Alexander Gillon

Alexander Gillon (* 1741 in Rotterdam , Netherlands ; † October 6, 1794 in Orangeburg County , South Carolina ) was an American politician . Between 1793 and 1794 he represented the state of South Carolina in the US House of Representatives .

Career

After a good primary education, Alexander Gillon moved to London , England . There he worked as a ship captain in trade with the American colonies of England. In 1766 he settled in Charleston in what was then the British colony of South Carolina. In his new home he became a successful businessman.

Gillon joined the American Revolution. In 1775 and 1776 he was a delegate to the second provincial congress. In 1776 he was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives. When the War of Independence broke out in 1775, he was appointed captain of a German unit. Three years later he became Commander of the South Carolina Naval Forces. In this capacity he was sent to France to buy new ships. In 1782 Gillon took part in the capture of the Bahamas along with the Spanish fleet .

In 1784 Alexander Gillon was elected to the Continental Congress, but he did not attend its meetings. In 1788 he was a delegate to the convention that ratified the United States Constitution for South Carolina. He belonged to the anti-administration faction that was in opposition to the federal government under President George Washington . In the congressional election of 1792 he was elected to the United States House of Representatives in the fifth constituency of South Carolina, where he succeeded Thomas Tudor Tucker on March 4, 1793 . Alexander Gillon could not finish his term of office in Congress, which ran until March 3, 1795 . He died on October 6, 1794 on his "Gillons Retreat" plantation in Orangeburg County. He was married to Mary Cripps.

Web links

• Alexander Gillon in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Alexander Gillon in the database of Find a Grave (English)