Dorothy Camber Walton
Wife of George Walton, Signer of the Declaration of Independence
1760 – 1832 A.D.

Dorothy Camber, who became the wife of George Walton, the young patriot and signer of the Declaration of Independence, was the daughter of an English gentleman residing in Chatham County, Ga. Like the wives of the other signers from Georgia we have little record of the young woman’s personality. A year after her marriage we find Col. Walton leading his regiment of defence [sic] of Savannah, where he was desperately wounded and taken prisoner. Gen. Robert Howe, under whose command he was fighting, wrote him a letter of sympathy and commending his bravery. He was sent to Sunbury and held as a prisoner.

Because of his being a member of Congress and a signer, the British refused to exchange him for anyone of a less rank than a brigadier-general. It was from this prison, when it was thought that his wound would prove fatal, that he wrote to his wife:

“Remember that you are the beloved wife of one who has made honour [sic] and reputation the ruling motive in every action of his life.”

Mr. Walton who began life as a carpenter’s apprentice in his native city of Fredericksburg, Va., had by sheer force of character and native ability, been elected to Congress six times; was twice Governor of his adopted State, once a Senator of the United States, and for fifteen years a judge of the Superior Courts. He never accumulated property, but he and his wife lived contentedly on their little farm near Augusta.

They had but one son, who bore his father’s name and served as Secretary of State during the time Andrew Jackson was Governor of West Florida. George Walton died in 1804 and was buried in Augusta. His wife survived him several years.

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Reference: The Pioneer Mothers of America: A Record of the More Notable Women of the Early Days of the Country, and Particularly of the Colonial and Revolutionary Periods by Harry Clinton Green and Mary Wolcott Green, A.B. Third Volume, Published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons.