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Someone named Gwinnett will be visiting our county today
By Philip Gwinnett
Special to GwinnettForum.com

MAY 20, 2008 -- Yes, I am an indirect relative of your county's namesake, Button Gwinnett. I am his first cousin, eight times removed. I am on holiday in the USA for 13 days before flying on to the Dominican Republic for seven days. I will be in Gwinnett today (Tuesday) and look forward to seeing the county.

I live about 30 miles north of Melbourne, am retired now, and was once in the computer business. I have lived in Australia since 1982, and it was the best move my wife, Sandra, and I ever made. I was born in 1949 (I'm now 58) in Stafford, England. When 18 months old, my family moved to Wolverhampton, the place where Button Gwinnett was married. My wife and I have two children, a son, Tony, and a daughter, Tracy. We also have two fantastic grandchildren, ages 4 and 1, from Tony and his wife Cheryl.

Once I earned my bachelor's degree in computer science, I have spent all my life working with them. I still dabble in computers, but slowly; modern technology is leaving me behind.

In Australia, my work was with Ford, until my redundancy from Ford in October 1991. Then a memorable date for me was Jan 28, 1994 when I was rushed to a hospital in what turned out to be a Diabetic Coma. My sugar level was more than 25 times that of the average person and twice I was given only an hour to live. This resulted in the loss of my right leg below the knee and most of my left foot. After six months in hospital and rehabilitation, I learned to walk again using an artificial leg and help with my left foot. A great moment was when I was able to drive a car again by using a left foot accelerator rather than a right.

I started my own business, "Gwinnett Software Services," on July 1, 1995, later "Gwinnett Software Services Pty Ltd." The business continued until February 2001 but then dried up.

My family tree stretches back to George Gwynedd, who died in 1604 and was Lord Gwynedd, of a county in north Wales. Though no one is a direct descendant of Button Gwinnett, our line comes down from his uncle George, who married Anne Osbourne in 1711, and possibly from his great great uncle, Lawrence Gwinnett, born in 1636. Both these men died in 1693.

My late father, Philip Harold Gwinnett, spent many years researching our family in the United Kingdom, and I have a wealth of notes from him. In the 1960s, he visited Philadelphia, Pa., and first learned about the Gwynedd family. I have notes from my father dating back to the year 50 AD, but have not yet managed to make much sense of them. I, as an only son, have carried out his quest on research, and intend later to delve into the Welsh side of the family.

My grandfather, Harold Gwinnett, was a mathematical genius. He continued the family tradition of working in the steel industry and became a notable authority on steel building construction and design, particularly Belfast Roofing. In his later years he became a crossword addict, solving complete crosswords whilst other people were still trying to understand the clues.

Now I look forward to learning more about Button Gwinnett and Gwinnett County, Ga., USA.

The Internet is responsible for linking up with Phil Gwinnett
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher

MAY 20, 2008 -- Ah, the wonders of the Internet. It was through this technological element that allowed me to arrange to learn of Phil Gwinnett. (See Today's Focus above.)

Several years ago, the City of Norcross got a visit from a man living in England by the name of Derek Norcross. Turns out that he was a relative of the namesake of the town, Jonathan Norcross. While in town, he made quite a few friends, and was greeted by city officials. Unfortunately, upon his return home, he met death when struck by an automobile.

Phil Gwinnett's curiosity about his name led him to plan a visit on his vacation in the United States, and to include Atlanta and Gwinnett on his routing. He arrived last night, and flies out on Wednesday.

The Internet led him to the Gwinnett Convention and Visitors' Bureau, where Lisa Anders, their marketing communication director, suggested that he contact the Gwinnett Historical Society. She also emailed him my name, and Paul and I hooked up electronically.

So today we'll show the visitor with our county's name around Metro Atlanta and Gwinnett, letting him glimpse what this part of the world is like. We will take him to the Gwinnett County Commission meeting this afternoon. And by the time we return him ready to fly off tomorrow, we suspect he will have seen lots of what life is about in Gwinnett County, Georgia.

Learning about Button Gwinnett's life, we find that there are no descendants, since his line soon played out, though he had several children with his wife, Anne. Georgia is the only place in the nation where his name appears; however in Pennsylvania there is a Gwynedd Street in Philadelphia, and families live by that name there, possibly indirect descendants, like Phil Gwinnett, of our namesake.

For those of you new to Gwinnett, all of what we know about our county's namesake isn't flattering. For the record, Button Gwinnett came to Georgia in1765, having been born in Glouchestershire, England, near Wales. His father was a minister of the Church of England. His father-in-law was a merchant and Button operated for a short time as a merchant in Western England.

