Robert Witherspoon

Robert Witherspoon (born January 29, 1767 in Kingstree , Williamsburg County , Province of South Carolina , † October 11, 1837 in Mayesville , South Carolina ) was an American politician . Between 1809 and 1811 he represented the state of South Carolina in the US House of Representatives .

Career

Robert Witherspoon attended public schools in his home country. He later became a wealthy and successful planter in Sumter County . He also began a political career as a member of the Democratic Republican Party founded by Thomas Jefferson . Between 1792 and 1808 he was a member of the House of Representatives from South Carolina three times . In 1800 he was his state's finance minister.

1808 Witherspoon was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC in the third electoral district of South Carolina , where he succeeded David Rogerson Williams on March 4, 1809 . Since he refused to run again in 1810, he could only complete one term in Congress until March 3, 1811 . After that, his seat fell back to Williams.

After the end of his time in the House of Representatives, Witherspoon returned to his extensive interests as a planter. During the Nullification Crisis of 1832, he was an opponent of the so-called Nullification Act, through which the state of South Carolina wanted to override a federal customs law for its territory. Robert Witherspoon died near Mayesville on October 11, 1837. He was the great-great-grandfather of Robert W. Hemphill (1915-1983), who also represented the state of South Carolina in Congress between 1957 and 1965.

Web links

• Robert Witherspoon in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Robert Witherspoon in the database of Find a Grave (English)