Pierce BUTLER, Congress, SC (1744-1822)

BUTLER, Pierce, a Delegate and a Senator from South Carolina; born in County Carlow, Ireland, July 11, 1744; pursued preparatory studies; came to America in 1758 as an officer in the British Army; resigned his commission prior to the Revolutionary War and settled in Charles Town (now Charleston), S.C.; planter; aided the American cause during the Revolutionary War; delegate to the Continental Congress in 1787; member of the convention which framed the Federal Constitution in 1787; elected to the United States Senate in 1789 for the term ending March 3, 1793; reelected December 5, 1792, and served from March 4, 1789, to October 25, 1796, when he resigned; again elected to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of John Ewing Colhoun and served from November 4, 1802, until his resignation November 21, 1804; died in Philadelphia, Pa., February 15, 1822; interment in Christ Churchyard, Philadelphia, Pa.

Bibliography

American National Biography; Dictionary of American Biography; Coglan, Francis. “Pierce Butler, 1744-1822, First Senator from South Carolina.” South Carolina Historical Magazine 78 (April 1977): 104-19; Sikes, Lewright B. The Public Life of Pierce Butler, South Carolina Statesman. Washington: University Press of America, 1979.

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