the sum of one's accomplishments or one's impact on the world they lived in, his is pretty substantial.

He was able to push Georgia into the revolutionary movement and lead Georgia into independence.

And that, above anything, I think has to be his lasting legacy.

- You've probably realized by now, the story of Button Gwinnett has a little bit of everything.

There's a failed business, bouncing back to become a government leader, a dual at sunrise, and a signature on the document that makes America America.

So Gwinnett County, when it comes to names, you picked an interesting one, one that's made a mark and left a lasting impact on Georgia's larger story.

I'm Maiya May, this is "Marked," and we'll see you at our next stop.

(graphics swooshing) (gentle bright music) - 56 different men signed the Declaration of Independence, and three of them were Georgians.

We've already introduced you to one of them, but there's two other men and the two other stories still to be told.

There's the lawyer that twice served as governor and survived as a prisoner of war.

And there's the doctor who also became governor, who had a home burned by the British.

This is "Marked," a series that zooms in on Georgia and its backstory one historical marker at a time.

I'm Maiya May, and I'm here at Georgia Historical Marker 121-28 to tell you the story of the other guys from Georgia who signed the Declaration of Independence, all they did to shape our state.

And their contributions to the early years of the American experiment.

This is the Signers' Monument.

(gentle bright music) (clock ticking) (gentle bright music) With all that goes on in downtown Augusta, the Signers' Monument might be easy to miss.

But in the middle of Georgia's Garden City, it honors the legacy of three Georgia names on the Declaration of Independence.

One of those stories, we've already told you, the always fascinating Button Gwinnett.

But Lyman Hall and George Walton, yes, as in Hall and Walton Counties, these two men have interesting stories of their own.

But long before their monument, they were politicians promoting politics, shaping the state, and carving out their place in the pages of the Georgia history books.

(gentle bright music) - [Kelly] Lyman Hall and George Walton are the two other guys from Georgia that are on the Declaration of Independence, but they often play like a second fiddle to Button Gwinnett.

But these are the guys that were really determined to get Georgia to the finish line of independence.

And at first glance, Lyman Hall could not be less of a Georgian.

Born in Connecticut, educated up there, went to Yale when Yale wasn't even 50 years old yet, got a degree around 1747.

And he even knows the Yale family.

The man has connections.

- Not long after graduating, Lyman Hall takes up religion and becomes a pastor, but there's some drama with that.

He was actually fired from his job at one point for what can be described as immoral conduct.

- [Maiya] The specifics of that immoral conduct have never come to light, but you can use your imagination.

- So in the wake of that, it doesn't completely derail his career.

He shows some contrition and ends up becoming a pastor elsewhere.

- He also marries Abigail Burr, but unfortunately, she dies pretty young, not even 29 or so.

And after her death, he decides to move on somewhere new, try something new, and he ends up settling in Charleston.

Lyman Hall's also a doctor.

Around 1760, he moves to the town of Sunbury, Georgia.

Sunbury is an interesting story on its own.

It's a pretty vital part to the Lyman Hall and George Walton stories.

- Savannah is the beating heart of Georgia politics at the time, but Sunbury is important in its own way.

Before its capture in 1779, this is where all the important people are moving, thinkers, doctors, lawyers.

It's also a political incubator where governors, senators, military leaders, they're all there.

- If you're in Georgia and you wanna be in politics, Sunbury is really the place to be.

It's the nerve center where the movers and shakers are.

- There's also a lot of money and wealth in Sunbury.

But oddly enough with all of its money and commerce, St.

John's Parish in Sunbury doesn't have its own congressional representation.

- Lyman Hall changes that.

He's pretty vocal saying, "We need our voices heard too."

He's the driving force behind the parish getting Congressional representation.

- So naturally in 1775, he is the one that is picked to represent Sunbury in the second Continental Congress.

- [Vanessa] And another member of the second Continental Congress is George Walton.

- And like Lyman Hall, George Walton is not a native Georgian.

He was born in Cumberland County, Virginia.

But he's orphaned very young.

He first loses his father and then by 1757, his mother, Mary Hughes Walton has also passed.

So George along with his siblings goes to live with his Uncle George and Aunt Martha.

- By 1765, George is learning carpentry.

He becomes a builder's apprentice.

He also had a lot of ambition and drive to learn, reading a lot and educating himself on all sorts of topics.

By the time he is 20 years old, in 1769, he's left Virginia.

He wants to get out and explore new places, so he heads south.

- So when George Walton gets to Georgia at 20 years old, full of optimism and a thirst for knowledge and experience, he makes a beeline for where the action is, Savannah and the Georgia Coast.

(graphics swooshing) (gentle bright music) - [Kelly] At this point, he leaves carpentry behind.

He starts studying law and whatever he is studying starts sticking because he becomes one of the top lawyers in Georgia.

And just like so many others at this time, this is also where you're going to get wrapped up in politics.

It's everywhere at this point, and you have to pick a side.

- [Vanessa] Like Gwinnett and Hall, Walton is pro-patriot early on and he becomes the first Secretary of Georgia's provincial Congress.

- We talk a lot about Congress here, so let's avoid some confusion, okay?

First there is the Provincial Congress.

And that's state level, think Golden Dome.

And then there's the Continental Congress, that's federal, Independence Hall, Philadelphia.

And there's actually two of those.

- The first Continental Congress only lasts about two months, from early September to late October, 1774.

And it's held in Philadelphia's Carpenter's Hall.

The second Continental Congress runs from May, 1775, all the way to late spring 1781.

