Thomas De Lage Sumter

Thomas De Lage Sumter (born November 14, 1809 in Germantown , Pennsylvania , †  July 2, 1874 in Stateburg , South Carolina ) was an American politician . Between 1839 and 1843 he represented the state of South Carolina in the US House of Representatives .

Career

Thomas Sumter was a son of the diplomat and Lieutenant Governor Thomas Sumter junior (1768-1840) and a grandson of US Senator Thomas Sumter (1734-1832). He attended the public schools in Edgehill near Stateburg. He then graduated from the US Military Academy in West Point ( New York ) until 1835 . Until 1841 he served as an officer in the US Army . He was also used in the Seminole War.

After his military service, he became the owner and operator of the "South Mount" plantation near Stateburg. At the same time he began a political career as a member of the Democratic Party . In 1838 he was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC in the seventh constituency of South Carolina , where he succeeded Robert Rhett on March 4, 1839 . He represented this district in Congress until March 3, 1841 . In the elections of 1842 he was re-elected to the US House of Representatives for the eighth district. There he succeeded James Rogers . During his time in Congress, the subject of a possible annexation of the Republic of Texas, which has been independent from Mexico since 1836, was controversial. Sumter was the last Congressman of the eighth constituency of South Carolina because it was subsequently dissolved.

In 1842, Thomas Sumter did not run in any other constituency to remain in Congress. In the following years he worked on his plantation again. He also worked as a teacher and surveyor. He also got into the railroad business as an employee of the South Carolina Railroad Co. Thomas Sumter died on July 2nd, 1874 on his plantation near Stateburg.

Web links

• Thomas De Lage Sumter in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Thomas De Lage Sumter in the database of Find a Grave (English)