Gourdin, Robert N., 1812-1894

Robert Newman Gourdin, merchant, public official, and military officer, was born at Buck Hall Plantation, St. John's Parish, Berkeley County, South Carolina, 27 March 1812, and died 17 February 1894, in Charleston, South Carolina. Gourdin graduated from South Carolina College (1831); was admitted to the bar (1834); joined his brother Henry's mercantile firm, Gourdin, Mathiessen, and Company of Charleston (1837); was a public official in Charleston; signed the Ordinance of Secession of South Carolina (1860); and was chairman of the "1860 Association of Charleston," which published secessionist pamphlets. Toward the end of the Civil War, Gourdin served as a colonel in the South Carolina reserves.

From the description of Robert Newman Gourdin papers, 1841-1909. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 79463384