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| You are in: Museum of History >> Hall of USA >> Declaration of Independence >> Arthur Middleton | |
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| You are in: Museum of History >> Hall of USA >> Declaration of Independence >> Arthur Middleton | |
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ARTHUR MIDDLETON the eldest son of Henry Middleton was born on June 26, 1742, at the family mansion Middleton Place, on the banks of the Ashley River near Charleston, South Carolina. Middleton was twelve when his father, the president of the First Continental Congress, sent him to England for his education. He studied at Hackney, in London, for two years and then moved on to Westminster. He received a thorough education in the Greek and Roman classics, especially the former in which he is said to have greatly excelled. The taste that he acquired for classical literature he preserved through his life. Middleton then went on to Cambridge. His college companions were frequently young men of dissipated habits, and young Middleton was often powerfully tempted to enter into their youthful follies. Fortunately he escaped the corruption of their insidious examples, and devoted himself to the improvement of his mind. In his twenty-second year, he was graduated bachelor of arts, and left the university with the reputation of an accomplished scholar, and a moral man.
Arthur did not return to America upon his graduation. Because of his father's wealth, he was able to travel extensively. After visiting several parts of England, he proceeded to the continent, where he spent two years, chiefly in the southern parts of Europe. He spent several months in Rome, greatly improving his taste for music and painting. He even became well versed in the principles of sculpture and architecture.
Soon after returning to South Carolina in 1763, he married Mary, the daughter of Walter Izzard, Esq. Arthur became a justice of the peace and served as a delegate to the provincial assembly. However, still having a fondness for traveling, he and his wife again embarked on an extended visit to Europe in 1768. This time they visited many places in England, and proceeding to the continent, they passed through several of the principal cities of France and Spain.
In 1773, Middleton once more returned to America, and now settled down on the delightful banks of the Ashley at Middleton Place, where he acquired vast rice plantations. The Middleton's were at this time, men of great wealth, and the approaching controversy between Great Britain and the colonies might have been viewed with great concern, had not their patriotism preferred the welfare of their country to their private interests. A war with Britain would jeopardize the wealth that had long been enjoyed by the family. Both father and son, in the spirit that had long characterized the family, stood forth in the defense of the rights of the colonies.
In May 1776, Middleton joined the Second Congress and championed the cause for colonial rights. He actively opposed British rule despite his obvious love for the mother country. Despite his English education, he was ruthless toward Loyalists. Like other leaders in South Carolina, he was motivated chiefly by local patriotism. He was a member of the council of safety that virtually ruled the province until a provisional government was set up in the spring of 1776, and he was a member of the large committee that drew the constitution for South Carolina. His activity in these provincial affairs delayed his departure for Congress. In May 1776, Arthur Middleton took the seat vacated by his father. He was re-elected the next year but never spent much time in Philadelphia sessions. He spoke frequently when present but did not like routine business. At the close 1777, Middleton relinquished his seat in Congress, and returned to South Carolina, leaving behind him, the character of a man of the purest patriotism, of sound judgment, and unwavering resolution.
During the year 1779, the southern states became the principal theater of the war. Many of the plantations were needlessly raided, and the families and their personal property were open to the insults and devastation of the enemy. Middleton Place did not escape. Although the buildings were spared, they were looted of every thing valuable. Anything that could not be easily carried was either destroyed or greatly damaged. Middleton owned a valuable collection of paintings that was mutilated by the advancing march of troops. Fortunately, the family had made their escape north of Charleston before the British visited Middleton Place.
Middleton was actively engaged in the defense of Charleston in 1780. With several others he was taken prisoner, and was sent by sea to St. Augustine, in East Florida, where he was kept in confinement for nearly a year. In July 1781, he was exchanged, and proceeded in a cartel to Philadelphia. In November 1782, he returned to South Carolina on a visit to his family, from whom he had been separated for along and anxious period.
On the signing the preliminaries of peace, Middleton declined accepting a seat in congress, preferring the pleasures of retirement with his family. He occasionally accepted a seat in the state legislature, in which he was greatly instrumental in promoting the tranquility and happiness of his fellow citizens.
In the winter of his forty-fifth year, 1786, Middleton contracted a fever. Middleton died on January 1, 1787.
Source: Centennial Book of Signers
The 56 signatures on the Declaration appear in the positions indicated:
[Column 1]
Georgia - Signers
[Column 2]
North Carolina:
South Carolina:
[Column 3]
Massachusetts:
Maryland:
Virginia:
[Column 4]
Pennsylvania:
Delaware:
[Column 5]
New York:
New Jersey:
[Column 6]
New Hampshire:
Massachusetts:
Rhode Island:
Connecticut:
New Hampshire:
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President Who? Forgotten
Founders Part II
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