Benjamin Franklin Perry (November 20, 1805December 3, 1886) was the 72nd Governor of

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

, appointed by

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a Dem ...

in 1865 after the end of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

Early life and career

Perry was born in Pickens District and educated at preparatory schools in

Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous cit ...

. He was admitted to the South Carolina bar in 1827, but pursued journalism and became the editor of the ''Greenville Mountaineer'' in 1832. The paper was adamantly against

nullification Nullification may refer to: * Nullification (U.S. Constitution), a legal theory that a state has the right to nullify any federal law deemed unconstitutional with respect to the United States Constitution * Nullification Crisis, the 1832 confront ...

and Perry was able to parlay his influence by being elected as a delegate to both the Union Convention and the Nullification Convention. Turner Bynum, who was editor of the pro-

Calhoun John C. Calhoun (1782–1850) was the 7th vice president of the United States. Calhoun can also refer to: Surname * Calhoun (surname) Inhabited places in the United States *Calhoun, Georgia *Calhoun, Illinois * Calhoun, Kansas * Calhoun, Kentuc ...

''Greenville Sentinel'' newspaper, met Perry in a

duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people, with matched weapons, in accordance with agreed-upon Code duello, rules. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the r ...

. The duel was staged on an island in the

Tugaloo River The Tugaloo River (originally Tugalo River) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 26, 2011 river that forms the border between the U.S. states of Georgia and South C ...

near Hatton's Ford on August 17, 1832. Perry fatally wounded Bynum who died that night.

Political career

In 1836, Perry was elected to the

South Carolina House of Representatives The South Carolina House of Representatives is the lower house of the South Carolina General Assembly. It consists of 124 representatives elected to two-year terms at the same time as U.S. congressional elections. Unlike many legislatures, seati ...

and served for six years until 1842, he had lost to

Warren R. Davis Warren Ransom Davis (May 8, 1793 – January 29, 1835) was an American attorney and Representative from South Carolina's 6th congressional district from 1827-35. Davis was born in Columbia, South Carolina, pursued preparatory studies and gra ...

in 1834. He gained election to the

South Carolina Senate The South Carolina Senate is the upper house of the South Carolina General Assembly, the lower house being the South Carolina House of Representatives. It consists of 46 senators elected from single member districts for four-year terms at the sa ...

in 1844, but returned to the House of Representatives in 1849 and remained a member until 1860. As the secession movement was sweeping the state in the years prior to the Civil War, Perry founded ''The Southern Patriot'' in 1851 to counter and spread a unionist message. Even though Perry was adamantly against secession, he embraced the state when it did secede and rallied the residents in

the Upstate The Upstate is the region in the westernmost part of South Carolina, United States, also known as the Upcountry, which is the historical term. Although loosely defined among locals, the general definition includes the 10 counties of the commerc ...

in favor of the

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

cause. He was again elected to the House of Representatives in 1862 and served until being appointed as a Confederate States District Judge in 1864. On June 30, 1865,

appointed Perry as the provisional

Governor of South Carolina The governor of South Carolina is the head of government of South Carolina. The governor is the '' ex officio'' commander-in-chief of the National Guard when not called into federal service. The governor's responsibilities include making year ...

,Presidential Proclamation No. 46, 30 June 1865, , 770 because of the strong unionist views he had held prior to the war. Perry was directed by the president to enroll voters and to lead the state in the writing of a new state constitution. The delegates at the constitutional convention largely followed Perry's guidelines for the constitution, but they strayed by adopting the

black codes The Black Codes, sometimes called the Black Laws, were laws which governed the conduct of African Americans (free and freed blacks). In 1832, James Kent (jurist), James Kent wrote that "in most of the United States, there is a distinction in re ...

to prevent black suffrage. President Johnson, as well as several leading statesmen of South Carolina, urged the granting of suffrage to blacks while also including a property qualification clause. A property qualification would essentially disenfranchise all blacks without giving the appearance of impropriety towards blacks and prevent the imposition of harsh terms by the

Radical Republicans The Radical Republicans (later also known as " Stalwarts") were a faction within the Republican Party, originating from the party's founding in 1854, some 6 years before the Civil War, until the Compromise of 1877, which effectively ended Reco ...

. Benjamin Franklin Perry said in 1865, "The African ... has been in all ages, a savage or a slave. God created him inferior to the white man in form, color, and intellect, and no legislation or culture can make him his equal... His hair, his form and features will not compete with the caucasian race, and it is in vain to think of elevating him to the dignity of the white man. God created differences between the two races, and nothing can make him equal".

Later life

Upon the completion of the constitution, elections were called and Perry sought election to the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

. He was elected along with

John Lawrence Manning John Lawrence Manning (sometimes spelled John Laurence Manning) (January 29, 1816October 24, 1889) was the 65th Governor of South Carolina, from 1852 to 1854. He was born in Clarendon County. He attended South Carolina College, where he was a m ...

, but the

in charge of

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

refused to seat them. In 1872, he unsuccessfully ran for the 4th congressional district

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

seat against

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Alexander S. Wallace. His son, William Hayne Perry, did successfully gain election to the House and was a member from 1885 to 1891. Perry died in Greenville on December 3, 1886 and was interred at Christ Church Episcopal Cemetery.

References

Old Stone Church

External links

NGA Biography of Benjamin Franklin Perry
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, Benjamin Franklin 1805 births 1886 deaths 19th-century American journalists 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century American male writers 19th-century American newspaper publishers (people) 19th-century American politicians American male journalists American newspaper founders American white supremacists Democratic Party governors of South Carolina Democratic Party United States senators from South Carolina Judges of the Confederate States of America Democratic Party members of the South Carolina House of Representatives People of South Carolina in the American Civil War Politicians from Greenville, South Carolina South Carolina lawyers Democratic Party South Carolina state senators University of South Carolina trustees