Portrait by Nathaniel Hone
Button Gwinnett was one of the signatories (first signature on the left) on the United States Declaration of Independence.
Button Gwinnett was born in 1735 in Down Hatherley, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom to a Welsh father, the Reverend Samuel Gwinnett, and his wife, Anne. He was the third of his parents' seven children, born after his older sister Anna Maria and his older brother Samuel.
It is believed that Button Gwinnett attended the College School, held in Gloucester Cathedral (now called The King's School) as did his older brother, but there is no surviving evidence to substantiate this.
Button Gwinnett started his career as a merchant in England. He moved to Wolverhampton in 1754. In 1757 at age twenty-two Button Gwinnett married a local, Ann Bourne. In 1762 the couple departed Wolverhampton and emigrated to America.
Gwinnett's business activities took him from Newfoundland to Jamaica. Never very successful, he moved to Savannah in 1765 and opened a store. When that venture failed, he bought (on credit) St. Catherine's Island, off the coast of Georgia, to the south of Savannah, and attempted to become a planter. Though his planting activities were also unsuccessful, he did make a name for himself in local politics.
Arriving first in Charleston, Province of South Carolina, by 1765 Button Gwinnett and his wife had moved to the Province of Georgia. He abandoned his mercantile pursuits, selling off all his merchandise to buy a tract of land where he started a plantation. Though unsuccessful as a planter, by 1769 he had gained such local prominence that he was elected to the Provincial Assembly.
Button Gwinnett did not become a strong advocate of colonial rights until 1775, when St. John's Parish, which encompassed his lands, threatened to secede from Georgia due to the colony's rather conservative response to the events of the times. During his tenure in the Assembly, Gwinnett's chief rival was Lachlan McIntosh, and Lyman Hall was his closest ally. Gwinnett's rivalry with McIntosh began when McIntosh was appointed as brigadier general of the Georgia Continentals in 1776.
Button Gwinnett voted in favor of the Declaration of Independence, adopted by Congress on July 2, 1776, two days before the "fair copy," dated July 4, 1776, was presented to the Congress. He signed the famous parchment copy on August 2, 1776. After signing the Declaration, he was accompanied as far as Virginia by Carter Braxton, another of the signers, carrying a proposed state constitution drawn up by John Adams. During his service in the Continental Congress, Button Gwinnett was a candidate for a brigadier general position to lead the 1st Regiment in the Continental Army, but lost out to Lachlan McIntosh. The loss of the position to his rival embittered Gwinnett greatly.
Button Gwinnett served in the Georgia state legislature, and in 1777 he wrote the original draft of Georgia's first State Constitution. He soon became Speaker of the Georgia Assembly, a position he held until the death of the President (Governor) of Georgia, Archibald Bulloch. Gwinnett was elevated to the vacated position by the Assembly's Executive Council. In this position, he sought to undermine the leadership of McIntosh.Tensions between Button Gwinnett and McIntosh reached a boiling point when the General Assembly voted to approve Gwinnett's attack on British Florida in April 1777.
In early 1777, Button Gwinnett and his allies gained control of the Georgia Provisional Congress, and he became acting President of the Congress and commander-in-chief of Georgia's military. As such, he was now the superior of his rival Lachlan McIntosh. Button Gwinnett had McIntosh's brother arrested and charged with treason. He also ordered McIntosh to lead an invasion of British-controlled East Florida, which failed. Button Gwinnett and McIntosh blamed each other for the defeat, and McIntosh publicly called Gwinnett "a scoundrel and lying rascal".
Button Gwinnett then challenged McIntosh to a duel, which they fought on May 16, 1777 at a plantation owned by deposed Royal Governor James Wright. The two men exchanged pistol shots at twelve paces, and both were wounded. Button Gwinnett died of his wounds on May 19, 1777, and was later buried in Savannah's Colonial Park Cemetery. McIntosh, although wounded, quickly recovered and went on to live until 1806. He was never charged in connection with Gwinnett's death.
Button Gwinnett was baptized in St. Catherine's Church in Gloucester on April 10, 1735.
In 1757 at age twenty-two Button Gwinnett married a local, Ann Bourne, at St. Peter's Church. In 1762 the couple departed Wolverhampton and emigrated to America.
