Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 03.djvu/330

 DUAVTON

DRAYTON

DRAYTON, Percival, iiiival officer, was born in South Carolina. Aup;. 2"). isr,>; .son of 'Willialn Drayti>n, lepresiMilative in congress and the suc- cessor of Nicholas Bidille as president of the U.S. Ixmk. Percival entered the U.S. navy as mid- t>hipiuan. Dec. 1, 1827, and was promoted lieu tenant. Feb. 28, 1838; commander, Sept. 14, 1855, and captain. July 16, 1862. He served on the Brazilian, Mediterranean and Pacific squadrons, 1838-52, at the naval observatory, Washington, D.C., 1852-58; on the Paraguay expedition, 1858- 60; in command of the Pocahontas in the Port Koyal expedition of 1861; the Pawnee in St. Helena sound, and the monitor Passaic in the bomlwrdment of Fort McAllister and in the first attack on Fort Sumter. He was fleet captain of the \Vest Gulf squadron and commanded the Hartford, J'arragut's flagship, in the battle of Mobile Bay, in 1864. He accompanied Admiral Farragut to New York city in December, 1864. He was made chief of the bureau of navigation, April 28, 1865. He died in Washington, D.C., Aug. 4, 1865.

DRAYTON, Thomas Fenwick, soldier, was born in South Carolina, probabh' in 1807; son of William Drayton, representative from Charles- ton, S.C, in the 19th-22d congresses. He was graduated from the U.S. military academy in 1828 and served on garrison duty in the west and in topographical work until he resigned Aug. 15, 1836, to take up civil engineering in which he en- ^ged in Charleston, S.C, Louisville, Ky., and Cincinnati, Ohio. He also carried on an exten- sive cotton plantation in St. Luke's parish, S.C, from 1838 to 1861. He served as state senator 1853-56, and as president of the Charleston & Savannah railroad, 1853-61. He then entered the Confederate .service and as brigadier-general commanded the forces that occupied Hilton Head, S.C, at the time of the attack and capture of that place by the expedition under Sherman and Du Pont and in which attack liis brother Percival commanded the U.S. steamer Pocahon- tas. He continued in the Confederate service until the surrender when he engaged in planting in Georgia. He subsequently removed to Flor- ence, S.C, and in 1878 became president of the South Carolina immigrant association. He died in Florence, S.C. Feb. 18, 1891.

DRAYTON, William, jurist, was born in South Carolina in 1733. He was graduated in law from the Inner Temple, London, England, 1754, and practised his profession in South Carolina. He was chief justice of the province of East Florida. 1768-76. He was suspended from office during a portion of the period of the American Revolution by reason of suspected sympathy with the patriots, but was reinstated by the crown before the close of the war. On the for-

mation of the Federal union he was made judge of the admiralty court of South Carolina. He was associate justice of the .state in 1789 and the first U.S. judge for the district of South Carolina serving from October, 1789, to the time of his death which occurred May 11, 1790.

DRAYTON, William, .soldier, was born in St. Augustine, Fla., Dec. 30, 1776; son of William Drayton, chief justice of the province of East Florida. He was educated in England until fourteen years old Avhen he returned to Ameiica and became assistant clerk of the court of gen- eral sessions of Charleston, S.C. He was ad- mitted to the bar in 1797. He was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the 10th U.S. infantry in 1812 and in July of that year was promoted colo- nel of the 18th infantry, and on Aug 1, 1814, inspector-general. He resigned from the army in 1815, was recorder of Charleston, 1819-24, and succeeded Joel R. Poinsett as representative in congress, serving through the 19th, 20th, 21st and 22d congresses, 182.5-33. He was opposed to the tariff and at the same time was hostile to nullification. He was offered by President Jackson the mission to England and on the res- ignation of General Eaton was asked to succeed him in the cabinet, both of which positions he declined. In 1833 he removed to Philadelphia, Pa., his course in congress on the question of nullification having estranged him from his former associates in South Carolina. He suc- ceeded Nicholas Biddle as president of the United States bank and in that position pursued the unpopular course of placing the assets in the hands of assignees after vainly striving to revive its bankrupt condition. He died in Philadelphia, Pa., May 24, 1840.

DRAYTON, William Henry, patriot, was born at Drayton Hall on the Ashley river, S.C, in Sep- tember, 1742; son of John, grandson of Thomas Drayton and a descendant of the Drayton family of Northamptonshire, England. Thomas came to South Carolina from the Island of Barbadoes in 1671, with Sir John Yeamans. When eleven years old William Henry was sent to England under the care of Charles Pincknej' to be edu- cated, .studying at Westminster school and Bal- liol college, Oxford, 1761-63. He returned to South Carolina in 1764 and was admitted to the bar. He opposed the mode of enforcing associa- tions as encroaching on his private rights of freedom, in a series of letters under the signature of "Freeman," which he republished in Eng- land when he visited that country in 1770. This led to his appointment as privy counsellor for the province of South Carolina by the king and betook his .seat, April 3, 1772. In his office he frequently opposed the crown officers and judges, and secured for the colonies* numerous conces-