Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 07.djvu/388

 MIDDLETON

MIDDLETO:^

ton, aud uephew of Arthur Middleton. Edward and Arthur Middleton were natives of Twicken- ham, England, who went to the Barbadoes and thence, in 1678, to Berkeley, S.C., where they became influential in public atfairs. Arthur Middleton was sent to England to be educated, and in 1 704 was a member of the commons house and was instrumental in extending the offices of the Church of England to the colony. In April, 1710, he was appointed a commissioner to found and erect a free school for the use of the inhabi- tants of South Carolina. He was appointed naval officer al Charleston in 1781, and was cor- respondent of the Hon. Abel Kottelby, the naval agent in En2:land in 1713. He was a member of the provincial council, 1711-17, and was sent to Virginia in 1715 to procure men to aid in the war with the Yamassee Indians, and wlien the Vir- ginians returned home he was sent to England to petition the crown for aid. He was active in 1719 in a movement to transfer the government of the colony from the lords-proprietors to the crown direct, and in 1719 was elected president of the convention which succeeded in overthrowing the proprietary government. He was president of the council under Sir Francis Nicholson, 1721-25, and in 1723 when the governor sailed for England, succeeded to his duties as president of the coun- cil, and was addressed as president or com- mander-in-chief. While acting-governor, 1725- 29, he dealt with the Spaniards and Indians who harassed the colonists during the boundary con- troversy between Florida and South Carolina, and in retaliation President Middleton ordered Col. William Palmer with a body of British soldiers to enter Florida and destroy the property of the Spaniards. The French from Louisiana, aided by the Indians, were also encroaching upK)n the colony from the West, and Middleton, to counter- act the influence of the French, sent agents to gain the influence of the Indians. Middleton was an extreme royalist, and so unpopular with the house of assembly that that body in 1729 suc- ceeded in obtaining the appointment of Robert Johnson as governor ; but Middleton held the office until Johnson's arrival from England in 1731, when he was elected a member of the executive council and served as its president until his death. He was elected a trustee of the free school in Dorchester district in 1734. He died in South Carolina. Sept. 6, 1737.

MIDDLETON, Arthur, signer, was born at Middleton Place, on the Ashley river, S.C., June 26, 1742; son of Henry (1717-1784) and Mary ( Williams) Middleton. He attended Harrow school, 1754-56 ; Westminster school, 1756-60, and was graduated at the University of Cambridge in 1764 H(> traveled in Europe. 1764, and was a member of the commons house, 1765-75. He wa^

married in 1768 to Mary, daughter of Walter Izard, and in 18GU-73 visited England, Franto and Spiin. lie settled on his father's estate, Mitldleton Place, in 1773, and became a leader in tiie cause of liberty. He was one of the commit- tee of five who led the populace into the royal magazine and removed the de- posits, April 17, 17- 75. and was apjx)int- ed by the provincial congress a member of the committee of safety, June 14. 1775, with the authority to organize a mili- tary force. He was chosen by the prov- isional congress of South Carolina one of a committee of

eleven to prepare and report a form of govern- ment for the colony in February, 1776. In that year he succeeded his father as a delegate from South Carolina to the Continental congress, and he signed the Declaration of Indei>endenct'. Hf was an intimate friend of John Hancock, ami during his term in congress kept house with him and dispensed lavish hospitality. In 1777 he re- turned to South Carolina ; was elected governor in 1778 to take the place of John Rutledge, re- signed, but declined the office, which was taken by Rawlins Lowndes. In 1779, when the British were devastating Soutli Carolina, he joined the staff of Governor Rutledge and served in the de- fense of Charleston. His estate was ravaged by the British soldiers and valuables carried away or wantonly destroyed, although the buildings were spared. At the surrender of Charleston in 1780, he was among the prisoners sent by sea to the Spanish castle at St. Augustine, Florida. He was exchanged in July, 1781, returned to Phila- delphia, and was a delegate to congress, 1781-82. In November, 1782, he returned to South Caro- lina to assist in restoring stability to the new government, and he served in the state legisla- ture as senator or representative up to the time of his death. He was a skilled stenographer and wrote out many of the debates in congress in which he took part. He is the author of several political essays signed " Andrew Mar veil." He died at Goose Creek, S.C, Jan. 1, 1787.

MIDDLETON, Edward, naval officer, was born in Charleston, S.C, Dec. 11, 1810 ; son of Henry (1770-1846) and Mary Helen (Hering) Middleton. He was educated in Europe and was graduated at the U.S. Naval academy, passed midshipman, June 14, 1834. He was attached to the Constitii-