Middleton, Henry

MIDDLETON, HENRY. (1717–1784). Second president of the Continental Congress. South Carolina. Born in 1717 on his father's plantation near Charlestown, South Carolina, Henry Middleton would become one of the largest land- and slave-owners in the state. He was educated in England and elected to the state assembly shortly after his return, serving as speaker in 1747 and 1754. In 1755 he became commissioner of Indian affairs. He sat on the state council until he resigned in 1770 to become leader of the opposition. Sent to the first Continental Congress, he succeeded Peyton Randolph as president on 22 October 1774, and held this office until the re-election of Randolph on 10 May 1775. He also was president of the South Carolina Provincial Congress from 1775 to 1776. An advocate of reconciliation, he refused re-election to the Continental Congress in February 1776, when the radicals seemed to gain control. He was succeeded by his son, Arthur. Although a member of the Council of Safety after 16 November 1775, and active in state affairs until General Henry Clinton's invasion of the South in the spring of 1780. At that point, he came to feel that the Patriot cause was hopeless. After the fall of Charleston, he sought and received the protection of the British, but did not suffer property loss as a consequence. He died in Charleston, South Carolina, on 13 June 1784.

SEE ALSO Middleton, Arthur.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Horne, Paul A. Jr. "Forgotten Leaders: South Carolina's Delegation to the Continental Congress, 1774–1789." Ph.D. dissertation, University of South Carolina, 1988.

                                revised by Michael Bellesiles