298 GWINNETT COUNTY. 



who were slain in battle with a party of Creek Indians, at 

 Shepard's, in Stewart county, June 9, 1836. Their remains 

 rest beneath this monument." 



Town. — Lawrenceville is the county town, and is eligibly 

 situated on the ridge which divides the head waters of the Al- 

 covy and Yellow rivers It is 90 miles N. N. W. of Milledge- 

 ville, 30 miles S. of Gainesville, 45 miles W. of Athens, 21 

 miles N. W. of Monroe, 28 miles N. of Covington, 16 miles 

 N. W. of the Rock mountain, 24 miles N. E. of Decatur, 40 

 miles from Marietta. It has a handsome brick court-house, 

 jail constructed of granite, two churches, Presbyterian and Me- 

 thodist, two hotels, (fee. Population 400. There are two 

 academies, one for females, the other for males. The male 

 academy stands upon a high hill, from which is presented a 

 fine view of the Rock mountain. The citizens are quiet and 

 orderly, but are sometimes disturbed by noisy persons from 

 the country. A rigid police is much wanted. Incorporated 

 in 1821. 



Name. — This county was named after the Hon. Button 

 Gwinnett, who was born in England, came to Georgia in 1772, 

 and settled on St. Catherine's island. For some time after the 

 beginning of the revolutionary difficulties, he was in doubt as 

 to the course he would take ; but the arguments of Dr. Lyman 

 Hall, with whom he was intimate, convinced him of the jus- 

 tice of the American cause, and in 1775 he commenced taking 

 an active part in public affairs. In 1776, at the meeting of the 

 General Assembly in Savannah, he was appointed a represen- 

 tative to Congress, and his name is affixed to the Declaration 

 of American Independence as a delegate from Georgia. He 

 was a member of the Convention which met in February, 1777, 

 to frame a constitution for the future government of the State. 

 Upon the death of Mr. Bulloch, he became Governor of 

 Georgia. A delegation from South Carolina called upon Mr. 

 Gwinnett during the early stage of the Revolution, for the 

 purpose of suggesting to him the expediency of recommend- 

 ing that Georgia should place herself under the jurisdiction of 

 the former ; but to the praise of Mr. Gwinnett let it be known, 

 that he treated the suggestion with contempt. An unfor- 

 tunate misunderstanding occurred between General Lachlan 



