Button GWINNETT, Congress, GA (1735-1777)

GWINNETT, Button, a Delegate from Georgia; born in Down Hatherly, Gloucestershire, England, and baptized in 1735; pursued an academic course; engaged in mercantile pursuits in Bristol, England; immigrated to the United States and settled in Charleston, S.C.; engaged in commercial pursuits; moved to Savannah, Ga., in 1765 and entered business as a general trader; elected to the Commons House of Assembly, 1769; moved to St. Catherines Island, Ga., in 1770 and engaged in planting; delegate to the Provincial Congress at Savannah in 1776; Member of the Continental Congress in 1776; a signer of the Declaration of Independence; member of the State constitutional convention in February 1777; Acting President and commander in chief of Georgia from February to March 1777; unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Georgia; engaged in a duel May 16, 1777, with Gen. Lachlan McIntosh, which resulted in his death, near Savannah, Ga., May 19, 1777; interment probably in the Old Colonial Cemetery (later called Colonial Park), Savannah, Ga.

Bibliography

Jenkins, Charles Francis. Button Gwinnett, Signer of the Declaration of Independence. 1926. Spartanburg, S.C.: Reprint Co., 1974.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present