Wade Hampton I was an Anerican planter, politician and soldier. He took part in the American Revolutionary War, the 1811 German Coast Uprising, and the War of 1812, and also served as a member of the U. S. House of Representatives from South Carolina's 2nd and 4th district.
Background
Wade Hampton I was probably born in 1751 or 1752 in Halifax County, Virginia, and was descended from Thomas Hampton, a clergyman, who was resident at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1630. The descendants of Thomas lived in Virginia through three generations, multiplying their homesteads as the colony expanded. Anthony, of the fourth generation, second son of John and Margaret (Wade) Hampton, followed the frontier southward by stages and when the Revolution began was settled on the Middle Fork of Tyger River (now Spartanburg County, South Carolina) pursuing, according to tradition, the trade of "flax-breaker. " Here in July 1776 he and his wife, whose maiden name is not known, a son, and a grandson were killed by Cherokee Indians. Five sons escaped the massacre, however, and all served as officers in the American forces during the ensuing war. Of these, Wade, probably the third son, subsequently rose to the greatest distinction.
Education
Like the average frontier boy Hampton was brought up to labor in the field; and was almost entirely without the advantages of even a common school education.
Career
On September 21, 1780, Hampton declared himself a loyal subject of the Crown, but at sometime before April 2, 1781, for reasons which he considered adequate, he renounced allegiance and joined the command of the patriot General Thomas Sumter. At this time or shortly afterward he was commissioned colonel, and he continued to serve throughout the remainder of the war as one of Sumter's most daring and effective officers, performing especially meritorious service at the battle of Eutaw Springs.
At various times between 1782 and 1794 he was a member of the state legislature, justice of the peace in Richland County, member of the convention which ratified the Federal Constitution (an act which he stoutly opposed), and sheriff of Camden District. From 1795 to 1797 and from 1803 to 1805 he represented South Carolina constituencies in the federal House of Representatives.
At the threat of war in 1808, Hampton offered for service in the army and in October 1808 was commissioned colonel and in February 1809, brigadier-general. First assigned to duty at New Orleans, where in the fall of 1809 he succeeded Gen. James Wilkinson, the commanding officer, he was next, 1812-1813, in charge of the fortifications of Norfolk, Virginia; and in July 1813, having been advanced to the rank of major-general, was placed in command of the army on Lake Champlain in Military District Number Nine.
Unhappily circumstances shortly afterwards brought Wilkinson, for whom Hampton had the heartiest contempt, to the same district as senior officer. Bad feeling was renewed when Wilkinson assumed authority which he did not possess. Wilkinson blamed Hampton for the failure of the campaign which was undertaken against Montreal in the fall of 1813; and the latter resigned his commission. Hampton had carried out his part as well as his resources permitted, and he was in effect exonerated by the act of the War Department accepting his resignation.
Shortly after the Revolution he began the cultivation of a large plantation in Richland County. He was among the first of his section to plant cotton, and in 1799 raised a crop of six hundred bales with a value of about ninety thousand dollars. After 1811, in addition to these South Carolina lands he held sugar plantations on the lower Mississippi River, and such was his success in the management of all that when he died in 1835 he was reputed to be the wealthiest planter in America.
Achievements
Politics
Although normally a Republican, Hampton followed an independent course in politics, supporting at times measures which were "characteristic of federalism. "
Personality
Hampton had the qualities which made for success in the eighteenth-century South Carolina up-country: energy, foresight, and the frontiersman's attitude toward land; that is, the will to possess without an overscrupulous regard for the means of acquiring possession.
Connections
Hampton was married three times: in 1783 to Mrs. Martha Epps Howell, in 1786 to Harriet Flud, and in 1801 to Mary Cantey. He was survived by one son, Wade, and at least one daughter, who was the wife of John S. Preston. These were children of the second and third marriages respectively.