Lyman Hall—Yale 1747

Of the outstanding leaders of Revolutionary Georgia, two were Yale men, Drs. Lyman Hall (Yale, 1747) and Nathaniel Brownson (Yale, 1761). Of the two, Hall became better known, since to him fell the honor of being a Signer of the Declaration of Independence. Except for this one fact, the career of Brownson closely parallels that of Hall. Each was a practicing physician in Georgia, each became Governor of the State, and each was active in the reconstruction after the Revolution. While both became associated with the group of Congregationalists that settled St. John's Parish and founded the towns of Midway and Sunbury, neither was of the original band that migrated from Charlestown to Georgia in 1752. Hall was born in Wallingford, Connecticut, the third son of John Hall. There is some dispute among historians as to the date of his birth. Jones' places it as April 12, 1724, while Kelly and Burrage' give the date as 1731. The first is correct, as has been established by Dr. Herbert Thoms.3 After graduating from Yale, Hall studied theology under his uncle, Rev. Samuel Hall, and was called to Fairfield as pastor in 1749. He resigned because of minor disputes with his church leaders and began a career as a schoolteacher, at the same time studying medicine under a preceptor. Jones further states that Hall received the degree of M.D. from some northern institution, but Kelly and Burrage claim that only one of the five physicians who signed the Declaration was a graduate M.D. Hall married Abigail Burr in 1751, but she died, and later he married Mary Osborne. He moved to Dorchester, South Carolina, about 1756, settling in the old Puritan colony at that' place, then followed the group that had moved to Midway, Georgia, in 1752, buying lots 33 and 34 in Midway, a settlement halfway between Savannah and Darien. He bought lots fronting on the Midway bay at Sunbury for a summer home. In 1759 he applied for and received a grant of 200 acres as a joint-tenancy with Samuel Miller on a swamp near the north branch of the Newport River which lies