Francis Wilkinson Pickens

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Francis Wilkinson Pickens
United States Minister to Russia
In office
January 11, 1858 – September 9, 1860
Appointed byJames Buchanan
Preceded byThomas H. Seymour
Succeeded byJohn Appleton
Member of the South Carolina Senate from Edgefield County
In office
November 25, 1844 – November 23, 1846
Preceded byJohn Speed Jeter
Succeeded byNathan Lipscomb Griffin
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from South Carolina's 5th district
In office
December 8, 1834 – March 3, 1843
Preceded byGeorge McDuffie
Succeeded byArmistead Burt
Member of the
South Carolina House of Representatives
from Edgefield County
In office
November 26, 1832 – November 24, 1834
Personal details
Born(1805-04-07)April 7, 1805 or
(1807-04-07)April 7, 1807
Togadoo, Colleton County, South Carolina, U.S.
Died (aged 61 or 63)
Edgefield, South Carolina, U.S.
Resting placeEdgefield, South Carolina
Political partyDemocratic
Other political
affiliations		Nullifier
SpouseLucy Petway Holcombe
Alma materFranklin College
South Carolina College
Professionlawyer, politician
Signature

Francis Wilkinson Pickens (1805/1807 – January 25, 1869) was a politician who served as governor of South Carolina when that state became the first to secede from the United States. A cousin of Senator John C. Calhoun, he was born into the Southern planter class. A member of the Democratic Party, Pickens became an ardent supporter of nullification of federal tariffs when he served in the South Carolina House of Representatives before he was elected to the United States House of Representatives.

As state governor during the Fort Sumter crisis, he sanctioned the decision to fire on a ship bringing supplies to the beleaguered United States Army garrison, and to the bombardment of the fort. After the war, Pickens introduced the motion to repeal South Carolina's Ordinance of Secession, a short speech received in silence, in notable contrast with the rejoicing that had first greeted the Ordinance.

Early life and career

Pickens was born in Togadoo, St Paul's Parish, in

William Butler and a nephew of Senator Andrew Butler
.

Pickens was wealthy. According to the 1860 census, he owned $45,400 in real estate (the equivalent of approximately $1,247,000 today) and $244,206 in personal property (about $6,768,000 today). He also owned 276

Congress to exercise any control over the states.[6]

Pickens served in Congress as a representative from South Carolina from 1834 until 1843. He was a member of the South Carolina state senate from 1844 until 1846. He was offered the position of

Czar Alexander II
.

American Civil War

Governor-elect Francis W. Pickens in 1860 (from Harper's Weekly)

Under his administration as Governor of South Carolina (1860–1862), the state seceded and demanded the surrender of the Federal forts in

ordinance of secession, as is commonly reported. He protested against Major Robert Anderson's removal from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter,[6] and offered to acquire the fort from the United States as part of an equitable settlement of the assets and debts of what Pickens considered to be now-dissolved federal union.[7]

On January 9, 1861, Governor Pickens sanctioned the firing upon the relief steamship Star of the West, which was bringing supplies to Anderson's beleaguered garrison.[6] In a letter dated January 12, 1861, Pickens demanded of President Buchanan that he surrender Fort Sumter because "I regard that possession is not consistent with the dignity or safety of the State of South Carolina."[8]

He also approved of the subsequent bombardment of Fort Sumter. He remained a fervent supporter of

states rights
. On December 9, 1862, Pickens quietly left the governorship and returned to his home in Edgefield, where he remained through the war.

Later life

Pickens was a member of the South Carolina constitutional convention called in September 1865 shortly after the end of the Civil War. He was one of more than 100 representatives from around the state, many of them drawn from the cream of South Carolina society.[citation needed] During the convention, Pickens introduced a motion to repeal the Ordinance of Secession. It was almost breathtakingly brief, according to proceedings recorded by the Charleston Courier:

"We, the Delegates of the People of the State of South Carolina, in General Convention met, do Ordain: That the ordinance passed in convention, 20 December 1860, withdrawing this State from the Federal Union, be and the same is hereby repealed."[9]

According to the New York Times: "The passage was received in silence – strikingly suggestive when one remembered with what dramatic applause the ordinance of secession was proclaimed passed."[10]

The motion passed by a vote of 105–3 with the only dissenting votes coming from three delegates from the Barnwell District:

A.P. Aldrich, J.J. Brabham and J.M. Whetstone. Pickens counseled against inaction, according to historian Francis Butler Simkins
.

"It doesn't become South Carolina to vapor or swell or strut or brag or bluster or threat or swagger," Pickens said. " ... She bids us bind up her wounds and pour on the oil of peace."[11]

Pickens died in Edgefield, South Carolina, and was buried at Willow Brook Cemetery in Edgefield.

Primary sources

  • Anderson, Robert; Pickens, F.W. (January 1861). Correspondence and other papers relating to Fort Sumter. Charleston, South Carolina.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

References

  1. ^ a b Wakefield, Sherman D. (1976). "Pickens, Francis Wilkinson". In William D. Halsey (ed.). Collier's Encyclopedia. Vol. 19. New York: Macmillan Educational Corporation. p. 26.
  2. ^ Congressional BioGuide
  3. ^ The Confederate Governors
  4. ^ The South Carolina Encyclopedia Guide to the Governors of South Carolina
  5. ^ Pickens's gravestone
  6. ^ a b c  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Pickens, Francis Wilkinson". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 21 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 582.
  7. ^ David R. Detzer, Allegiance: Fort Sumter, Charleston and the Beginning of the Civil War (2011)
  8. ISBN 9781623767440. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help
    )
  9. ^ "Charleston Courier, The Home of Secession; Meeting of the Constitutional Convention; The Ordinance of Secession Repealed; September 19, 1865". The New York Times. South Carolina. September 20, 1865. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
  10. ^ From Our Own Correspondent. (September 28, 1865). "South Carolina; Meeting of the Constitutional Convention, The Governor's Message Resolutions in Favor of Jeff. Davis, Contested Seats Beginning the Work of Reconstruction, New York Times, September 28, 1865". The New York Times. South Carolina. Retrieved May 18, 2011. {{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  11. ISBN 0844614106. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help
    )
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Francis Wilkinson Pickens.
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from South Carolina's 5th congressional district
1834–1843 		Succeeded by
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
United States Ambassador to Russia

1858–1860 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Governor of South Carolina
1860–1862 		Succeeded by
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