William Henry Gist was born on August 22, 1807, in Charleston, South Carolina. He was an illegitimate child of merchant Francis Fincher Gist and Mary Boyden.
He moved with his father to Union County, South Carolina, in 1811 and came under the guardianship of his uncle, Nathaniel Gist, upon the death of his father in 1819.
His grandfather, William, was a brother of Christopher Gist, a prominent American explorer.
Gist attended the South Carolina College but withdrew in 1827 during his senior year, because he and his classmates were dissatisfied with boarding conditions.
Although he studied law, he early abandoned that profession in order to manage the extensive planting interests of his family.
It was inevitable that a man of his wealth and moral firmness should receive political recognition. From 1840 to 1844, Gist represented Union District in the lower house of the state legislature. He served in the state Senate from 1844 to 1856.
In 1848, he was elected lieutenant-governor but failed to qualify for that office, preferring his seat in the Senate. In 1858, the state- rights party in the legislature elected him governor, and he served in that office from December 13, 1858, to December 17, 1860.
On October 5, 1860, he addressed confidential letters to the governors of all cotton states except Texas announcing that South Carolina would probably secede and asking their cooperation.
On October 12, just after Lincoln’s election seemed assured, he called the legislature into extra session to elect presidential electors and intimated that some action might be necessary “for the safety and protection of the State. ”
When the legislature met on November 5, the day before the presidential election, the governor recommended that it remain in session during the crisis and that in the event of Lincoln’s success a convention of the people should be called and the armed forces of the state strengthened.
Seven days later, the resolution for the calling of the secession convention was passed. In his farewell message, Gist confidently hoped that “by the 25th of December no flag but the Palmetto will float over any part of South Carolina. ” His wish was almost literally gratified.
On December 20, he and the other delegates to the convention signed the famous ordinance of secession. His public career was completed as a member of the Executive Council of South Carolina, a body created by the convention to strengthen the defenses of the state.
The remainder of his life was passed in retirement at “Rose Hill, ” his spacious country home in Union District, where he died.
As governor, Gist bent his efforts toward the accomplishment of the most fateful decision ever made by South Carolina, the withdrawal of that state from the Federal Union.
In a series of messages to the legislature he prophesied the inevitability of secession, and when the election of Lincoln became likely, he changed words to action.
Gist was a member of both the South Carolina House of Representatives and the South Carolina Senate.
Early in life, Gist became an ardent Methodist, contributing liberally to the support of that church and advocating radical restrictions upon the manufacture and sale of liquors. He was elected president of the Methodist State Sunday School Convention.
Gist was married twice: in 1828 to Louisa, daughter of George Bowen, and after her death, to Mary, daughter of William Rice.
Died on 11 January 1819.
11 April 1813 - 13 June 1889
5 May 1812 - 6 April 1830
9 October 1844 - 19 August 1876
28 March 1842 - 17 October 1854
11 December 1848 - 12 September 1854
6 June 1845 - 6 September 1915
18 November 1838 - 24 October 1907
3 October 1840 - 18 November 1863
