Button Gwinnett

Misfortune burned against Gwinnett's plans like a fuel,

Even taking his life when he entered a duel.

        Button was born in England to the Reverend Samuel and Anne Gwinnett, a family of modest means who managed to get him a good education and whereby he apprenticed to a merchant.  He married Ann Bourne; and a few years later, they came to America where he began in mercantile business.  After earning enough money, they purchased land in Georgia to fulfill his dream of becoming a planter.  Lacking experience, he was not very successful and ended up selling the property.

 

        Outspoken and known for his good mind, he was elected delegate to the Continental Congress soon after he advocated resistance to the British crown.  Gwinnett helped draw up the state constitution and presented it to the assembly, which adopted it on February 5, 1777.

"Article VI. [R]epresentatives... shall be of the Protestant religion...

 Article LVI. All persons whatever shall have the free exercise of their religion; provided it be not repugnant to the peace and safety of the State; and shall not, unless by consent, support any teacher or teachers except those of their own profession."  Georgia Constitution, 1777

        He and one Colonel McIntosh became rivals to the point of a duel in which Button lost his life.  He left behind his wife Ann and several children who did not long survive him.

 

       The Georgia Public Library Service and the Georgia Historical Society identified him as an Episcopalian.  Ian Dorion, "Table of the Religious Affiliations of American Founders," 1997.   He and Lyman Hall were members of Midway Congregational Church in Sunbury, Georgia.  Robert G. Ferris (editor), Signers of the Declaration: Historic Places Commemorating the Signing of the Declaration of Independence, published by the United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service: Washington, D.C. (revised edition 1975), pages 62-64.

 

 

 

 

 

http://ngeorgia.com/ang/Button_Gwinnett 

        Button, Button is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov revolving around the signature of Button Gwinnett as a rare and valuable commodity to sell to the government for money.  The story first appeared in January 1953 in Startling Stories. Wikipedia           

For every man shall bear his own burden.

 Galatians 6:5