Button Gwinnett was born on March 3, 1735 in England. He became a merchant, but in 1762 he and his family moved to America. He ended up purchasing a plantation (with its slaves) in Georgia. He went into politics and was elected to the Second Continental Congress. He signed the Declaration of Independence. Returning to Georgia he was elected speaker of the Georgia Assembly and then replaced the deceased Governor. Throughout his political career he had made an enemy of Lachlan McIntosh. Gwinnett proposed a military expedition to control the border with Florida. He ordered McIntosh to lead it. When it failed, both men blamed the other. When Gwinnett arrested McIntosh’s brother for treason, that was the last straw. Calling Gwinnett “a scoundrel and lying rascal”. Gwinnett challenged him to a duel. It took place on May 16, 1777. They fired at each other from 12 paces. Both hit. McIntosh survived. But Gwinnett’s wound developed gangrene and he died three days later. He was the first Declaration signer to die and left very few signatures. This made his signature the rarest of all the signers. In 2010, a Gwinnett signature sold for $722,000.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Button_Gwinnett
https://www.ushistory.org/declaration/signers/gwinnett.html
https://www.todayingeorgiahistory.org/tih-georgia-day/button-gwinnett-lachlan-mcintosh-duel/
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