Drayton, William Henry, 1742-1779

DRAYTON, William Henry, a Delegate from South Carolina; born at Drayton Hall, on Ashley River, S.C., in September 1742; pursued classical studies; attended Westminister School and Balliol College, Oxford, England; returned to South Carolina in 1764; studied law and was admitted to the bar; visited England again in 1770 and was appointed by King George III privy councilor for the Province of South Carolina; while on his way home was appointed assistant judge, but took such an active part in the pre-Revolutionary movement that he was deprived of both positions; president of the council of safety in 1775, and in 1776 was chief justice; Member of the Continental Congress in 1778 and served until his death in Philadelphia, Pa., on September 3, 1779; interment in Christ Church Cemetery.

<ul><b>RACES</b>
<li> 12/31/1778 SC Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li> 12/31/1777 SC Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
</ul>

<p>William Henry Drayton (September 1742 – September 3, 1779) was an American Founding Father, planter, and lawyer from Charleston, South Carolina. He served as a delegate for South Carolina to the Continental Congress in 1778 and 1779 and signed the Articles of Confederation.</p>

<p>William Henry was born at his father's plantation, Drayton Hall, on the bank of the Ashley River near Charleston. His father John Drayton had just completed construction of this massive main house on the rice plantation. His mother was Charlotta Bull Drayton, the daughter of the colony's Governor William Bull. This would remain William's home throughout his life. In 1750, he was sent to England for his education. He first studied at Westminster School where he met Charles Cotesworth Pinckney. Then he went on to Balliol College, Oxford, before returning home in 1764. He read law and was admitted to the bar in South Carolina.</p>

<p>Drayton at first opposed the growing sense of colonial unity and resistance after the Stamp Act Congress but reversed his position as the Revolution grew nearer. He first wrote a series of published letters opposing the American actions. When they were published in England, he was made a member of the Colonial Council in 1772. Governor Bull appointed him to the Colony's Court in 1774. However, later that year he wrote a pamphlet, the American Claim of Rights, which supported the call for a Continental Congress. Subsequently he was removed from all government positions, which completed his conversion to the Patriot cause.</p>

<b>William Henry Drayton</b><br>
<b>BIRTH</b> 20 Sep 1742<br>
Saint Andrews, Charleston County, South Carolina, USA<br>
<b>DEATH</b> 3 Sep 1779 (aged 36)<br>
Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, USA<br>
<b>BURIAL</b><br>
Magnolia Plantation Saint Andrews Parish<br>
Charleston County, South Carolina, USA<br>
<br>
<b>Gravesite Details</b><br>
William was originally buried at Christ Church in Philadelphia. He remains were reinterred at Magnolia Plantation in Charleston South Carolina on the 200th anniversary of his death in 1979.

<p>South Carolina had a very distinguished delegation in the Congress that framed the Articles of Confederation. Among the members, William Henry Drayton had a very high reputation. He was born in South Carolina, in 1742.</p>

<p>He spent his youth and acquired his education in England. Soon after he came to manhood, lie returned to Carolina, and there with inferior opportunities, but superior industry, prosecuted his studies. In it he acquired the greater part of that knowledge for which he was afterward distinguished. He first began to write for the public about the year 1769. Under the signature of "Freeman" he stated several legal and constitutional objections to an association, or rather the mode of enforcing an association, for suspending the importation of British manufactures, which was then generally signed by the inhabitants. This involved him in a political controversy, in which he was opposed by Christopher Gadsden and John Mackenzie. In the year 1774 he wrote a pamphlet under the signature of "Freeman," which was addressed to the American Congress. In this he stated the grievances of America, and drew up a bill of American rights. This was well received. It substantially chalked out the line of conduct adopted by Congress then in session. He was elected a member of the provincial Congress, which sat in January, 1775; and in the course of that year was advanced to the presidency thereof. In the latter character he issued on the 9th of November, 1775, the first order that was given in South Carolina for firing on the British. The order was addressed to Colonel William Moultrie, and directed him "by every military operation to endeavour to oppose the passage of any British naval armament that may attempt to pass Fort Johnson." This was before Congress had decided on independence, and, in the then situation of Carolina, was a bold, decisive measure.</p>

<p>Before the Revolution, Mr. Drayton was one of the king's counselors, and one of his assistant judges for the province. The first of these offices the resigned, and from the last he was dismissed by the officers of his Britannic majesty. On the formation of a popular constitution, he was reinstated in the corresponding offices of the State, and in the last advanced to the rank of chief-justice. He published his charge to the grand jury in April, 1776, which breathes all the spirit and energy of a mind which knows the value of freedom, and is determined to support it.</p>