Background
William Aiken Jr. was born on January 28, 1806 in Charleston, South Carolina, United States, the son of William Aiken Sr. , a native of County Antrim, Ireland, who settled in Charleston, and Henrietta Wyatt.
philanthropist planter politician
William Aiken Jr. was born on January 28, 1806 in Charleston, South Carolina, United States, the son of William Aiken Sr. , a native of County Antrim, Ireland, who settled in Charleston, and Henrietta Wyatt.
Aiken received his early education in the schools of Charleston. He then entered the South Carolina College from which he graduated in 1825.
Aiken, after the untimely death of his father as the result of an accident in 1831, was brought into the possession of a large fortune and considerable business responsibilities. Agriculture, however, held more attractions for him than commerce, and he was soon developing a great rice plantation on Jehossee Island, near Charleston, which through his careful and skilful management came to be a model of its kind.
Aiken's political career began in 1838, when he was sent to the lower house of the legislature by the parishes of St. Philip's and St. Michael's (city of Charleston). He was reelected in 1840, and two years later was elevated to the state Senate by the same constituency.
In 1842, before the expiration of his term in the Senate, he was chosen governor by the legislature after three ineffectual ballots. His administration (1844-1846) was marked by no unusual incident, and his efforts were mainly directed toward the development of the economic interests of the state, particularly the railroads.
After a short period of retirement from public life, he was induced in 1850 to offer for Congress. He was elected by a handsome majority, and took his seat in the House of Representatives on December 1, 1851. He was returned without opposition to the Thirty-third and Thirty-fourth Congresses. He seldom took part in debate, but through his position on leading committees he exerted an important influence on legislation. Accordingly, after the House of the Thirty-fourth Congress had spent two months in futile efforts to elect a Speaker, Aiken was brought forward as a compromise candidate. The resolution by which his name was proposed met with so favorable a response that it appeared that he might be elected.
On the following day, February 2, 1856, it was agreed that, if after three further ballots no candidate had secured a majority, then on the fourth the member receiving the largest number of votes should be declared Speaker. No decision was reached on the first three ballots in spite of the fact that Aiken gained the solid support of the Democrats and the votes of most of the Southern Know-Nothings. The final ballot, the 133rd since the beginning of the contest, was then taken. The count stood: 103 for Nathaniel P. Banks, the Republican candidate; 100 for Aiken; and 11 for all others. An effort to have this decision thrown out on technical grounds was defeated by Aiken and others, and Banks was escorted to the chair by his defeated rival and two other members.
Aiken declined a fourth term in Congress and retired again to private life. He had steadfastly opposed disunion, and it was with regret and no little misgiving as to the consequences that he saw the Southern States secede from the Union in 1861. During the war which ensued, however, he contributed materially to the Southern cause by the donation of supplies and by making large subscriptions to Confederate loans.
In June 1865 he was arrested by the federal authorities and taken to Washington, but was released on parole immediately upon his arrival. He was soon after elected to Congress by his old constituency, but was denied his seat by the action of the Northern members. He did not participate further in public life other than to perform the duties of a trustee of the Peabody Educational Fund.
His death occurred at Flat Rock, North Carolina, ten years after his state had resumed its normal position in the Union.
Aiken strongly opposed the radical views of Robert Barnwell Rhett and members of the so-called “Bluffton Movement, ” which called for secession if Texas was not annexed to the United States as a slave state.
As a governor, Aiken focused on economic development in South Carolina, placing particular emphasis on railroad expansion throughout the state. In 1845 he called on legislators to convert the state’s surplus revenue fund into a revolving fund to supply capital to private railroad companies, but the General Assembly did not want to support the ambitious plan during Aiken’s tenure, but approved a similar plan a year after Aiken left office. Although opposed to both nullification and secession, Aiken gave financial support to the Confederacy during the Civil War.
Aiken was free from violent party and sectional bias, and had a reputation of a man of sterling character.
Aiken married Harriett Lowndes on February 3, 1831. They had one daughter, Henrietta.