Middleton, Henry, 1717-1784

Henry Middleton (1717 – June 13, 1784) was a planter, public official, and a Founding Father of the United States from South Carolina. A member of the colonial legislature, during the American Revolution he attended the Continental Congress and served as that body's presiding officer for a few days in 1774. He signed the Continental Association but left Congress before it declared independence. Back in South Carolina, he served as president of the provincial congress and senator in the newly created state government. After his capture by the British in 1780, he accepted defeat and returned to the status of a British subject until the end of the war.

Born on "The Oaks", his family's plantation near Charleston in the Province of South Carolina, Middleton was educated at home and in England before returning to South Carolina tro inherit his father's plantation. Middleton served in a variety of public offices in South Carolina. He was a justice of the peace and a member of the Commons House of Assembly, where he was elected speaker in 1747, 1754, and 1755. He was a member of provincial council but resigned in 1770 in opposition to British policy. In 1774, at the outset of the American Revolution, Middleton was selected as a delegate to the Continental Congress. He served as that body's president during the last few days of the First Continental Congress, following the departure of Peyton Randolph.

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