D. Wyatt Aiken

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David Wyatt Aiken
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from South Carolina's 3rd district
In office
March 4, 1877 – March 3, 1887
Preceded bySolomon L. Hoge
Succeeded byJames S. Cothran
Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from Abbeville District
In office
November 28, 1864 – December 21, 1866
Personal details
Born(1828-03-17)March 17, 1828
Gettysburg Campaign

David Wyatt Aiken (March 17, 1828 – April 6, 1887) was a slave owner,

United States Congressman from South Carolina
.

Biography

Early life

Aiken was born in

plantation and traveling extensively in Europe and throughout the United States, where he spoke in defense of slavery to large crowds.[2] He became the editor of the Winnsboro News and Herald, and was married a second time to Miss Smith of Abbeville, where Aiken settled and continued to farm. In 1855, Aiken became a founding member of the State Agricultural Society.[3]

He was a slave owner, and owned the Smith family slave plantation after marrying Smith, which held about 40 slaves.[4][5]

Civil War, Reconstruction

In 1858 Aiken attended a political convention in Mobile, Alabama, and began speaking publicly in favor of secession.

Gettysburg Campaign in Joseph B. Kershaw's brigade, seeing action near the Peach Orchard in the Battle of Gettysburg. However, lingering effects of his wound soon forced Aiken to administrative duty in Macon, Georgia
for a year, before he resigned from the Confederate army in mid-1864 and returned home.

He was a member of the State house of representatives from 1864–66 and served as secretary and treasurer of the

Reconstruction-era Democratic party, and a leader in efforts to suppress the voting rights of recently emancipated slaves, and an advocate of "white man's government."[7] He publicly called for the assassination of a black state legislator, Benjamin F. Randolph, saying “never to suffer this man Randolph to come into your midst; if he does, give him four feet by six.”[8]
On October 16, 1868, Randolph was assassinated by three men in broad daylight. Aiken was detained by state authorities on suspicion of being an accessory-before-the-fact, and freed on $5,000 bond. No one was ever brought to trial for Randolph's assassination.

Grange activist, magazine publisher

In 1872, Aiken was an activist on behalf of

National Grange from 1873–85, served as its chairman in 1875, and was president of the South Carolina Grange from 1875–1877. Starting in 1869, Aiken was a correspondent of The Rural Carolinian, a magazine for southern planters and farmers.[9] He eventually became editor and owner and held those positions until 1877.[6]

Congressional service, death

Aiken served as a delegate to the

Forty-ninth Congresses. With his health declining, Aiken became an invalid during his last term in office and was not a candidate for renomination in 1886.[3]

Aiken died in Cokesbury, South Carolina.

His son,

William Aiken, Jr., became a Congressman and Governor of South Carolina
.

References

  1. ^ "Congress slaveowners", The Washington Post, 2022-01-13, retrieved 2022-01-14
  2. .
  3. ^ a b c d "AIKEN, David Wyatt, (1828 - 1887)". US Congress Biographical Directory. US Congress. Retrieved 2018-01-25.
  4. ^ "Stony Point Plantation - Greenwood County, South Carolina SC". south-carolina-plantations.com. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  5. .
  6. ^ .
  7. .
  8. .
  9. ^ Jacques, D. H. (December 1875). "To the Readers". The Rural Carolinian. 6 (15): 785–787.

External links

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from South Carolina's 3rd congressional district

1877–1887
Succeeded by

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress