Ralph IZARD, Congress, SC (17411742-1804)

IZARD, Ralph, a Delegate and a Senator from South Carolina; born at “The Elms,” near Charleston, S.C., January 23, in 1741 or 1742; pursued classical studies in England; returned to America briefly in 1764, but went abroad to reside, taking up his residence in London in 1771; moved to Paris, France, in 1776; appointed commissioner to the Court of Tuscany by the Continental Congress in 1776, but was recalled in 1779; returned to America in 1780; pledged his large estate in South Carolina for the payment of war ships to be used in the Revolutionary War; Member of the Continental Congress in 1782 and 1783; elected to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1789, to March 3, 1795; served as President pro tempore of the Senate during the Third Congress; one of the founders of the College of Charleston; retired from public life to the care of his estates; died near Charleston, May 30, 1804; interment in the churchyard of St. James Goose Creek Episcopal Church, near Charleston, S.C.

Bibliography

American National Biography; Dictionary of American Biography; Izard, Ralph. Correspondence of Mr. Ralph Izard of South Carolina, From the Year 1774 to 1804, with a Short Memoir. Edited by Anne Deas. 1844. Reprint. New York: AMS Press, 1976.

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