Thomas Heyward Jr. (July 28, 1746 – March 6, 1809) was an American
Founding Father
The following list of national founding figures is a record, by country, of people who were credited with establishing a state. National founders are typically those who played an influential role in setting up the systems of governance, (i.e. ...
, lawyer, jurist, and politician. Heyward was active politically during the
Revolutionary Era. As a member of the
Continental Congress representing South Carolina, he signed the
Declaration of Independence
A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of th ...
and
Articles of Confederation. Heyward's imprisonment in Florida by the British for nearly a year and the loss of a considerable number of slaves led to his being widely proclaimed a martyr of the
revolution
In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
.
Life
Heyward was born in St. Luke's Parish (now known as
Jasper County), South Carolina, the son of Mary (Miles) and Daniel Heyward. He was educated at home, then traveled to England to study law where he was a member of the Honourable Society of the
Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...
. He was elected to the Continental Congress in 1775 and the following year was the last delegate to sign the Declaration of Independence.
Heyward returned to South Carolina in 1778 to serve as a judge. In 1778, he presided over a trial in which several persons were tried for treason; they were convicted and executed within view of the British lines.
In command of a militia force, he was taken prisoner by the British during the
siege of Charleston
The siege of Charleston was a major engagement and major British victory in the American Revolutionary War, fought in the environs of Charles Town (today Charleston), the capital of South Carolina, between March 29 and May 12, 1780. The Britis ...
. On August 27, 1780, British troops took him from his Charleston home (presently owned by the Charleston Museum) at 87 Church Street and detained him in the Old Exchange Building. They confiscated all of his slaves, and although he later reclaimed some of them, 130 were permanently confiscated and transported to sugar plantations in Jamaica,
a loss of $50,000 in property.
It was this loss of slaves that resulted him being later proclaimed by the press as a martyr of the revolution.
Hours after being arrested, he and 28 other "ringleaders of the rebellion" were relocated to a guard ship in the harbor. On September 4, they were transported to St. Augustine, Florida, and remained there for about 11 months until they were freed in a prisoner exchange. While in prison, Heyward transposed a popular English song, "God Save the King" into "God Save the States".
In 1784, he was elected a member of the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
. He continued to serve as a judge after the war, retiring from the bench in 1798. He is buried at
Old House Plantation
Old House Plantation, also known as Daniel Heyward Plantation, is a historic plantation site and grave located near Ridgeland, Jasper County, South Carolina. The plantation was first settled in 1743 and was likely active through the first quar ...
near
Ridgeland, South Carolina
Ridgeland is a town in Jasper and Beaufort counties, South Carolina, United States. The population was 3,749 at the 2020 census, a 7.1% decrease from 2010. It has been the county seat of Jasper County since the county's formation in 1912. As defin ...
.
The house was added to the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
in 1997.
In 1970, when the Supreme Court ordered that public schools must be integrated, a group associated with the
White Citizen's Council
The Citizens' Councils (commonly referred to as the White Citizens' Councils) were an associated network of white supremacist, segregationist organizations in the United States, concentrated in the South and created as part of a white backlash ...
opened a school named
Thomas Heyward Academy in Ridgeland, South Carolina.
Marriage and family
Heyward was married twice, at age 26 and at age 40, and each wife was named Elizabeth. His first wife, born in 1753, was the daughter of Colonel John and Sarah Gibbes Mathews and the sister of South Carolina governor
John Mathews. She died in childbirth in 1782 in Philadelphia, where she had gone to be with Heyward upon his release as a prisoner of war. She is buried there in St. Peter's Episcopal Church yard. They had six children, but only one son, Daniel, survived childhood.
His second wife was the daughter of Colonel Thomas and Mary Elliott Savage of Charleston. They had three children who lived to adulthood: Thomas, William and Elizabeth. Notable descendants include
DuBose Heyward, whose
novel and later
stage play ''Porgy'' portrayed Black African-Americans and was transformed by
George Gerswhin into ''
Porgy and Bess
''Porgy and Bess'' () is an English-language opera by American composer George Gershwin, with a libretto written by author DuBose Heyward and lyricist Ira Gershwin. It was adapted from Dorothy Heyward and DuBose Heyward's play '' Porgy'', it ...
'', an American opera that achieved both credit as a musical masterpiece and criticism for pervasive racism.
In addition to his wives, he impregnated at least one of the women he enslaved, making him the grandfather of
Thomas E. Miller, one of only five African Americans elected to Congress from the South in the 1890s.
At one time, the Heyward family had the largest slaveholding in the United States.
See also
*
Memorial to the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence
The Memorial to the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence is a memorial depicting the signatures of the 56 signatories to the United States Declaration of Independence. It is located in the Constitution Gardens on the National Mall in W ...
References
External links
*
Rev. Charles A. Goodrich, "Thomas Heyward Jr." in ''Lives of the Signers to the Declaration of Independence'', New York: William Reed & Co., 1856, pp. 440–443
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heyward, Thomas Jr.
1746 births
1809 deaths
American Revolutionary War prisoners of war held by Great Britain
American people of English descent
Continental Congressmen from South Carolina
18th-century American politicians
Signers of the Articles of Confederation
Signers of the United States Declaration of Independence
Members of the Middle Temple
People from Ridgeland, South Carolina
American slave owners