Robert Francis Withers Allston

Robert Francis Withers Allston (April 21, 1801 – April 7, 1864) was the 67th Governor of South Carolina. He was born in Waccamaw, South Carolina.

Robert Francis Withers Allston
R F W Allston, c. 1850
67th Governor of South Carolina
In office
December 10, 1856 – December 10, 1858
LieutenantGabriel Cannon
Preceded byJames Hopkins Adams
Succeeded byWilliam Henry Gist
President of the South Carolina Senate
In office
November 25, 1850 – December 10, 1856
Pro tempore: December 14, 1847 – November 25, 1850
GovernorDavid Johnson
Whitemarsh B. Seabrook
John Hugh Means
John Lawrence Manning
James Hopkins Adams
Preceded byAngus Patterson
Succeeded byJames Chesnut, Jr.
Member of the South Carolina Senate from Georgetown District
In office
December 12, 1834 – December 10, 1856
Preceded byHimself
Succeeded byJohn I. Middleton
In office
November 25, 1833 – November 24, 1834
Preceded byJohn Harleston Read
Succeeded byHimself
Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from Georgetown District
In office
November 21, 1828 – November 26, 1832
Personal details
Born(1801-04-21)April 21, 1801
Waccamaw, South Carolina, US
DiedApril 7, 1864(1864-04-07) (aged 62)
Georgetown County, South Carolina, US
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseAdele Petigru
Children9, including Elizabeth Waties Allston Pringle
Alma materUnited States Military Academy
ProfessionStatesman
Military service
Branch/serviceUnited States Army
Years of service1821–1822
RankSecond lieutenant

He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1821, and briefly served as second lieutenant of artillery before resigning in February 1822.

Career

He was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1828, serving in that body through 1831. In 1834, he was elected to the South Carolina Senate, serving in that body until 1856, while there he was appointed Senate President in 1847 and was involved in several disputed elections involving the Prince George Winyah S.C. Senate seat, in large part because of his staunch support of nullification. From 1856 to 1858 he served as Governor of South Carolina. Following South Carolina's secession, he was a Confederate presidential elector.

Family and background

His family was able to maintain two houses in Georgetown and several plantations, including the Allston ancestral home on the Pee Dee River, Chicora Wood—one of the five plantations Robert Allston owned, with over 9,500 acres and at least 690 enslaved Blacks, making him the eighth largest slaveowner in United States history. On his farms he primarily grew rice and published several works on rice planting, including the well-regarded Memoir of the Introduction and Planting of Rice in South-Carolina (1843) and Essay on Sea Coast Crops (1854). Allston's daughter, Elizabeth Waties Allston Pringle, took over the management of Chicora Wood after his death.[1]

Born in 1801 as a younger son to a Georgetown rice plantation who died when Robert was a child. In 1832, he married Adeline (Adéle) Theresa Petigru (b. 1811 d. 1896.) She was the younger sister of James Louis Petigru, a well-known Charleston SC lawyer. They moved to Chicora Woods and had the following children:

1. Benjamin b.1833 d.1900 2. Robert b. 1834 d.1839 3. Charlotte Frances b. 1837 d. 1843 4. Adele Petigru Vanderhorst b. 1840 d.1915 5. Louise Gibert b. 1842 d. 1843 6. Elizabeth Waties Pringle b. 1845 d.1876 7. Charles Petigru b. 1848 d.1922 8. Jane Louise Hill b. 1850 d. 1937 9. Unnamed infant son b. 1852

Source: A family of Women: The Carolina Petigrus in Peace and at War, Jayne H. Pease and William H. Pease, c. 1999 University of North Carolina Press/Chapel Hill and London. ISBN 0-8078-2505-0.

See also

References
  1. "Pringle, Elizabeth Waties Allston". South Carolina Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2023-03-15.

Further reading


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