Fireworks, cookouts and parties are all wonderful ways to celebrate July 4, but James Hanby Sr. wanted an event that put in perspective the meaning of the day.
“Here beneath the monument are two signers of the Declaration of Independence,” said Hanby, at the 11th annual Signers’ Monument ceremony July 4 in the median on Greene Street near the granite obelisk. “I know of no other city that has this.”
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Although he lives in Delaware, Hanby started the ceremony after visiting the area on his birthday, also July 4, a few years ago. A former area resident, he lamented that there was no ceremony to mark the day. One had been held years before, but it died out.
“The first year we had about 10 people,” he said. “I brought six of them from Delaware.”
About 70 people attended Sunday’s event which included a wreath laying. Children rang a bell after the names of each of the signers was read.
George Walton, whose Meadow Garden home in Augusta is a house museum, was a prisoner of war during the American Revolution. Lyman Hall and Button Gwinnett were the two other signers from Georgia. Walton and Hall were exhumed and reburied under the monument which was dedicated July 4, 1848.
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No one knows exactly where Button Gwinnett is buried, but Hanby said if they’d known the location of his grave, they would’ve dug him up too.
Members of several masonic lodges, chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution and Sons of the Revolution had wreaths or placed flowers in an unfinished wreath at the site.
At the ceremony’s close, Hanby announced that this was his final ceremony as its head. He plans to hand over the planning to Brian Coffey.
“It will be easier to do it here rather than 700 miles away,” Hanby said. “I expect to come and be a part of it.”
Annette Bush, who has attended many of the ceremonies and has helped in its organization, thanked people for coming to the ceremony. She said that it wouldn’t have been a success had it not been for people attending.
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Not only did Hanby organize the Signers’ Monument ceremony, but he also contacted Meadow Garden about opening on July 4th. He said it didn’t seem right for the home of a signer of the Declaration of Independence to be closed on that day. He encouraged all those attending the Signers’ Monument ceremony to visit Meadow Garden.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the Features Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com.
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