Columbia, SC 29208, United States
Samuel McGowan graduated from South Carolina College (now University of South Carolina) in 1841.
Columbia, SC 29208, United States
Samuel McGowan graduated from South Carolina College (now University of South Carolina) in 1841.
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1855
judge lawyer military politician
Samuel McGowan was born on October 19, 1819, in the Crosshill section of Laurens District, South Carolina. He was the son of William and Jeannie McWilliams McGowan, Irish Presbyterians who in 1801 emigrated to South Carolina from Ireland. His father became a prosperous farmer, able to fulfill the ambition to send his sons to college.
The younger McGowan attended the school of Thomas Lewis Lesly and was graduated from South Carolina College (now University of South Carolina) in 1841. He then went to Abbeville, where he studied law under T. C. Perrin and was admitted to the bar in 1842.
Samuel McGowan was elected a major-general of militia and for thirteen years before 1865 represented Abbeville District in the state House of Representatives. His civil career was interrupted by military services. In 1846 he entered the famous Palmetto Regiment as a private in the Mexican War, rose to the rank of staff captain, and was complimented for gallantry in action near Mexico City.
In 1861, as commander of a South Carolina brigade, he assisted in the capture of Fort Sumter. In 1862 he became colonel of the 14th South Carolina Volunteers, which was attached to Maxcy Gregg's famous brigade. When in 1863 Gregg was killed, he was made commander of the brigade. He served in that capacity until the surrender at Appomattox. In many of the bloodiest battles in Virginia, he displayed extraordinary bravery. He was wounded at least four times. After the Civil War, he resumed the practice of law at Abbeville as the partner of William H. Parker. He was a member of the state constitutional convention of 1865 and was elected to Congress in the same year, but he was denied a seat by the Republican majority. He was a leader in the struggle to redeem South Carolina from Republican rule in 1876.
In 1878 he was again elected to the legislature, and a year later he was made an associate justice of the state supreme court, where he won a high reputation as a jurist. In 1893 he was defeated for reelection through the influence of Ben Tillman, the Democratic boss of the state, whom he had antagonized by casting the deciding vote in a supreme court decision declaring the proposed liquor dispensary unconstitutional.
Samuel McGowan became recognized as a popular politician and advocate. He served for thirteen years as a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives. His civil career was interrupted by the Mexican War. In 1846 he entered the Palmetto Regiment as a private, rose to the rank of Captain, Staff. He was cited for gallantry in action near Mexico City. Samuel McGowan died at the age of 77 - a notable achievement for a man who had been wounded seven times in two wars.
McGowan was elected to Congress as a member of the Conservative Party but was not permitted to take his seat by the Republican majority. He became a leader in the fight against "carpetbagger" influences in the state's legislature.
Samuel McGowan possessed personal qualities that made possible his rise to positions of distinction. Although not brilliant, he was studious and ambitious and endowed with a fund of simple humor. He was powerful in body, commanding in personal appearance, and possessed of a degree of physical courage and sense of civic duty that won admiration. His rise in the somewhat exclusive social and professional circles of Abbeville was facilitated by his conduct in an affair of honor. He reprimanded John Cuningham, an experienced duelist, for slurring remarks about a young woman, accepted Cuningham's challenge, and was slightly wounded in the duel that followed at Sandbar Ferry, S. C. He became the partner of Perrin and was soon recognized as a popular politician and eloquent advocate.
In 1851 McGowan married Susan Caroline Wardlaw, the daughter of David L. Wardlaw, a distinguished judge of Abbeville. They had seven children.
1787 - 1866
1794 - 1874
3 April 1827 - 19 September 1878
25 October 1851 - 15 January 1854
6 July 1856 - 21 July 1898
31 October 1852 - 4 September 1854
1870 - 1939
16 March 1858 - 27 February 1898
9 December 1854 - 4 August 1862
15 March 1864 - 1 August 1867
At the First Battle of Bull Run, McGowan served as an aide-de-camp on the staff of General Milledge Bonham.
