John Drayton, Governor

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Drayton

John Drayton (June 22, 1766 – November 27, 1822) was an attorney and politician; he was the 40th Governor of South Carolina on two non-consecutive occasions from 1800 to 1802 and 1808 to 1810. He later was appointed as a United States federal judge.

Early life and career

Drayton was born on Magnolia Plantation on the Ashley River in St. Andrews Parish near Charleston. He was educated at the College of New Jersey during the American Revolutionary War and afterward read law at Inner Temple in London to prepare as an attorney.

He began private practice in Charleston from 1788 to 1794. He resumed from 1796 to 1798. He also served as a warden of the City of Charleston in 1788.

Political career

Early rise

In 1792, Drayton was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives and was a member until 1798, when the General Assembly elected him as the 18th Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina. Upon the death of Edward Rutledge on January 23, 1800, Drayton was elected by the General Assembly to become Governor of South Carolina for the remainder of the term. They chose him to serve out a full two-year term in 1800 because of his strong republicanism.

South Carolina College

The most important act during Drayton's first full term was the establishment of South Carolina College. Drayton had pushed for a state-funded college immediately when he became governor upon the death of Edward Rutledge, but it was not until after his election that the General Assembly created and provide funds for a college. The location of Columbia near the State House was favored by Drayton because it was a central location that would provide an opportunity at higher education for all white male South Carolinians. In addition, he intended for the future leaders of South Carolina to be educated together in order to quell any divisions between the Lowcountry and the Backcountry. The General Assembly followed the direction of Governor Drayton and appropriated $50,000 to construct the college in Columbia and another 46,000 for the salaries of the faculty.

Second time as governor

Upon leaving the governorship in 1802, Drayton returned to Charleston. The General Assembly elected him to the South Carolina Senate in 1805. After three years, the General Assembly elected Drayton for a second two-year term as governor in 1808. Drayton and the General Assembly continued the Republican reforms by expanding the suffrage to all white men, regardless of status or wealth.

Later life and career

After leaving the governorship for a final time, Drayton returned to private practice until 1812. On May 5, 1812, he was nominated by President James Madison to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina vacated by Thomas Bee. Drayton was confirmed by the United States Senate on May 7, 1812, and received his commission the same day, serving on the bench until his death.

A productive writer, Drayton authored several works related to South Carolina:

Carolinian Florist

A View of South Carolina, as Respects Her Natural and Civil Concerns

Memoirs of the American Revolution from its Commencement to the Year 1776.

On November 27, 1822, Drayton died. He was buried in Charleston.

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https://www.scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/drayton-john/

Governor, jurist, author. Born on June 22, 1766, a son of the revolutionary leader William Henry Drayton and Dorothy Golightly, John Drayton received his early education at the Charleston Grammar School. At age ten he accompanied his father to York, Pennsylvania, where William Henry served as a delegate to the Continental Congress. John Drayton attended Nassau Grammar School in New Jersey until the unexpected death of his father in September 1779 forced his return to South Carolina. A year later his mother died of unknown causes, leaving Drayton an orphan. For several years he lived with various relatives and family friends until deciding to study law in the office of Charles Cotesworth Pinckney. In 1788 he was admitted to the Charleston Bar and soon opened a legal practice. Steering him toward the legal profession was his desire to overturn his grandfather John Drayton’s last will and testament, which disinherited his father, William Henry. It galled him that his uncle Charles inherited the patriarch’s magnificent Georgian plantation home Drayton Hall, which he considered to be his father’s and, therefore, his own birthright. Although his suit filed against Charles Drayton in 1793 failed to award him Drayton Hall, John Drayton still received a large financial award, money which allowed him the independence to become active in public affairs.

John Drayton’s interest in civic affairs was encouraged at an early age by his father, who John claimed, “Brought him forward by gradual advances for a knowledge of public affairs; fondly hoping, that one day, he might be useful to his country.” John’s political achievements equaled and perhaps surpassed those of his distinguished father. While still in his twenties and early thirties, John Drayton served as warden of Charleston in 1789, a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1792 to 1798, and lieutenant governor from 1798 to 1800. On the death of Governor Edward Rutledge on January 23, 1800, thirty-three-year-old John Drayton became governor of South Carolina on an interim basis until his election to a full two-year term in December 1800. He devoted most of his energy while governor toward the establishment of South Carolina College in Columbia to advance public learning and to help unify the state. Following his term as governor, he again served as warden of Charleston and was one of its representatives in the Senate until 1808, when he again won election as governor. In 1812 President James Madison appointed him federal judge of the U.S. District Court in South Carolina, a post he held for the remainder of his life.

Although Drayton had a long and illustrious career as a politician and jurist, he is perhaps most remembered for his achievements as a writer and botanist. In 1794 he published his Letters Written during a Tour through the Northern and Eastern States of America, a work which lauded the educational system in Massachusetts as superior to that in South Carolina. He used the findings to justify the need for an institution of higher learning in his state. Even more influential was his 1802 publication, A View of South Carolina, as Respecting Her Natural and Civil Concerns, a work perhaps inspired by Thomas Jefferson’s Notes on Virginia. In it, Drayton demonstrated both his extensive knowledge of botany and his skill as an artist. The book was translated into several languages and was favorably reviewed throughout Europe. Indeed, the recognition received from A View of South Carolina earned him membership in the Royal Society of Sciences in Germany in 1804. Drayton spent much of the last years of his life compiling and editing his father’s papers, which he published in 1821 in two volumes under the title Memoirs of the American Revolution, from Its Commencement to the Year 1776, Inclusive; As Relating to the State of South Carolina and Occasionally Referring to the States of North Carolina and Georgia. This compilation, which contains a lengthy biographical sketch of William Henry Drayton, is as much a history of the Revolution in South Carolina as it is a lasting tribute to his father’s contributions.

On November 6, 1794, John Drayton married Hester Rose Tidyman, the daughter of Philip Tidyman and Hester Rose. They had seven children before her death in 1816. John Drayton died on November 22, 1822.