MIDDLETON, Henry, Congress, SC (1770-1846)

MIDDLETON, Henry, (son of Arthur Middleton and grandson of Henry Middleton [1717-1784]), a Representative from South Carolina; born in London, England, September 28, 1770; his parents, then traveling in Europe, returned a year later to South Carolina; pursued classical studies with tutors at his father’s estate, “Middleton Place,” near Charleston, S.C., with a year in England; returned to America after his father’s death in 1787; later returned to England and resided at Clifton, Gloucestershire, until his return to Charleston in 1800; engaged in planting in South Carolina; member of the State house of representatives 1802-1810; elected to the State senate 1810; elected Governor of South Carolina in December 1810 and served until December 1812; elected as a Republican to the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Congresses (March 4, 1815-March 3, 1819); unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1818; Minister to Russia from April 6, 1820, to August 3, 1830; leader of the Union Party of South Carolina and vice president of the Union Convention in 1833; retired to private life; died in Charleston, S.C., June 14, 1846; interment in the family mausoleum at “Middleton Place,” near Charleston, S.C.

Bibliography Bergquist, Harold E., Jr. “Russo-American Economic Relations in the 1820’s: Henry Middleton as a Protector of American Economic Interests in Russia and Turkey.” East European Quarterly 11 (Spring 1977): 27-41.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present