George Walton

Ancestor Number

A120261 »

Date of Birth

Circa 1749

Place of Birth

Virginia

Date of Death

1804

Place of Death

Meadow Garden, Augusta, Georgia

Spouse(s)

Dorothy Camber

Children

Thomas; George, Jr.

Service during the American Revolution

Signer of the Declaration of Independence; Continental Congress; Colonel of the First Georgia Militia;

State of Service

Georgia

Donor

Georgia State Society

George Walton, one of Georgia’s three signers of the Declaration of Independence, was born in Virginia in late 1749 or early 1750.

Walton was orphaned as a child and raised by his uncle from whom he learned carpentry.  In 1769, Walton moved to Savannah and became the apprentice of local barrister Henry Young and was admitted to the bar in 1774.

George Walton.

Meadow Garden, 2020, after restoration

George Walton portrait. Image Courtesy of the Georgia Historical Society, Rare Book Collection, E221 M62.

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He played an active role in Georgia’s Revolutionary War effort and later government.

In the battle for Savannah, Walton was shot from his horse and taken prisoner.  He, along with four others, holds the distinction among the signers of the Declaration of having been held as a prisoner of war by the British. His career included being Secretary, Provincial Congress of Georgia, 1776; Member, Georgia Committee of Safety, 1776; Elected to the Continental Congress, 1776, 77, 80, 81; Colonel of the First Georgia Militia, 1778; Governor of Georgia, 1779; Chief Justice of Georgia, 1783-89; Presidential Elector, Governor of Georgia, 1789; Superior Court Judge, 1789-98; U.S. Senator, 1795.

By 1792, George Walton was living at his farm outside of Augusta, Georgia. He named the farm “Meadow Garden” because the house was positioned on a large flat meadow.  He would sign his correspondence, ‘George Walton of Meadow Garden’ from 1792 until his death at home in 1804.

Meadow Garden has been privately owned by the Daughters of the American Revolution since 1900.  It was the first house purchased and preserved by the NSDAR. It is the oldest documented house in Augusta and one of the oldest house museums in the state of Georgia.

We honor George Walton, Patriot, colonel, governor, judge and senator and preserve his beautiful farm, Meadow Garden, as a tribute to one man’s patriotic service and way of life during America’s 18th century.