D. Wyatt Aiken

D. Wyatt Aiken

David Wyatt Aiken (born March 17, 1828 in Winnsboro , Fairfield County , South Carolina , †  April 6, 1887 in Cokesbury , South Carolina) was an American politician . Between 1877 and 1887 he represented the state of South Carolina in the US House of Representatives .

Career

D. Wyatt Aiken was the father of Wyatt Aiken (1863-1923), who sat in Congress for South Carolina between 1903 and 1917 . He was also a cousin of William Aiken (1806-1887), who served as governor of South Carolina and as a congressman for that state. Aiken initially enjoyed a private education and later attended the Mount Zion Institute in Winnsboro. He then studied until 1849 at the University of South Carolina in Columbia . For the next two years he worked as a teacher. Aiken has been working in agriculture since 1852.

During the civil war , he rose to the rank of colonel in the Confederate States ' army from simple soldier to regimental commander . He took part in several battles and was wounded several times. Because of his injuries, he had to quit military service in 1864. He then began a political career as a member of the Democratic Party . Aiken was a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1864 to 1866 . In 1869 he became secretary and treasurer of the Agricultural and Mechanical Society of South Carolina . Between 1873 and 1885 he was chairman of the board of the state farms ( National Grange ). In 1876 Aiken took part as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in St. Louis , on which Samuel J. Tilden was nominated as a presidential candidate; Rutherford B. Hayes was only marginally defeated by Rutherford B. Hayes in the elections .

In the congressional election of 1876, Aiken was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC in the third constituency of South Carolina . There he took over from Solomon L. Hoge on March 4, 1877 . After four re-elections, he was able to complete five consecutive terms in Congress by March 3, 1887. From 1883 to 1887 he was chairman of the education committee. Aiken's health deteriorated during his final years in Congress. For this reason, he decided not to run again in the 1886 elections. He died just a few weeks after he left Congress on April 6, 1887. D. Wyatt Aiken had been married to Mattie Gaillard since 1852.

Web links

• D. Wyatt Aiken in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• D. Wyatt Aiken in the database of Find a Grave (English)