Lawrence Massillon Keitt

Background

Laurence Massillon Keitt was born on October 4, 1864, in Calhoun County, South Carolina, the United States. He was the son of George and Mary Wannamaker Keitt.

Education

Keitt was graduated from the South Carolina College (present-day University of South Carolina) in 1843 and was admitted to the bar in 1845.

Career

Laurence Massillon Keitt started his law practice at Orangeburg Courthouse. In 1848 he began a service of four years in the state House of Representatives and immediately thrust himself to the front among the radical slavery leaders. When the Nashville Convention of 1850 failed to recommend secession, he advocated the secession of South Carolina alone. In 1852 he was elected to Congress and, with the exception of twenty days, served until the secession of his state. His intense individualism and his devotion to Jeffersonian principles of simplicity in government made him an independent Democrat but in all important matters, he was a loyal Southern member of the party. In the debates on the Kansas-Nebraska bill and the bill for admitting Kansas as a free state he freely prophesied secession if the antislavery party should win. He was not frequently on the floor but was ready with objection and an effective reply. His lengthy speeches were usually of great force, telling in the phrase, and eloquent with a burning conviction. Learning that his friend, Representative Preston Smith Brooks was determined to beat Senator Charles Sumner, he went to the Senate chamber and, when the assault occurred, attempted to prevent interference. The House expressed its disapprobation of his conduct, and the next day, July 16, 1856, he resigned his seat. He was promptly reelected, however, and returned to his place on August 6. Keitt sat in the South Carolina secession convention and rejoiced in the separation.

In January 1862 he raised the 20th Regiment of South Carolina Volunteers and was elected its colonel. The regiment was at once ordered to Charleston, where it served for more than two years. During most of this time, Keitt was in command of the forces on Sullivan's Island. For the gallantry and skill with which he defended and evacuated Battery Wagner on Morris Island, he was praised by Generals Ripley and Beauregard. In May 1864 his regiment was ordered to Virginia, and he himself was mortally wounded at Cold Harbor on June 1, dying the next day.

Achievements

• Laurence Massillon Keitt was recognized for his service in the state legislature and United States Congress and in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. In the Confederate Provisional Congress and Convention in Montgomery, he took an important part in organizing the new government and in drafting the constitution.

Politics

Keitt was a member of the Democratic Party. He opposed the election of Jefferson Davis as president, believing that for the salvation of the Confederacy the common sense of Howell Cobb was needed.

Views

Keitt was one the most notorious advocates of secession and apologists for African American slavery.

Personality

Keitt was a man of genial manners and was exceedingly fond of society. He was also well versed in the classics, contemporary history, and economic philosophy.

Connections

Keitt married Susanna Mandeville Sparks. Of their two daughters, one died in infancy and the other never married.

Father:

George Keitt

Mother:

Mary Wannamaker Keitt

Wife:

Susanna Mandeville Sparks Keitt

Daughter:

Anna Keitt

Daughter:

Stella Keitt

Brother:

George Daniel Keitt

Brother:

William J. Keitt

Sister:

Ellison Summerfield Keitt

Brother:

Edward W. Keitt

colleague:

Preston Brooks

Keitt assisted Representative Preston Brooks in his 1856 attack on Senator Charles Sumner in the Senate chamber by brandishing a pistol and cane to prevent other Senators from coming to Sumner's aid.

References

• A Belle of the Fifties
  2016
• South Carolina Fire-Eater: The Life of Laurence Massillon Keitt, 1824-1864
  2014
• Lucius Q. C. Lamar: His Life, Times, and Speeches, 1825-1893
  2017