William Aiken

31st Governor of the State of South Carolina 1844 to 1846

Date Born: January 28, 1806

Date Died: September 6, 1887

Place Born: Charleston, SC

Place Buried: Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, SC

Residence: Charleston, SC

Occupation: Planter


South Carolina College (now the University of South Carolina) - graduated 1825

South Carolina House of Representatives, 1838-1842
South Carolina Senate, 1842-1844
US House of Representatives, 1851-1857

Aiken was arrested by federal authorities for refusing to attend the raising of the US flag at Fort Sumter after its capture by Union troops.
Aiken was reelected to the US House of Representatives after the Civil War but was denied his seat.


Aiken, William, (cousin of David Wyatt Aiken), a Representative from South Carolina; born in Charleston, S.C., January 28, 1806; attended private schools; was graduated from the College of South Carolina (now the University of South Carolina) at Columbia in 1825; engaged in agricultural pursuits; member of the State house of representatives 1838-1842; served in the State senate 1842-1844; Governor of South Carolina 1844-1846; elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-second, Thirty-third, and Thirty-fourth Congresses (March 4, 1851-March 3, 1857); was an unsuccessful candidate for Speaker of the House of Representatives after 133 ballots in the Thirty-fourth Congress; was not a candidate for renomination in 1856; presented credentials as a Member-elect to the Thirty-ninth Congress February 12, 1867, but was not permitted to qualify; resumed his former pursuits near Charleston, S.C.; died at Flat Rock, Henderson County, N.C., September 6, 1887; interment in Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, S.C.

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