George Walton, whose two houses in Augusta still exist, is one of two signers of the Declaration of Independence buried in the middle of Greene Street beneath the Signers' Monument in front of the Municipal Building.

Born in Virginia in late 1749 or early 1750, he was raised by his uncle and aunt after his parents died when he was young.

He moved to Savannah in 1769 and began studying law. He was selected in January 1776 as one of Georgia's delegates to the Continental Congress, but he didn't take his seat in Philadelphia until July 1, just three days before the critical vote adopting the Declaration of Independence.

At 26, he was the youngest signer of the document.

He became a colonel in the state militia during the Revolutionary War and was wounded in December 1778 when the British attacked Savannah. He was held prisoner at Sunbury, Ga., until exchanged in October 1779.

He was elected governor of Georgia by the state assembly in November 1779 and became chief justice of the state in 1783. He served as governor again in 1789 and was appointed to the U.S. Senate in 1795 to fill the un-expired term of James Jackson.

In the mid-1780's, he had moved from Savannah to Richmond County, where he resided until his death on Feb. 2, 1804. He originally was buried at Rosney, the home of his nephew, Robert Watkins, but his remains were moved in 1848 to the Signers' Monument.