Joseph Alston (1779 – September 10, 1816) was the 44th

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

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 = ...

from 1812 to 1814.

Early life and career

The son of

William Alston William Payne Alston (November 29, 1921 – September 13, 2009) was an American philosopher. He is widely considered to be one of the most important epistemologists and Philosophy of religion, philosophers of religion of the twentieth century, a ...

, he was born in All Saints Parish near

Georgetown, South Carolina Georgetown is the third oldest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina and the county seat of Georgetown County, South Carolina, Georgetown County, in the South Carolina Lowcountry, Lowcountry. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census ...

. Alston attended the College of New Jersey; but he left in 1796 without graduating. He then went to study law at the office of

Edward Rutledge Edward Rutledge (November 23, 1749 – January 23, 1800) was an American Founding Father and politician who signed the Continental Association and was the youngest signatory of the Declaration of Independence. He later served as the 39th gover ...

and was admitted to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

. Alston decided against practicing law and instead engaged in planting, becoming one of the wealthiest

planters Planters Nut & Chocolate Company is an American snack food company now owned by Hormel Foods. Planters is best known for its processed nuts and for the Mr. Peanut icon that symbolizes them. Mr. Peanut was created by grade schooler Antonio Gentil ...

in South Carolina. In 1801, he married the daughter of

Aaron Burr Aaron Burr Jr. (February 6, 1756 – September 14, 1836) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the third vice president of the United States from 1801 to 1805. Burr's legacy is defined by his famous personal conflict with Alexand ...

Theodosia Burr Alston Theodosia Burr Alston (June 21, 1783 – January 2 or 3, 1813) was an American socialite and the daughter of the third U.S. Vice President, Aaron Burr, and Theodosia Bartow Prevost. Her husband, Joseph Alston, was governor of South Carolina du ...

, partly to ingratiate himself with

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voters in an effort to downplay his aristocratic status. The couple's honeymoon was spent in

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Falls, ...

, the first recorded couple to do so. Their son Aaron Burr Alston, born 1802, died in 1812.

Political career

Rise to governor

Alston won election 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 ...

for an 1802–1803 term and later for a more extended period, 1805 to 1812. In 1805, the House of Representatives chose Alston to be the

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

, and he pushed the legislature to adopt a more equitable basis of representation. In 1812, the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

elected Alston to be the

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 ...

for a two-year term, after the removal of

Thomas Sumter Thomas Sumter (August 14, 1734June 1, 1832) was a soldier in the Colony of Virginia militia; a brigadier general in the South Carolina militia during the American Revolution, a planter, and a politician. After the United States gained independen ...

and Andrew Pickens as candidates. Alston's private life suffered tragedy by the loss of his only child and the disappearance of a ship headed towards

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which his wife had boarded. His troubles continued as his tenure got off to a rocky start and his popularity plummeted.

War of 1812

With the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

raging, Governor Alston called the state

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

into service in 1813, to protect military

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from the

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. Some soldiers of the militia refused to serve, and Alston issued a statement that the refusal of service would result in a

death sentence Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...

. However, a court issued a writ of

habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...

, and the men who had been charged with

courts-martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

were released. Subsequently, Alston dismissed the entire militia from service; but the residents were in shock that their state was then completely defenseless from

attack. The Governor was forced to recall the militia into service after British forces landed on St. Helena Island, and the

South Carolina General Assembly The South Carolina General Assembly, also called the South Carolina Legislature, is the state legislature of the U.S. state of South Carolina. The legislature is bicameral and consists of the lower South Carolina House of Representatives and t ...

correspondingly increased the powers of the

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

for the use of the militia in wartime.

Later life

Alston left the governorship in 1814. He died in Charleston on September 10, 1816.

References

* Sherman Zavitz (City of Niagara Falls Official Historian), 'Niagara Falls Moment', CJRN 710 Radio, June 26, 2008 * *

External links

SCIway Biography of Joseph Alston
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alston, Joseph 1779 births 1816 deaths Princeton University alumni Members of the South Carolina House of Representatives Governors of South Carolina University of South Carolina trustees Burr family South Carolina Democratic-Republicans People from Georgetown, South Carolina Democratic-Republican Party state governors of the United States