Middleton, Arthur, 1742-1787

<p>Arthur Middleton (June 26, 1742 – January 1, 1787), of Charleston, South Carolina, a Founding Father of the United States, signed the United States Declaration of Independence.</p>

<p>His parents were Henry Middleton and Mary Baker Williams, both of English descent. He was educated in Britain, at Harrow School, Westminster School, and Trinity Hall, Cambridge. He studied law at the Middle Temple and traveled extensively in Europe where his taste in literature, music, and art was developed and refined. In 1764, Arthur and his bride Mary Izard settled at Middleton Place.</p>

<p>Keenly interested in Carolina, Middleton was a more radical thinker than his father, Henry Middleton. He was a leader of the American Party in Carolina and one of the boldest members of the Council of Safety and its Secret Committee. In 1776, Arthur was elected to succeed his father in the Continental Congress and subsequently was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence. Also in 1776, he and William Henry Drayton designed the Great Seal of South Carolina. His attitude toward Loyalists was said to be ruthless, this stood in contrast to other South Carolina patriots such as Francis Marion who led the effort to reconcile with the loyalists after the war ended.</p>

<ul><b>RACES</b>
<li> 12/31/1781 SC Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li> 12/31/1780 SC Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li> 12/31/1776 SC Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li> 12/31/1775 SC Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
</ul>

Arthur Middleton was born in South Carolina in 1742. He was educated in England and graduated a Cambridge in 1773. He was elected to the Council of Safety at Charleston in 1775, and in 1776 was a delegate to the Continental Congress. He was captured by the British when Charleston was overrun 1781, and held prisoner for more than a year. Most of his fortune was destroyed during the Revolution. He was engaged in politics until his death on the first of January, 1787.