Page 82 - Pilgrims in Georgia

V Lyman Hall - The Christian Statesman

Lyman Hall born in Connecticut on April 12, 1724 was from a long line of the earliest colonists of
Puritan New England and had studied theology with his uncle Rev. Samuel Hall after graduating
from Yale College. In 1749 he was ordained to the ministry however after a period of ministerial
practice he changed vocation to become a of Doctor of Medicine in 1753. Having taking taken an

interest in fellow Congregationalist living in the Dorchester community in South Carolina he and
his wife with others moved there, and then accompanied those colonists in their move to the
Midway settlement in Georgia. As there was much sickness in the lowland areas, his reliable skills
as a physician and of personable consolation were much needed and he was soon an esteemed
personality in the surrounding countryside. Further, his notoriety continued to grow during the
years before the American Revolution as Hall was a firm and articulate supporter of Independence
as were the majority of colonist in St. John Parish. Lyman Hall
However, Georgia being the youngest colony and more divided over the issues with Britain than other older colonies, did
not originally choose to send any delegates to the first Continental Congress in 1774. This frustrated the colonist of
Midway, and when it was voted down again in 1775, Lyman Hall was picked to attend the Second Continental Congress as
an independent representative of St. John Parish. The next year when Georgia did join the rest of the colonies at the
Congress, Hall was picked as a representative again along with Button Gwinnet, his friend from the Midway “Liberty Boys”,
and George Walton from Savannah. When Independence was decided upon, Hall, Gwinnett, and Walton, voted for and

signed the Declaration of Independence for Georgia in the Summer of 1776.

He remained in Congress for Georgia until 1780 when the British
occupied Georgia and confiscated all his property. For two years he
remained absent with relatives in Connecticut until after the war he was
able to return to Georgia in 1782 and return to his practice as a
Physician. But this was not to continue for long as he was elected to be
Governor of the State of Georgia in 1793.
The Siege of Savannah