George Walton

Some men are born into advantage. I was not. I am George Walton, orphan carpenter's apprentice, colonel, governor, and one of George's voices for independence. My master gave me no candle to read by, so I made my own light, collecting pine knots by day and burning them by night. That smoke stung my eyes, but still I could see enough to carve out a future. I studied law in Savannah, and when tyranny crept into Georgia by crowning council, I met it not with silence, but with action. We raised a liberty pole outside Tondi's Tavern and declared ourselves ready to stand with the other colonies. Georgia was reluctant to join, but I helped put push her forward. In 1776, I took my seat in the Continental Congress, and when the vote came, I signed. I was a man who had built himself and later was now helping to build a country. Later I received a colonel's commission. At the fall of Savannah, I was wounded, thrown from my horse and captured by the British. After I was released, I was elected to Congress six times, senator once and appointed chief justice of Georgia as well as governor twice. I shaped the capital of Georgia, laid out Augusta's streets, built its courthouse, jail and school. I founded Richmond Academy and saved land for college. Not bad for a boy who was once denied a candle.