Thomas Heyward (416)

Thomas Heyward (18 July 1746–22 April 1809) was a lawyer, politician, planter, slaveholder, and a member of the American Philosophical Society, elected in 1784. Born in Saint Helena Parish, South Carolina, to a rich planting family, Heyward studied law at the Middle Temple in London. In 1771, he returned to America, gained admittance to the Charleston bar, and began juggling a law practice, a seat in the South Carolina House of Commons Assembly, and a plantation on land he inherited from his father. Upon the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, Heyward played an active role in South Carolina’s independence efforts: he served in the First Provincial Congress (1775), on the Council of Safety (1775-1776), became Captain of the Charleston artillery company, helping defend the city from a British naval attack (1775), and served on the Second Provincial Congress (1775-1776), where he participated in drafting a state constitution and received appointment to Continental Congress. He signed the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia before returning to Charleston. In 1779, he served as Judge of the Court of General Sessions and Common Pleas and led an attack on the British at Port Royal Island. Upon the British capture of Charleston, the following year, Heyward found himself among the many Americans taken as prisoners of war, and later the British shipped him off to St. Augustine where he remained in exile until 1781. After American victory, Heyward continued balancing his political career with planting: he served in the state legislature on and off (1782-1790), advocated for the Federal Constitution and joined the state ratifying convention (1788), continued as circuit judge (1789), and served in the state constitutional convention (1790), all the while finding time to found the Agricultural Society of South Carolina (1785). Finally, he retired to his plantation where he developed an innovative method of rice irrigation. He died nearly a decade after retiring from politics. (ANB)