WALTON, George, signer of the Declaration of Independence, born in Frederick county, Virginia, in 1740; died in Augusta, Georgia, 2 February, 1804. He was entirely self-taught, and was early apprenticed to a carpenter, his employer would not permit him the use of a candle to read at night, but in his zeal for knowledge he found a substitute in pine-knots At the expiration of his apprenticeship he removed to Georgia, studied law with Henry Young, was admitted to the bar in 1774, and began practice at Augusta. He was one of : four persons that called a public nah, Georgia, 27 July, 1774, for the consideration of public grievances, and was one of a committee that was appointed on that occasion to institute a correspondence with the different parishes, inviting them to co-operate with the other provinces in North America in opposition to the arbitrary exercise of power by the British government. On 12 January, 1775, another meeting of the citizens was convened, but the majority were opposed to taking any decisive measures against the mother country, though Mr. Walton eloquently urged such action. He was one of the committee that prepared a petition to the king, and drew up the patriotic resolutions that were adopted on that occasion; was active in promoting the Revolution in Georgia, and from February, 1776, till October, 1781, was a delegate to the Continental congress, signing the Declaration of Independence in the former year. In December, 1778, he was appointed a colonel of militia, commanded a battalion on the right of General Robert Howe's army when Savannah was taken by the British, was severely wounded in the thigh, and. having been taken prisoner, was not liberated till September, 1779. In October of the same year, and again in 1789, he was chosen governor of Georgia. He was appointed chief justice of the state in 1783, and in 1787 was elected a delegate to the convention for framing the constitution of the United States, but did not take his seat. In 1793 he was again a judge of the supreme court, and in 1795-'6 he was United States senator. He was also one of the United States commissioners to negotiate a treaty with the Cherokee Indians in Tennessee, and was several times a member of the legislature of Georgia. General McIntosh, then in command of the militia in Georgia, accused Mr. Walton of indirect participation in the production of a forged letter, dated 30 November, 1779, which was transmitted to the president of congress, requesting his removal from the command of the troops in the state. This accusation was considered by the legislature of Georgia in January, 1783. A vote of censure was passed on Mr. Walton, and the attorney-general was recommended to institute such proceedings against him as the case required. This action of the legislature seems strangely inconsistent with Mr. Walton's appointment by the same body as chief justice of Georgia on the preceding day.--His son, GEORGE, held the office of secretary of state for West Florida under the administration of Andrew Jackson.