It’s that time of year again – time to propose Osher courses for the Spring semester. Sometimes I offer a course I’ve taught before, either because I enjoyed the course or because I had a long wait list of people who couldn’t get into the course. But sometimes I create a new course, and that’s what I’ve decided to do for next spring. My new course is going to focus on what I’m calling “The Forgotten Founders: The Pinckney Family of South Carolina.”
So who were the Pinckneys? There were a bunch of them, and they were all descended from their immigrant ancestor, Thomas Pinckney (1666-1705), who settled in Charleston, SC, in 1692 and died there of yellow fever in 1705. Most people who are not from South Carolina haven’t heard much about them. Here are brief bio sketches of the most significant members of this family. (Because several of these men were named “Charles Pinckney,” I have differentiated among them by putting their birth year after their names.)
Charles Pinckney (1699-1758)
Oldest son of the immigrant Thomas Pinckney, Charles Pinckney 1699 studied law in England and had become a politically active leader in the colony. He was South Carolina's first native-born attorney and served as advocate general of the Court of Vice-Admiralty, justice of the peace for Berkeley County, and attorney general. He was elected as a member of the Commons House of Assembly and Speaker of that body intermittently from 1736–1740, and he was a member of the Royal Provincial Council.
Pinckney also served as attorney general of the Province of South Carolina in 1733, speaker of the assembly in 1736, 1738, and 1740, chief justice of the province in 1752–1753, and agent for South Carolina in England in 1753–1758.
He was the father of Charles Cotesworth Pinckney and Thomas Pinckney. He was the uncle of Charles Pinckney 1732 and the great uncle of Charles Pinckney 1757.
Charles Pinckney (1732 – 1782)
Son of William Pinckney (who was the younger brother of Charles Pinckney 1699), Charles Pinckney 1732 was a prominent South Carolina lawyer and planter based in Charleston, South Carolina. Commissioned as a colonel for the Charles Towne Militia in the colonial era, he was widely known as "Colonel Pinckney". He had a rice and indigo plantation known as Snee Farm along the Wando River, about nine miles from Charleston, and a townhouse on Queen Street in the city.
He also became a public figure, elected as a member of the General Assembly, the lower house of the provincial government in South Carolina. In 1775, he was elected as president of the South Carolina Provincial Congress.
Captured by the British in 1780 in the fall of Charleston, Pinckney was among more than 160 men who signed loyalty oaths to protect their properties, which the British would otherwise have confiscated and possibly destroyed. After the war, to penalize his Loyalist oath, the state legislature assessed a fine against Pinckney based on the value of his property.
Eliza Lucas Pinckney (1722-1793)
Wife of Charles Pinckney 1699, Eliza Lucas was born on the island of Antigua in the Caribbean. After being educated in London, she moved with her family to South Carolina. At an early age, she became responsible for managing her father’s land in South Carolina. She was an astute businesswoman and her experimentation with cultivating indigo in the colony was critical to the developing economy of the colony. Due largely to her efforts, indigo became a mainstay of South Carolina agriculture, second only to rice as a cash crop in the colony.
We know about Eliza because of her habit of writing about her life, her experiments, and even her conversations with friends. The multiple volumes of what she called her “letter-books” make up the most complete set of records about the life of an 18th-century woman in the colonies.
The lives of colonial women are often hidden from modern historians simply because their names don’t often appear in colonial land records or court proceedings. Because Eliza was an important figure in the evolution of the economy of colonial South Carolina, and because she wrote down everything, she provides us with a window into a world we don’t know much about. I look forward to learning more about her as I research for this course.
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney (1746-1825)
Son of Charles Pinckney 1699, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney joined the colonial militia in 1772, and he helped organize South Carolina's resistance to British rule. In 1775, after the American Revolutionary War had broken out, Pinckney volunteered for military service as a full-time regular officer in George Washington's Continental Army.
Among other things, Pinckney participated in the 1780 defense of Charleston against British siege, but the city fell. Major General Lincoln surrendered his 5,000 men to the British on May 12, 1780, and Pinckney became a prisoner of war.
With the conclusion of the Revolutionary War, Pinckney returned to his legal practice, becoming one of the most acclaimed attorneys in South Carolina. He also returned to the lower house of the South Carolina legislature, and he and his brother Thomas became major political powers in the state. He represented South Carolina at the 1787 Constitutional Convention.
He was appointed Minister to France in 1796 and was the vice-presidential nominee for the Federalist Party in 1800. Despite his loss in this election, he was chosen by the Federalists to be their presidential nominee in 1804 and 1808.
Thomas Pinckney (1750-1828)
Son of Charles Pinckney 1699, Thomas Pinckney had spent the majority of his life prior to the American Revolution in England. Nonetheless, he sympathized with the Patriot cause in the American Revolutionary War. Along with his brother, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, he became a captain in the Continental Army in June 1775. After seeing much action, he became an aide-de-camp to General Horatio Gates, and was captured by the British at the disastrous Battle of Camden in 1780.
After the Revolutionary War, Pinckney managed his plantation and won election as Governor of South Carolina, serving from 1787 to 1789. He presided over the state convention which ratified the United States Constitution. In 1792, he accepted President George Washington's appointment to the position of minister to Britain. In 1795, while he continued to serve as the ambassador to Britain, Pinckney was sent to Spain to negotiate a treaty regarding boundaries and U.S. navigation on the Mississippi River.
The Federalist Party chose him as their nominee for vice president in 1796. After this unsuccessful attempt, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives in September 1797 and served until March 1801.
Charles Pinckney (1757-1824)
The son of Charles Pinckney 1732, Charles Pinckney 1757 was a s igner of the United States Constitution. He started to practice law in Charleston in 1779 at age 21. About that time, well after the War for Independence had begun, Pinckney enlisted in the militia. He became a lieutenant and served at the siege of Savannah. When Charleston fell to the British the following year, Pinckney was captured; he was held as a prisoner until June 1781 and sent north for a possible exchange. He did not return to Charleston until 1783.
He was elected to the state legislature for several terms (1779–1780, 1786–1789, and 1792–1796). He was elected and served as the 37th governor of South Carolina, later serving two more non-consecutive terms. As a nationalist, he worked in Congress trying to ensure that the United States would receive navigation rights from Spain to the Mississippi River and to strengthen congressional power. He also served as a U.S. Senator and a member of the House of Representatives. He was the United States Ambassador to Spain from 1801-1804.
Course proposals are due by September 19. We’re leaving on a three-week trip to England on September 1, so I need to submit this course proposal before we leave. Then when we get back, I’ll spend a few months figuring out what I’m going to say about this family of Forgotten Founders.
Great idea! I’m delighted to learn of Eliza Lucas Pinckney, her impact on the SC economy, and the life of a colonial woman.
Excellent! Undoubtedly, you will have a waiting list for this course, too. Happy packing and safe travels, Karen.