Date Died: November 17, 1802

Place Buried: Charleston, SC

Occupation: Lawyer

John Matthews was born in Charles Town, South Carolina in 1744.

He was commissioned as an ensign on September 20, 1760, a lieutenant November 16, 1760, and served in the South Carolina Provincial Regiment in the Cherokee expedition. He passed the Middle Temple, London, England, as a barrister in 1764 and returned to South Carolina where he was elected to the commons house of assembly in 1772.

He was appointed by the convention of 1774 a member of the “general committee of ninety-nine,” was a member of the First and Second Provincial Congresses of South Carolina in 1775 and 1776, and an associate judge of the circuit court of the State in 1776.

During the Revolutionary War he served as a captain in the Colleton County regiment, was a member of the State house of representatives 1776-1780 and served as Speaker in 1777 and 1778. Matthews was a member of the Continental Congress 1778-1781, Governor of South Carolina in 1782 and 1783, elected judge of the court of chancery in March 1784, and again elected to the State House of Representatives in November 1784.

Later, he was elected judge of the Court of Equity in 1791 and served until 1797, when he resigned. He died in Charleston, SC, November 17, 1802.

Next Governor - Benjamin Guerard >>