The Reappearance
of Button Gwinnett
By: Don Farrant
The Reappearance of Button Gwinnett
He’s best known for being a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He’s also known for the fact that his signature is so rare that it’s worth thousands of dollars (that is, if you can find one). Button Gwinnett has a third distinction—he engaged in “pistols at dawn” and was killed in a bitter duel in 1777. That was a long time ago, but many will tell you that Button Gwinnett seems to still be lingering in Liberty County.
Gwinnett was reported to be tall and to command a rather noble appearance. Although polite and mild in his use of language, he had fatal flaws. He was irresponsible in his handling of money, quarrelsome, and said to be possessed of a scheming ambition and a false sense of honor.
Gwinnett had been a merchant in Charleston, but in 1765 he tired of that, sold out, and decided that he would become a planter. He secured a title to beautiful St. Catherine’s Island on a long-term lease. He didn’t use his land to its greatest agricultural potential, however, and managed his money poorly. He began borrowing from new sources to pay off old debts. He was constantly harassed by collectors. Foreclosure followed, and he lost possession of his island paradise.
This was a humbling experience for Gwinnett, but he bounced back. He became active in politics, first winning a seat in Georgia’s Colonial Assembly, later being elected to the Continental Congress, which met in Philadelphia. While there, he voted for and signed the Declaration of Independence. Gwinnett returned to Georgia, and his prestige increased when he took part in a convention to frame new a provincial constitution. Then, early in 1777, he was named president of the Provincial Council.
Then a bitter feud developed, brought on by the envy and hatred between two distinguished men: Gwinnett and Colonel Lachlan McIntosh, commander of the Continental Brigade. Such was their animosity that Gwinnett challenged McIntosh to a duel. Pistols were the chosen weapons. The adversaries faced off at dawn on May 16, 1777 near present-day Thunderbolt (in the Savannah area). Both duelists were wounded but Gwinnett’s injury was more severe. The bullet shattered a bone in his upper leg. He contracted gangrene and died a few days later. He was just forty-five years old when Colonel McIntosh’s bullet ended his life.
As a ghostly aftermath of the duel, Gwinnett’s spirit is believed to haunt both Liberty County and St. Catherine’s Island. In hushed tones, people will tell you on dark nights, especially when a storm is threating, the gallop of a fast horse can be heard above the rustling of the wind in the pines. But it’s more than the drumming tattoo of just any horse. It’s the phantom hoof beats of Chickasaw, Gwinnett’s favorite saddle horse. Then you see him, a spectral horseman rushing past the old town of Midway on his way to his home on St. Catherine’s. He heads for the island, disappears, then reappears near the wharf where his schooner, Beggar’s Benison can be seen crossing the turbulent waters of the sound, carrying Gwinnett from the mainland to the St. Catherine’s dock.
By the end of the nineteenth century, laws against dueling were toughened. Gentlemen began to realize their old-fashioned codes of honor weren’t so sacred after all, and dueling became a thing of the past. No one knows how many spirits of old duelist still stand at the ready in Georgia, [holding] their dueling pistols with a caressing touch, then taking aim at an imaginary target. There must be lots of these entities, judging from the vast number of men who engaged in pistols at dawn. And one of these belligerent ghosts, surely, is the one and only Button Gwinnett.
In your pair or trio, after reading the “Ghost Story of Button Gwinnett”, create your own ghost story involving 2 of the people and/or battles that we have discussed during the American Revolution unit. It should be at least 2-3 paragraphs (5-7 sentences per paragraph). Be descriptive!
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