Thomas SUMTER, Congress, SC (1734-1832)

SUMTER, Thomas, (grandfather of Thomas De Lage Sumter), a Representative and a Senator from South Carolina; born near Charlottesville, Va., August 14, 1734; received a limited schooling; fought in skirmishes against the Indians; moved to South Carolina about 1760 and opened a crossroads store near Nelson’s Ferry; justice of the peace; served with the South Carolina troops throughout the Revolution; elected to the privy council in 1782; elected a Delegate to the Continental Congress in 1783, but declined to accept; served several terms in the State house of representatives; delegate to the State convention which ratified the Constitution, which he opposed; planter; elected to the First and Second Congresses (March 4, 1789-March 3, 1793); defeated for reelection in 1792; elected as a Democratic Republican to the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Congresses and served from March 4, 1797, to December 15, 1801, when he resigned; elected as a Democratic Republican to the United States Senate in December 1801 to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Charles Pinckney; reelected in 1805 and served from December 15, 1801, until his resignation on December 16, 1810; retired from public life and lived on his plantation, ”South Mount,” near Stateburg, S.C.; died at “South Mount,” June 1, 1832; interment in the private burial ground on the family estate.

Bibliography

American National Biography; Dictionary of American Biography; Bass, Robert. Gamecock: The Life and Campaigns of General Thomas Sumter. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1961; Gregorie, Anne. Thomas Sumter. Columbia, S.C.: The R.L. Bryan Co., 1931.

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