Yep, our fascination with lighthouses brings this mystery to you. Tell us where this tower is located, and you’ll solve today’s mystery. Remember to tell us your home town when you send your thoughts to ebrack2@gmail.com.
We thought the previous mystery would be easy, but few readers gave us their thoughts. Allan Peel of San Antonio, Tex. gave us the most complete answer: “Today’s mystery photo is a monument to Button Gwinnett (1735 – 1777) located on the grounds of Colonial Park Cemetery in Savannah, Ga. Button Gwinnett was a representative of Georgia to the Continental Congress, and one of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence. He served in the provisional Georgia legislature, and in 1777, shortly before his death in a pistol duel with a political rival, he wrote the original draft of Georgia’s first state constitution. The cemetery was established in 1750 as the second burial ground in colonial Savannah. It remained as the primary burial ground in Savannah until 1853 after which it stopped accepting new burials after more than 9,000 internments.”
Susan McBrayer of Sugar Hill took the photo on a recent visit to Savannah. Others recognizing the photo were Jay Altman of Columbia, S.C., and Lou Camerio of Lilburn.
But there is more to the story. Though the Mystery Photo monument in Savannah is Gwinnett County’s namesake, his bones are not buried there. Georgia found that out about 1900, when the people of Augusta decided to erect an obelisk to the three signers of the Declaration of Independence from Georgia, Lyman Hall, George Walton and Button Gwinnett and bury their remains under the obelisk.
They dug up the bones of Hall and Walton and buried them. But when the grave in which Button Gwinnett was thought to be buried was opened, and the bones found, neither of the leg bones were shattered. Since Gwinnett died from gangrene after his leg bone was shattered, officials realized the bones were not that of Button Gwinnett. No one knows where Button Gwinnett is buried. That’s the end of the history lesson for today.
- SHARE A MYSTERY PHOTO: If you have a photo that you believe will stump readers, send it along (but make sure to tell us what it is because it may stump us too!) Send to: mebrack2@gmail.com and mark it as a photo submission. Thanks.
The May Citizen of the Month in the City of Lilburn is Peggy Sullens. She has been drawn to art since a child, an interest that led her to pursue painting and win a Halloween poster contest as a second grader at Norcross Elementary. The winning prize: One dollar! “My teacher allowed me to walk all the way into the old town of Norcross to cash my check at one of the stores. Oh, happy days!” Sullens’ main art form is canvas oil painting, which she mastered in the early 1970s. She dabbles in other art forms such as watercolors and acrylics, but oils remain her first love. She has taught classes for many years, both in her home studio and now at the Bethesda Senior Center.
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