LOWNDES
LOWNDES
the house and justice of the quorum. He received
tiie appointment of associate judge from tlie
crown in 1766, and delivered the first judicial
opinion in America upon the Stamp Act, May 13,
1766, declaring it to be against common rights.
He also refused to enforce the use of the stamped
paper in his court. He was removed from the
bench by the governor of the province in 1775,
but was soon after reinstated and made chief
justice of South Carolina by the crown. He was
a member of the Provincial congress of South
Carolina, and of the committee of safety appointed
in 1775, and also of the committee of eleven who
drafted a constitution for the province in 1776.
South Carolina declared her independence of the
British crown in March, 1776, John Rutledge was
elected president of the state and Mr. Lowndes
became a member of the legislative council. He
also served as president of South Carolina, 1778-
79, and participated in the defence of Charleston.
He subsequently served as a member of the state
senate from St. Bartholomew's parish, and upon
the declaration of peace in 1783, was elected a
representative from Charleston in the state legis-
lature, serving until the removal of the seat of
government to Columbia in 1790. In January,
1788, when the constitution of the United States
was submitted to the states for adoption he
strenuously opposed it, objecting principally to
the restrictions on slavery. He was married,
Aug. 15, 1748, to Amarinthia, daughter of Thomas
Elliott of Rantoules, Stono River ; she died Jan.
14, 1750. He was married secondly, Dec. 23,
1751, to Mary Cartwrightof Charleston, S.C., and
thirdly about 1780, to Sarah Jones of Georgia.
He died in Charleston, S.C, Aug. 24, 1800.
LOWNDES, Thomas, representative, was born in Charleston, S.C, Jan. 22, 1766 ; son of Rawlins and Mary (Cartwright) Lowndes. He was edu- cated for the law and settled in practice in his native city. He was a representative in the state legislature for several terms and in the 7th and 8th congresses, 1801-05. He was chair- man of the committee on commerce and manu- factures. He was married, March 8, 1798, to Sarah Bond, daugliter of Richard Ion. He retired to his plantation near Charleston, S.C, in 1805, where he resided up to the time of his death, in Charleston, July, 8, 1843.
LOWNDES, William, statesman, was born in Colleton district, S.C. Feb. 11, 1782 ; son of Governor Rawlins and Sarah (Jones) Lowndes. He attended a school in London, England. 1789-92, where he contracted rheumatic fever that forced his return to South Carolina and affected his health tliroughout his life, causing his premature death. He continued his studies in South Caro- lina at private schools ; entered the ofHce of De Saussure & Ford, and was admitted to the
bar in 1804. He was married in 1802 to Elizalieth
Brewton, daughter of Gen. Tliomas Pinckney, of
South Carolina. He gave up the practice of law
after six months, and retired to liia plantation
near Charleston. He wrote a series of pa|>er8 de-
fending the proposition that free ships made free
goods, and his views led to his election as a
representative in the state legislature, where hw
served, 1806-11. In 1809 on the formation of the
Washington light infantry of Charleston, S.C,
he was elected captain of the organization. He
was elected a representative from the Beaufort
and Carleton districts to the 12th-17th congresses,
1811-23, but resigned in 1822, on account of con-
tinued ill-health. He was chairman of the com-
mittees on ways and means, 1815-18, coins and
weights, 1818-19, and foreign affairs, 1819, and
was a conspicuous advocate of the measures timt
led to the war of 1812. He was chairman of the
naval committee, 1814, and moved the vote of
thanks to Commodore Perry and other naval
heroes and subsequently obtained a pension for
the widow of Commodore Perry. He opposed
privateering, devised the sinking fund, favored
the Missouri compromise and was chairman of
the committee to report on that measure. In
the contest over the act of General Jackson in
executing Arbuthnot and Ambrister, Represen-
tative Lowndes pursued a conciliatory course and
gained the title "mediator of the house." His
retirement caused the regret of the entire con-
gress, irrespective of political affiliation. At his
death Mr. Clay pronounced him the wisest man
he had ever met ; Speaker John W. Taylor, of
New York, said that had Mr. Lowndes lived he
would have been President of the United States
and this belief was largely held both in and out
of congress ; and in after years Mr. Buchanan
spoke of him in highest praise. He declined im-
portant cabinet positions and foreign missions
from Presidents Madison and Monroe, on the
ground that he was " of more use to the country '*
in the house of representatives. In 1821 the
legislature of South Carolina nominated him for
President by a very large vote, notwithstsmding
that Mr. Calhoun had accepted the nomination
presented by the legislature of Pennnsylvania,
and it was on this occasion that Mr. Lowndes
made his celebrated remark : " The Presidency
is not an office either to be solicited or declined.*'
He urged liis friends to cast the vote of South
Carolina for Calhoun if the vote of the state
would nominate him. He visited Europe in 1819
and on Oct. 21, 1822, sailed from Philadelphia for
England on the ship Moss, with his wife and
daughter, hoping to regain his health, but died
at sea six days later. On learning of his death,
congress, notwithstanding he was not a meml)er
at the time, voted that both houses honor his