Following his family tradition, he soon set himself up as a merchant in Savannah. But Button was found wanting as a merchant, so he got into a new venture, starting to farm and raise cattle on what is today St. Catherine's Island, off the coast, south of Savannah near Midway. He was elected to the provisional Assembly, and was Georgia's first provisional governor. He's best known, of course, for representing Georgia at the Continental Congress, and being one of three signers of the Declaration of Independence from Georgia. He's been called "the foremost revolutionary in Georgia, and a leading figure in the colony for independence."

Unfortunately, Gwinnett's life met tragedy, when he and Gen. Lachlan McIntosh had words, with McIntosh calling Gwinnett "a scoundrel and lying rascal." Shortly Gwinnett challenged McIntosh to a duel, was wounded, and died in four days.

We're sure that Phil Gwinnett knows this part of the story. Now it will be our pleasure to show him his ancestor's namesake county, thanks to the Internet linking us up.

The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com to you at no cost to readers. Today's featured sponsor is Gwinnett Community Bank of Duluth, Member, FDIC. Tom Martin is the CEO of this bank, which has its main office in Duluth on Buford Highway, near the intersection of Rogers Bridge and Old Peachtree Road. The Duluth office number is 770-476-2775. There is also a Suwanee location at 3463 Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road in Suwanee. The phone number for the Suwanee branch is 770-497-5252. Gwinnett Community Bank also just opened a third branch at 2715 Hamilton Mill Road in Buford (770 271 2715.) The web site is http://www.gwinnettcommunitybank.com.

Good article on our presidential candidates. This election no one appears to be happy with their candidates. It leaves us with a toss of the dice.

I can see why Bob Barr decided to run but it only muddies the water. I was one of those 19 percent voting with Perot. And Barr is not near as strong as Perot. Barr couldn't even get elected in a conservative district (7th) when he ran against John Linder. So how is he expect to be a strong alternative to the presidential candidates?

The Forsyth Wind Quintet will present a program at Red Clay Theatre in Duluth on Saturday, May 24 at 8 p.m.

Come enjoy the Quintet as it plays selections from many popular musicals. Selections will include songs from My Fair Lady, Fiddler on the Roof, and Carmen. In addition, the music of Ray Charles, George M. Cohan, George Gershwin, Claude Debussy, Johann Strauss, Stephen Foster, Henry Mancini, and the Beatles will be played. For tickets, which are $15, call 770-622-777.

The Snellville Parks and Recreation Department will be holding Academy and Select soccer tryouts for the upcoming 2008-2009 seasons. Boys and girls ages 9-12 are invited out on May 27 and 29 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. for Academy tryouts. For information on the Academy, contact Coach Mark Carr 770-761-3795 or markcarr12@bellsouth.net.

Boys U13 Select tryouts will be May 27 and 29 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. For information contact Coach Rich Geary at 678-575-0887 or rjaygeary@yahoo.com.

Girls U13, U14 and U15 Athena tryouts will be held June 9-10 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. For information on U13 contact Robert Smith at rsmith@snellville.org. For U14 contact Coach Tim Power at 770-985-6741 or tpower50@comcast.net. For U15 contact Coach Jose Cruz at 404-819-2275 or jcruz@bgca.org.

Nine plays by nine playrights coming in June to Norcross

Nine plays by nine playwrights will be presented June 6-7-8 and June 14-15 at the Norcross Cultural Arts and Community Center by Atlanta playwrights. They include James Beck, Nick Boretz, Steven Broyles, Sylvia Davenport-Veith, Raymond Fast, David Fisher, James Walsh, Bill Wellborn and Marian X.

This is the second annual presentation of original short plays by playwrights from the Atlanta area. Tickets are $15 (cash only) at the door. For more information call 404-872-7909 or email jpbeck99@yahoo.com, or visit www.onionmanproductions.com.

The Collins Hill High School team focusing on National History Day has been selected to represent Georgia in the national contest in Washington, D.C. in June. The team is currently seeking sponsors to help defray expenses for the competition.

National History Day is a nationally acclaimed, academic enrichment program that promotes the study of history in schools. The 29th national contest is the culminating event for a network of regional and state competitions held around the country in which history students create exhibits, documentaries, performances, or websites about topics that are related to this year's theme, "Conflict & Compromise in History."

The Collins Hill team plans to present its first place exhibit, "Women in the U.S. Military" in the national competition. The group has raised $1,200, and seeks the remaining $1,940 from sponsors for the competition. Collins Hill was also fortunate to have one other group selected to represent Georgia in another category, Senior Group Performance, with their first place performance titled, "Communication Between Families During War."

