Robert Woodward Barnwell

Robert Woodward Barnwell

Robert Woodward Barnwell (born August 10, 1801 in Beaufort , South Carolina , † November 5, 1882 in Columbia , South Carolina) was an American politician who was a member of the two chambers of the US Congress and as a senator of the Confederate Congress .

Career

Robert Woodward Barnwell came from a wealthy and influential family. His father Robert Barnwell was a member of the Continental Congress and House of Representatives of the United States . Robert W. Barnwell began his advanced training at Beaufort College but later graduated from Harvard . He then returned home and managed the family plantation.

Barnwells political career began in 1826 when he became MP for the Beaufort County to the South Carolina House of Representatives was elected. He held the mandate until 1828, when he was elected to the US House of Representatives. Barnwell was an MP from 1829 to 1833 when he turned down a new candidacy in 1832. From 1833 to 1841 he was director of South Carolina College , now better known as the University of South Carolina at Columbia.

After the death of Franklin H. Elmore on May 29, 1850, Barnwell was named a US Senator . He only exercised the mandate from June to December, since after a special election the elected Robert Barnwell Rhett ousted him from the post. During this period, the poor balance between the Northern and Southern Senators made such short-term appointments necessary. His only activity in the Senate was to help ensure California became a state. He initially fought in vain against statehood, but then gave in and personally supervised the admission of one of the two Californian senators, John C. Frémont , to Congress.

In 1861 Barnwell became a deputy to the Provisional Confederate Congress , held in Montgomery , Alabama . When Congress first met on February 4, 1861, William Parish Chilton took the floor and said that Barnwell should be appointed chairman of the congress for a limited period until it becomes permanent. Congress approved the motion, but on the same day Barnwell passed the office on to Howell Cobb . On February 9, 1861, he cast his vote in Congress, securing the election of Jefferson Davis as the first President of the Confederate States . He also signed the Constitution of the Confederate States . He also represented South Carolina in the Confederate Senate from 1861 to 1865. After the Civil War , he returned to Columbia to teach at the university. From 1866 until his retirement in 1873, he was the faculty chairman of South Carolina College.

He died in Columbia on November 5, 1882 and was buried in St. Helena's Churchyard in Beaufort.

Web links

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

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