William Aiken Jr. (January 28, 1806September 6, 1887) was the 61st 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 = ...

, serving from 1844 to 1846. He also served in the state legislature and the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

, running unsuccessfully for speaker of the House in

1856 Events January–March * January 8 – Borax deposits are discovered in large quantities by John Veatch in California. * January 23 – American paddle steamer SS ''Pacific'' leaves Liverpool (England) for a transatlantic voy ...

in "the longest and most contentious Speaker election in House history." Aiken was one of the state's wealthiest citizens and a slave owner. He owned one of the largest rice plantation in the state—Jehossee Island—with over 700 enslaved black people on 1,500 acres under cultivation, almost twice the acreage of the next largest plantation. By 1860, Aiken owned the entire Jehossee Island, and the plantation produced 1.5 million pounds of rice in addition to sweet potatoes and corn. After the Civil War, the plantation regained its preeminence, producing 1.2 million pounds of rice. Today, descendants of the Aiken family, the Maybanks, still own part of the island, having sold the remainder in 1992 to the U.S. as part of the ACE Basin National Wildlife Refuge.

Early life

Aiken was the child of

William Aiken William Aiken (1779 – May 5, 1831), or William Aiken, Sr., was the founder and president of the pioneering South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company. and Born in County Antrim, Ireland, he immigrated to Charleston, South Carolina ...

, the first president of the pioneering

South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company The South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company was a railroad in South Carolina that operated independently from 1830 to 1844. One of the first railroads in North America to be chartered and constructed, it provided the first steam-powered, schedu ...

, and Henrietta Wyatt. Unfortunately, William Sr. was killed in a Charleston carriage accident and never saw his namesake town of

Aiken, South Carolina Aiken is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Aiken County, in western South Carolina. It is one of the two largest cities of the Central Savannah River Area. Founded in 1835, Aiken was named after William Aiken, the president of the Sou ...

. Aiken graduated from the College of South Carolina (now the University of South Carolina) at Columbia in 1825 and engaged in agriculture as a planter, entering politics in 1837. He was a member of the State House of Representatives 1838–1842, and served in the State Senate 1842–1844. His term as governor ran from 1844 to 1846.

Congressional service

Subsequent to his service as governor, Aiken served in the U. S. House of Representatives for the Thirty-second Congress, and he was returned to the Thirty-third and Thirty-fourth Congresses, from March 4, 1851, to March 3, 1857. In December 1855, Aiken was a leading candidate for Speaker of the House of Representatives. After two months and 133 ballots, Aiken lost the race to

Nathaniel P. Banks Nathaniel Prentice (or Prentiss) Banks (January 30, 1816 – September 1, 1894) was an American politician from Massachusetts and a Union general during the Civil War. A millworker by background, Banks was prominent in local debating societies ...

by a vote of 103 to 100, in what has been termed "the longest and most contentious Speaker election in House history". In 1866 he was elected to represent his district in the

Fortieth Congress The 40th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1867 ...

, while the state was under a provisional governor, and he was not seated.

Personal life

In 1831 Aiken was married to Harriet Lowndes Aiken (1812–1892) and had a daughter with her named Henrietta Aiken Rhett (1836–1918). Following the

Dred Scott Dred Scott (c. 1799 – September 17, 1858) was an enslaved African American man who, along with his wife, Harriet, unsuccessfully sued for freedom for themselves and their two daughters in the ''Dred Scott v. Sandford'' case of 1857, popular ...

decision, Aiken began traveling to more temperate Northern locations in the summer with some of his slaves, and became an early patron of the University of Minnesota, loaning it some $28,000 (approximately $750,000 in 2016 terms). Throughout the American civil war he was a loyal Unionist, though his friends were nearly all Secessionists. He was a successful businessman and planter and lived in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint ...

. Aiken's first cousin, D. Wyatt Aiken served as a

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

officer and five-term

U.S. Congressman The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

. Aiken died at Flat Rock, NC, September 6, 1887, and was interred in Magnolia Cemetery at Charleston, South Carolina. His house, the Aiken-Rhett House, is part of the Historic Charleston foundation.

References

Attribution *

External links

SCIway Biography of William Aiken Jr.NGA Biography of William Aiken Jr.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aiken, William 1806 births 1887 deaths 19th-century American politicians American planters American slave owners Burials at Magnolia Cemetery (Charleston, South Carolina) Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from South Carolina Democratic Party governors of South Carolina Democratic Party members of the South Carolina House of Representatives Politicians from Charleston, South Carolina Democratic Party South Carolina state senators University of South Carolina alumni University of South Carolina trustees