Collins Hill AP World History teacher, Dr. Terrae Fogarty has inspired her students to excellence in the study of history, which led to the victory. For information about sponsorship, contact Susan Fosse at susan.fosse@gmail.com or by phone at 770-822-5756.

Emory Eastside Medical Center has selected its first Nursing Excellence award winners. These individuals were peer nominated and have demonstrated the values and professionalism that are the hallmarks of the highest quality of nursing and patient care.

The award for Excellence in Overall Nursing was given to Lori Parrott, from the Emergency Department. This award was based on commitment to overall quality care; being a clinical expert who acts in the patient's best interest, exhibits excellent service values and supports and collaborates with the team.

Other winners were Leila Abdullah, from the Surgical Unit, for excellence in patient safety; William Gyau, from the Senior Mental Health Unit, for exemplary nursing image award; Mary Ellen Seymour, from the Day Surgery Department, for excellence in education; and Kay Minor, the Physicians' Award for distinguished bedside nursing practice;

The Physician of the Year is chosen by the nursing staff. Dr. Uday Tata, Emory Healthcare hospitalist, is the 2008 Physician of the Year.

Joe Piccolo, area general manager for the Mall of Georgia and Gwinnett Place Mall, has been elected by property owners to the Gwinnett Place Community Improvement District (CID) Board of Directors. Piccolo has been with Simon Property Group for 12 years, and he previously managed Lenox Square and Phipps Plaza.

Marcy Adams, manager of the Atlanta Marriott Gwinnett Place, was selected to serve as board vice chairman. With her election to this position, the Gwinnett Place CID is the only CID in Gwinnett County having a female serving as a Board officer.

Additionally, incumbent Leo Weiner was re-elected to his board position. Wiener is a principal and partner with Glenwood Development Company LLC, which specializes in multi-tenant retail properties.

Mark Williams of Printing Trade Company remains as board chairman; Glenn Wisdom of the JC Penney at Gwinnett Place Mall remains secretary/treasurer.

The Southeastern Railway Museum of Duluth plans a Locomotive Celebration on June 7 and 8. This will be a celebration of locomotives old and new and in particular the arrival of Stone Mountain RR engine No. 104 (General II). The event will be from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Saturday and noon until 5 on Sunday.

The event this year will feature locomotive tours, train rides, kid's locomotive craft, a scavenger hunt, food and drinks. The Southeastern Railway Museum has been in operation since 1970 and is "Georgia's Official Transportation History Museum." The museum has over 80 other pieces of retired railway rolling stock including vintage steam and diesel locomotives, passenger coaches, private business cars, a World War II army troop kitchen, wooden freight cars, railway post office car and maintenance of way equipment. The museum is open Thursday to Saturday.

Swedish-born Gottfried Leonard Norrman came to Atlanta in 1881 after an extensive architectural education in Scandinavia and Germany. For the next 28 years he was a major designer, a successful businessman with work in five states, and an active promoter of professionalization.

Like most of his contemporaries, Norrman did not specialize or confine himself to a particular style of architecture. His works included buildings for all three of the great expositions held in Atlanta in 1881, 1887, and 1895, as well as magnificent private homes like the Queen Anne masterpiece for Edward C. Peters on Ponce de Leon Avenue in Atlanta and Romanesque, shingle, and neoclassical homes throughout the Southeast.

During the 1880s and 1890s, however, he tended to do his best work in Romanesque revival styles for commercial, educational, or industrial structures. With the waning popularity of Romanesque forms, he proved adept at producing buildings with colonial revival or neoclassical features (often called Renaissance revival at the time), and even Chicago-style office buildings. Two striking examples of this later work are the Lawrence McNeil home (1903) and the Sullivanesque steel-frame Citizens Bank Building (1895), both in Savannah.

This flexibility made it possible for Norrman to combine the artistic and business sides of his profession over a long career. He succeeded in creating a business that spanned the Southeast with hundreds of projects. They ranged from the Windsor Hotel in Americus, and the Bienville Hotel in Mobile, Ala., to public buildings like Charlotte, N.C.'s city hall to a grand Beaux-Arts mansion on the Battery in Charleston, S.C., and a neoclassical business building in Jacksonville, Fla.

At the same time, Norrman ceaselessly worked for the professionalization of architecture in Georgia and the South. He often spoke out publicly on issues related to fee standardization, licensing, and organization. In 1892 he was a founder of the Southern Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, and in 1906 he helped establish the Atlanta Chapter, serving as that organization's first vice president. Norrman committed suicide in 1909.

"The government was set to protect man from criminals, and the Constitution was written to protect man from government."

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