William Lowndes (congressman)
William Jones Lowndes | |
---|---|
St. Philip's and St. Michael's Parish | |
In office November 26, 1804 – December 19, 1807 | |
Personal details | |
Born | February 11, 1782 planter, lawyer |
William Jones Lowndes (February 11, 1782 – October 27, 1822) was an American
Early life
The son of Rawlins Lowndes (1721–1800), multi-term legislator and briefly governor of South Carolina during the American Revolutionary War, William Lowndes was one of three children born to Rawlins Lowndes' third wife, the former Sarah Jones (1757-1801), daughter of Col. Charles Jones of Georgia.
His paternal grandfather, Charles Lowndes, had moved his family from
In 1802, William Lowndes married Elizabeth Pinckney (1781–1857), daughter of plantation owner and Federalist leader Thomas Pinckney, and they would have son Thomas Pinckney Lowndes (1808–1838) and daughter Rebecca Motte Lowndes Rutledge (1810–1892).
Career
Admitted to the bar in 1804, William Lowndes began his legal practice in Charleston. He also owned several rice plantations on South Carolina's Atlantic coast, which he operated using enslaved labor.
Politics
William J. Lowndes first served in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1804 to 1808.
Elected to the
After the war, Lowndes served as Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee for four years. He authored and shepherded through Congress the Tariff of 1816 in consultation with Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Dallas. He also rose to chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Treasury Department. His reputation for financial expertise made Lowndes a chief lieutenant of Calhoun in authorizing the Second Bank of the United States during the Fourteenth Congress.[4] Extremely well-respected by his colleagues and the press,[5] Lowndes was offered several Cabinet positions by both James Madison and his successor James Monroe, including Secretary of Treasury and Secretary of War.[6] When Lowndes refused the latter, it was offered to Calhoun, who accepted the position and held it until his inauguration as Vice President in 1825.
Staying in the House, Lowndes was a major player in the negotiations surrounding what would become the Missouri Compromise; Southern support for the Compromise was at least partially due to Lowndes's advocacy.[7] William Lowndes also developed the Lowndes Apportionment Method, which would have given more power to smaller states, but could not secure its passage in Congress.[8] In 1821, Lowndes was nominated for President of the United States for the 1824 election by the South Carolina legislature over the more ambitious Calhoun, which impeded Calhoun's own incipient candidacy.[9]
Death and legacy
Perennially ill after an accident in his youth,[10] Lowndes' health took a serious downturn in 1822, and he resigned from Congress. At his wife's urging, the Lowndes family embarked for a recuperative visit to England, but William died en route on October 27, 1822, at the age of 40. He was buried at sea, although a cenotaph in his honor stands at Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C.
Following Lowndes' resignation,
In March–April 1824, electors from South Carolina honored William Lowndes posthumously with a single vote at the
As shown by a historical marker, Lowndesville, South Carolina, was named in his honor.[12] Lowndes County, Georgia, was named in his honor in 1825 and Alabama and Mississippi both named counties in his honor in 1830.[13]
References
- ^
- United States Congress. "William Lowndes (id: L000483)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- ^ "Lowndes, Rawlins".
- ^ Ravenel 87; Vipperman 77-80
- ^ Annals of Congress, 14th Cong., 1st sess., 1233, 1674-95
- ^ Washington Daily National Intelligencer, Apr. 30, 1816; Vipperman 143-4
- ^ Ravenel, Harriet (1901). The Life and Times of William Lowndes of South Carolina. Houghton Mifflin. pp. 156–7.
- ^ Freehling, William. Prelude to Civil War: The Nullification Controversy in South Carolina (New York: Harper and Row, 1965), 108.
- ^ Michael J. Caulfield (Gannon University), "Apportioning Representatives in the United States Congress - Lowndes' Method of Apportionment," Convergence (November 2010), DOI:10.4169/loci003163
- ^ Freehling, William (1965). Prelude to Civil War. NY: Harper. pp. 90–120.
- ^ Vipperman 7-8
- ^ Vipperman, William Lowndes and the Transition of Southern Politics.
- ^ "Lowndesville Historical Marker".
- ^ Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 191.
External links
- http://www.hillmanc.fsnet.co.uk/lowndes.htmGenealogy of the Lowndes family in South Carolina Archived August 12, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- WILLIAM LOWNDES
- Ravenel, Harriet H. The Life and Times of William Lowndes of South Carolina. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1901.
- Vipperman, Carl. William Lowndes and the Transition of Southern Politics. Chapel Hill: UNC Press, 1989