Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 07.djvu/65

 LOWNDES

LOWNDES

the house and justice of the quorum. He received tiie appointment of associate judge from tlie crown in 1766, and delivered the first judicial opinion in America upon the Stamp Act, May 13, 1766, declaring it to be against common rights. He also refused to enforce the use of the stamped paper in his court. He was removed from the bench by the governor of the province in 1775, but was soon after reinstated and made chief justice of South Carolina by the crown. He was a member of the Provincial congress of South Carolina, and of the committee of safety appointed in 1775, and also of the committee of eleven who drafted a constitution for the province in 1776. South Carolina declared her independence of the British crown in March, 1776, John Rutledge was elected president of the state and Mr. Lowndes became a member of the legislative council. He also served as president of South Carolina, 1778- 79, and participated in the defence of Charleston. He subsequently served as a member of the state senate from St. Bartholomew's parish, and upon the declaration of peace in 1783, was elected a representative from Charleston in the state legis- lature, serving until the removal of the seat of government to Columbia in 1790. In January, 1788, when the constitution of the United States was submitted to the states for adoption he strenuously opposed it, objecting principally to the restrictions on slavery. He was married, Aug. 15, 1748, to Amarinthia, daughter of Thomas Elliott of Rantoules, Stono River ; she died Jan. 14, 1750. He was married secondly, Dec. 23, 1751, to Mary Cartwrightof Charleston, S.C., and thirdly about 1780, to Sarah Jones of Georgia. He died in Charleston, S.C, Aug. 24, 1800.

LOWNDES, Thomas, representative, was born in Charleston, S.C, Jan. 22, 1766 ; son of Rawlins and Mary (Cartwright) Lowndes. He was edu- cated for the law and settled in practice in his native city. He was a representative in the state legislature for several terms and in the 7th and 8th congresses, 1801-05. He was chair- man of the committee on commerce and manu- factures. He was married, March 8, 1798, to Sarah Bond, daugliter of Richard Ion. He retired to his plantation near Charleston, S.C, in 1805, where he resided up to the time of his death, in Charleston, July, 8, 1843.

LOWNDES, William, statesman, was born in Colleton district, S.C. Feb. 11, 1782 ; son of Governor Rawlins and Sarah (Jones) Lowndes. He attended a school in London, England. 1789-92, where he contracted rheumatic fever that forced his return to South Carolina and affected his health tliroughout his life, causing his premature death. He continued his studies in South Caro- lina at private schools ; entered the ofHce of De Saussure & Ford, and was admitted to the

bar in 1804. He was married in 1802 to Elizalieth Brewton, daughter of Gen. Tliomas Pinckney, of South Carolina. He gave up the practice of law after six months, and retired to liia plantation near Charleston. He wrote a series of pa|>er8 de- fending the proposition that free ships made free goods, and his views led to his election as a representative in the state legislature, where hw served, 1806-11. In 1809 on the formation of the Washington light infantry of Charleston, S.C, he was elected captain of the organization. He was elected a representative from the Beaufort and Carleton districts to the 12th-17th congresses, 1811-23, but resigned in 1822, on account of con- tinued ill-health. He was chairman of the com- mittees on ways and means, 1815-18, coins and weights, 1818-19, and foreign affairs, 1819, and was a conspicuous advocate of the measures timt led to the war of 1812. He was chairman of the naval committee, 1814, and moved the vote of thanks to Commodore Perry and other naval heroes and subsequently obtained a pension for the widow of Commodore Perry. He opposed privateering, devised the sinking fund, favored the Missouri compromise and was chairman of the committee to report on that measure. In the contest over the act of General Jackson in executing Arbuthnot and Ambrister, Represen- tative Lowndes pursued a conciliatory course and gained the title "mediator of the house." His retirement caused the regret of the entire con- gress, irrespective of political affiliation. At his death Mr. Clay pronounced him the wisest man he had ever met ; Speaker John W. Taylor, of New York, said that had Mr. Lowndes lived he would have been President of the United States and this belief was largely held both in and out of congress ; and in after years Mr. Buchanan spoke of him in highest praise. He declined im- portant cabinet positions and foreign missions from Presidents Madison and Monroe, on the ground that he was " of more use to the country '* in the house of representatives. In 1821 the legislature of South Carolina nominated him for President by a very large vote, notwithstsmding that Mr. Calhoun had accepted the nomination presented by the legislature of Pennnsylvania, and it was on this occasion that Mr. Lowndes made his celebrated remark : " The Presidency is not an office either to be solicited or declined.*' He urged liis friends to cast the vote of South Carolina for Calhoun if the vote of the state would nominate him. He visited Europe in 1819 and on Oct. 21, 1822, sailed from Philadelphia for England on the ship Moss, with his wife and daughter, hoping to regain his health, but died at sea six days later. On learning of his death, congress, notwithstanding he was not a meml)er at the time, voted that both houses honor his