Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 4).djvu/353

Rh president of that body. In 1775-'6 he was also president of the Provincial congress of South Caro- lina, received the public thanks of that body, and was re-elected by it a delegate to the Continental congress. He was a member of the council of safety, and by his position, wealth, and powerful family connection did much to turn the balance in Carolina in favor of the American party. In 1776 he was prevented by ill health from returning to congress, where his place was filled by his eldest son, Arthur. He was a large and successful plant- er, owning about 50,000 acres and 800 slaves, and he was constant in his efforts to improve the agricul- ture and commerce of the colony. — Henry's eldest son, Arthur, signer of the Declaration of Independ- ence, b. in Middleton Place, on Ashley river, S. C, 26 June, 1742; d. in Goose Creek, S. C, 1 Jan., . He was educated at Har- row and West- minster schools and graduated at Cambridge. Af- ter travelling two years through Eu- rope, he returned to South Caro- lina in 1763, and in 1764 married Mary, daughter of Walter Izard. Thefollowingyear he was elected to the commons, and for many years he continued to rep- resent one or oth- er of the parishes of St. George's and St. Helena. He went to Eng- land in 1768. and, returning in 1771, became one of the leaders of the American party in South Carolina. In 1775 he was a member of the Provincial con- gress and of the council of safety. He succeeded his father as a delegate to the Continental con- gress in 1776, and signed the Declaration of Inde- pendence for South Carolina. In 1778 he was chosen governor of the state, but declined. He was active in the defence of Charleston in 1780. His homestead, being on the British line of march, was exposed to their depredations, and, although the buildings were spared, his valuable collection of paintings was wantonly mutilated. On the fall of the city he was carried as a political prisoner to St. Augustine and afterward confined in the "Jer- sey" prison-ship. Upon his exchange in 1780 he served in congress until the close of the war. After witnessing the distress that was occasioned by the oppressive measures of Lord Cornwallis, he sub- mitted to congress a resolution : " That Lord Corn- wallis should be regarded in the light of a barba- rian, who had violated all the rules of modern warfare, and had been guilty of innumerable cases of wanton cruelty and oppression ; and, further, that he, the said Lord Cornwallis, should not be comprehended in any exchange of prisoners which should take place between the British government and that of the United States." He served in the state senate and was instrumental in restoring or- der and peace after the Revolutionary struggles. Mr. Middleton was a stenographer and wrote down many of the debates in which he took part. His speeches were short and terse, and he wrote several effective political essays under the signature of "Andrew Marvell." — Arthur's eldest son, Henry, governor of South Carolina, b. at Middleton Place in 1771 ; d. in Charleston, S. C, 14 June, 1846, was a member of the legislature from 1801 till 1810, and governor of South Carolina from 1810 till 1812. He was afterward a representative in congress, serving from 4 Dec, 1815, till 3 March, 1819, and minister to Russia from 6 April, 1820, till 3 Aug., 1830. He possessed attractive man- ners, maintained a generous hospitality at Mid- dleton Place, and was a centre of social life in South Carolina. He left a large family. His sons, Arthur, John Izard, Edward, and Williams, all served either their state or in the United States in diplomatic, naval, or political life. — Another son of Arthur, Jolin Izard, author, b. at Middleton Place, S. C, in 1785 ; d. in Paris, France, in No- vember, 1849, was educated at the University of Cambridge, England, and resided in Italy and France. In 1810 he married the daughter of M. Falconet, a banker of Naples, and was received on intimate terms in the circles of Mme. de Stael and Mme. Recamier. His work on " Grecian Remains in Italy," etc., was the first contribution made by an American to the knowledge of classical an- tiquity (London, 1812). — Henry's son, Arthur, b. in South Carolina, 20 Oct., 1795; d. in Naples, Italy, 9 June, 1853, was graduated at Plarvard in 1814. He was eight years secretary of legation in Spain, and married in Rome the Countess Benti- voglio. — Another son of Henry, Henry, author, b. in Paris, France, 16 March, 1797 ; d. in Washing- ton, D. C, 15 March, 1876, was educated by private tutors at Middleton Place, S. C. and at the U. S. military academy. He was graduated in 1815 and assigned to the corps of engineers, serving in the construction of defences of the Savannah river, Ga., until his resignation from the army on 15 July, 1816. In 1819 he entered the Litchfield, Conn., law-school, and in 1820 went to Edinburgh to continue his studies. Here he formed a friend- ship with Dugald Stewart and Mrs. Grant, of Lag- gan. In 1822 he returned to the United States and was admitted to the bars of Charleston and Philadelphia, but did not practise his profession, his taste for philosophy dominating any active pursuit. He was interested in political economy and wrote much in favor of free-trade. In 1832-'3 he opposed nullification, publishing an essay on the " Prospects of Disunion." He was the author of " The Government and the Currency," of which Edgar A. Poe said : " Nothing so good on the same subject has yet appeared in America " (New York, 1850) ; " Economical Causes of Slavery in the United States and Obstacles to Abolition " (Lon- don, 1857) ; " The Government of India, as it has been, as it is, and as it ought to be " (1858) ; and " Universal Suffrage in the Various Conditions and Progress of Society." — Another son of Henry, Jolin Izard, author, b. at Middleton Place, 3 Feb., 1800; d. in Summerville, S. C, 12 Jan., 1877, entered South Carolina college at an early age, but was graduated with the highest honor at Piinceton in 1819. He became a large rice- planter in Prince George, S. C, representing that parish in the state legislature from 1832 till 1840. In 1848 he was speaker of the house. He was a member of the conventions of 1832 and 1850, and in 1860 with his brother Williams signed the South Carolina ordinance of secession. He was ruined by the civil war, and spent his last yeiirs in retirement. — Another son of Henry, Edward, na- val oflicer, b. in Charleston, S. C, 11 Dec, 1810; d. in Washington, D. C, 27 April, 1883, was edu- cated in Europe and appointed from South Caro- lina to the U. S. naval academy in 1828. He be- came passed midshipman in 1834, and served on