Middleton Family of South Carolina
Middleton Family of South Carolina
MIDDLETON FAMILY OF SOUTH CAROLINA. The Middletons were among the dozen or so families that controlled South Carolina during the eighteenth century. As was the case throughout the colonies, the imperial crisis divided families. Henry Middleton (1717–1784) represented South Carolina in the Continental Congress (and served as its president from 22 October 1774 to 10 May 1775), but resigned in February 1776 because he disagreed with the drift toward independence. His eldest son, Arthur Middleton (1742–1787), was an early supporter of a total break with Britain, and, as a delegate to Congress from 26 February 1776, he voted for independence. Although Henry accepted British protection after the fall of Charleston, his estates were neither confiscated nor amerced, in part because of his son's prominence in the Patriot cause but also because he had lent the state over 100,000 pounds.
SEE ALSO Middleton, Arthur; Middleton, Henry.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Edgar, Walter B., and N. Louise Bailey, eds. Biographical Directory of the South Carolina House of Representatives. Vol. 2: The Commons House of Assembly, 1692–1775. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1977.
revised by Harold E. Selesky