Talk:Button Gwinnett

Gwinnett's Birthdate

Various sources list either 1732 or 1735 as his year of birth. Some '35 references are exact. All the 1732 references I've seen say about or circa 1732. 1735 seems to be preferred by about 60/40. I can't find an exact solution, but he was baptized in March of 1734/5 (see Gregorian calendar for year shift explanation), at the parish of Down Hatherley. The net of this is that I'm changing the article to reflect the 1735 date. Any comments can be placed here or my talk page. Lou I 14:34, 17 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Comment

If you check the Atlanta Journal Magazine Section of June 30, 1946 I think you will find that they state his birth year as 1732, however they do not state the exact date.

Rosenbach

I believe it says 5 signatures were owned by a "Dr. Rosenbach". One can only assume that it means A.S.W. Rosenbach, as we was a collector, but it doesn't specify and it doesn't cite a source.

Duel

Just wondering why the fact that he died as a result of a wound he received from a duel is not mentioned?

Button Gwinnett was NOT the first signer of the DOI to die. john Morton had died a few months before. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.233.163.194 (talk) 00:19, 9 March 2011 (UTC)

Button Gwinnett in Popular Culture

I have seen sections on other biographical pages with this heading (see for example Nikola Tesla) or pages by themselves with this title (eg Hitler in popular culture). Would it be appropriate to create a section here, if I have only one instance to contribute at this time? Terrek 01:31, 3 February 2007 (UTC)

If someone does create a section on this I would like to point out to that Button Gwinnett gets a significant and hilarious portrayal in the 2008 video game Fallout 3. The game is set in a post-apocalyptic Washington DC, Gwinnett appears when a malfunctioning robotic tour guide in the sub-basement of the National Archives believes itself to actually be Button Gwinnett and correspondingly tries to prevent the Declaration of Independence, still housed at the Archives, from being taken by the player. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.162.158.250 (talk) 18:29, 10 November 2008 (UTC)

Yes this is true. He thinks the Lone Wanderer is a "Redcoats spy". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.159.238.81 (talk) 13:21, 20 November 2008 (UTC)

Actually, it depends on your speech skill. If your a good enough talker, he'll think your Thomas Jefferson and make a remark about giving his regards to Sally (Hemmings, slave who had a child by a male of Jefferson's family, probably by him) I am personally more curious about the quote that the robot Gwinnett gives; "It is better to live well than to live long" or something to that effect. Is this a direct quote from the real Gwinnett, or a somewhat sly comment reffering to the real one? - NemFX (talk) 05:29, 16 January 2010 (UTC)

Lie

Shakespear and caesar? Are people looking for caesar's signature? Come on...

Death date

At the beginning of the article, and in the info box on the right, Gwinnett's date of death is listed as May 19th, but in the article body, it's given as May 27th, with a source (which I have not checked). If the source is right, shouldn't the other dates be changed, too? iPhil (talk) 15:47, 21 May 2013 (UTC)

The source I posted listed May 27th as the death date, although other sources such as this one: Signers: the 56 Stories behind the Declaration of Independence gives the May 19th date. Most sources agree on the date of the duel (May 16th) but there does not seem to be agreement on the death date. Of interest is a letter titled Historical Duel. A Letter Written by Brigadier General L. McIntosh to Colonel John Laurence, Military Secretary to General Washington, Three Days After the Death of Button Gwinnett, Being a True Relation of the Duel, of the Events that Caused it and of Its Consequences, Etc. (Dated 30 May 1777.) which might give more credence to the May 27th date.Wkharrisjr (talk) 17:26, 21 May 2013 (UTC)

Order of Signing

I removed the reference in the first paragraph of the article to his being the second signer. This is because it has been long established that Josiah Bartlett of New Hampshire was the second signer. Bartlett's signature appears in the upper right column at the top. Despite John Hancock signing directly under and in the center of the blank space under the declaration, legal documents were always signed on the far right. Additional signatures were added under that first signature and continued until the bottom. For a document with many signatures a second column would be started immediately to the left of the first column if there was no more space under that first column. After that signatures would continue column by column from right to left. If you look at the facsimile copy or, as I have, examined the original at the archives, you will note that there were only three signatures in the far left column and those signatures were not aligned with the left side of the document itself. There were only three signatures because those were the last three remaining. Not only was this gentleman NOT the second signer, he was third from last. Note that the signatures were tighter to the right of the page to make room for the other signers but as they continued signing the spacing is looser due to the fact that the early signers were more conservative of space. While some have said the story is apocryphal, there really was a complaint that John Hancock's signature was too big and the other signers were requested to make their signatures smaller to make room for everyone. But as the signing progressed they had conserved so much space that by the time the last few signers got their turn there was plenty of space left so larger and more flamboyant signatures occurred and there was more space between them. Some spaces were reserved for those not present at the time most signing occurred (August 2 1776) but those were never used as signers just added under the previous signer for the most part. None of what I just wrote is original but honestly I forgot which book I read all this out of decades ago or I would change the article and add the citation quoting from that book. I have added this explanation so people would understand why I deleted the reference. Also I want articles about the Declaration of Independence to be as accurate as possible as I am descended from two of the signers and distantly related to 17 others. If I can figure out which book discussed this I will update accordingly. I would of course welcome and invite a discussion on this topic.