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1-1-1960 The altW ons were freedom-fighters Hampton Dunn

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Scholar Commons Citation Dunn, Hampton, "The altW ons were freedom-fighters" (1960). Digital Collection - Florida Studies Center Publications. Paper 2664. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/flstud_pub/2664

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THE WALTONS WERE FREEDOM-FIGHTERS

By HAMPTON DUNN

PENSACOLA --- Dorthy Camber Walton was a beautiful young woman with a lot of spunk. Her father was a Tory who had been granted much land in Georgia by the Crown He stayed loyal, but daring Dorthy disobeyed her father and married George Walton, a brave and brilliant Revolutionist. Dorthy was disinherited and her father went back to England.

George became one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. He fought in the Revolution, was wounded in the siege of Savannah and became a prisoner of war, later exchanged for a British Captain of the Navy. Dorthy also was a prisoner of war. She was sent to the West Indian Islands and later swapped.

George Walton served the new nation and his state in many ways (governor, chief justice, member of Continental Congress, member of the Constitutional Convention, U.S. Senator) before his death in 1804.

His devoted widow moved to Pensacola and in 1810 built a home now known as the "Dorthy Walton House." Her son, George Walton II became one of the outstanding leaders of pioneer Florida. He was appointed acting governor by Andrew Jackson during provisional rule. He also was Secretary of the Territory and a stormy figure he was. In 1826, shortly after his retirement, on account of strictures upon his official conduct, he fought a duel with Dr. McMahon of Pensacola and was wounded. Fort Walton Beach and Walton County were named in his honor.

Dorthy Walton died in 1832 and is buried in historic old St. Michael's Cemetery. The Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution unveiled a bronze tablet at the grave.

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