And this is the one most of us are familiar with.

And like Button Gwinnett, George Walton served in both the Georgia Provincial Congress and the second Continental Congress.

And it's that second Continental Congress where all three of them, Gwinnett, Hall, and Walton, pretty much become linked for life because they are the three Georgians that will put their signatures on the Declaration of Independence.

- Despite serving in Congress side by side, George Walton does not like Button Gwinnett at all.

- There's a certain irony in all of this, because despite the bad blood and animosity, Button Gwinnett and George Walton are kind of forced to work together and help shape not just Georgia, but the nation.

And somehow, the two manage to coexist.

And George Walton's story, like so many leaders of the era, isn't confined to just politics.

- George Walton also had military experience.

He served notably under the command of General Robert Howe.

And this was during the December, 1778 capture of Savannah by the British.

And during that fight defending the city of Savannah, Walton actually takes a shot to the thigh and falls from his horse.

And he does live, but he ends up being captured by the British.

- And while Walton is being held as a prisoner of war, Lyman Hall has dangers of his own back at home.

By the beginning of 1779, the British have set fire to Sunbury.

The town, such a crucial part of Georgia's early history, is quite literally going up in flames.

- When Sunbury's burned, Lyman Hall and his family flee, they get out of town, they head back north.

And they stay there until the end of the revolution.

Walton though is at this point a prisoner of war.

And he's released during a prisoner swap in 1779.

- By the time the American Revolution is winding down and America is in the early days of independence, Lyman Hall's still got work to do in Georgia.

He returns with his family and settles in Savannah, practicing medicine.

- Lyman Hall didn't serve in the military, but his contributions to Georgia after the revolution are still pretty substantial.

He becomes governor in 1783.

And while he only served for a calendar year, he makes that year count.

Lyman Hall was a big believer in education, especially in post-revolution Georgia.

- A lot of people in the state, including him, are really big advocates for a public university.

You have Joseph Habersham, you have Abraham Baldwin, Lyman Hall's yet another one.

They really believe in the value of being able to get a public education, and Lyman Hall really laid a lot of the groundwork for that when he was governor.

That year as governor also had some challenges.

Treasury is empty, the state has no money, it's bankrupt.

And he's got to navigate the state through all of these issues.

- The other issue he has to deal with is with the Georgia frontier.

Away from the coast, Georgia is still wildly undeveloped.

And in the rural wilderness, there's still a lot of fighting going on between Indigenous Native Americans and loyalists who are still holding on after the revolution.

His governorship means he has to help navigate all of that.

- By 1790, Lyman Hall's time as governor is over.

And he moves his family out of Savannah, settling on the Shell Bluff Plantation in Burke County, Georgia.

But he won't be able to enjoy his retirement for very long because later that year at age 66, he passes away.

And the governor at the time of his death, George Walton.

- George Walton's life is also pretty interesting post-revolution.

He goes on to be George's governor, not once but twice.

He serves as a Justice on the state Superior Court, and also is a member of Congress.

And for a very brief point, only about three months, is Georgia's lone Senator.

- Politics and post-revolution Georgia is pretty messy too.

And Walton, like Lyman Hall, has to be smart about how he plays all that.

He's aligned himself in many ways with Lachlan McIntosh, which means he's now a political enemy of Button Gwinnett.

(gentle stirring music) - So this is an any enemy of my friend is also my enemy kind of relationship.

Partisan fighting at this time is almost par for the course.

The Whigs are pretty much split down the middle between the radical side and the conservative side.

And oftentimes, what could not be settled with a dual was settled with indictments.

And plenty of those were handed out to George Walton by Button Gwinnett.

- It was presumably a campaign to punish him, but none of those would actually become convictions.

In 1783, six full years after Button Gwinnett dies, George Walton receives a censure from the Georgia state legislature.

That's an official government reprimand, a procedural slap on the hand.

And it was all because of his connection, as peripheral as it was, to the McIntosh-Gwinnett dual.

(gunshot blasting) (gentle stirring music) - The effects of that dual feel like they're everywhere in Georgia.

But it's also a reminder of how history works.

It's never just the thing, it's also the ripple effects for years after.

- Lyman Hall and George Walton are interesting beyond just signing the Declaration of Independence.

They had real influence on how our state took shape, courts, education, finances.

- But they were also two guys who had very significant setbacks that could have easily have changed their trajectories.

I mean, what if George Walton had not been a prisoner of war and had not been exchanged in a prisoner swap?

Lyman Hall fled his home when Sunbury burned and went back home to Connecticut.

What if he'd stayed there?

What if he didn't come back to Georgia to start up again?

- They had to confront and handle a lot, and that's a real factor in the telling of their story and also how it influenced Georgia at the time.

(bright upbeat music) - Here in Augusta, people actually drive past Walton and Hall every day.

Lyman Hall and George Walton are both buried under this monument.

And many people are unaware of this story this marker tells.

And while it's a monument to the Signers, it's also a monument to a familiar story.

One of conflict, contribution, and resilience that, at the end of the day, made a huge difference in the state of Georgia then and now.

I'm Maiya May, and we'll see you at our next stop.

(graphics swooshing) We hope that we've been able to show you why these historical markers are more than just a spot along the side of a road.

They're an opportunity to zoom in on Georgia's story.

And in the process, widen your understanding of who we are and where we've been.

I'm Maiya May, thanks for watching.

(bright upbeat music) (bright upbeat music continues) (clock ticking) (gentle bright music)