Editing Henry Middleton

{{short description|American politician}}
{{other people}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name         =  Henry Middleton
| image        = Henry Middleton by Benjamin West.jpg
| imagesize    = 245px
| caption      = Possible portrait by [[Benjamin West]], circa 1771<ref name="portrait">{{cite web|url=http://www.philipmould.com/catalogue.php?p=aa&sid=2235 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130131133955/http://www.philipmould.com/catalogue.php?p=aa&sid=2235 |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 31, 2013 |title=Portrait of a Gentleman, thought to be Henry Middleton (1717–1784) c. 1771 |publisher=philipmould.com |access-date=August 16, 2010 }}</ref>
| office       = 2nd [[President of the Continental Congress]]
| term_start   = October 22, 1774
| term_end     = October 26, 1774
| successor2   = [[Peyton Randolph]]
| predecessor2 = [[Peyton Randolph]]
| birth_date   = 1717
| birth_place  = near [[Charleston, South Carolina|Charles Town]], [[Province of South Carolina]]
| death_date   = June 13, {{death year and age|1784|1717}}
| death_place  = [[Charleston, South Carolina]]
| residence    = [[Middleton Place]]
| signature    =
| occupation   = Planter, public official
| parents      = Susan Amory Middleton<br/>[[Arthur Middleton (1681–1737)|Arthur Middleton]]
| spouse       = {{plainlist}}
* {{marriage|Mary Baker Williams|1741|1761|reason=her death}}
* {{marriage|Mary Henrietta Bull|1762|1772|reason=her death}}
* {{marriage|Lady Mary McKenzie|1776<!--|June 13, 1784|reason=his death-->}}
{{endplainlist}}
| children     = 12, including [[Arthur Middleton|Arthur]]
| relations    = [[Henry Middleton (governor)|Henry Middleton]] (grandson)
}}
'''Henry Middleton''' (1717 – June 13, 1784) was an American politician and [[Planter (American South)|planter]] from [[South Carolina]]. A member of the colonial legislature, during the [[American Revolution]] he attended the [[First Continental Congress]] and served as that body's [[President of the Continental Congress|president]] for four days in 1774 after the passage of the [[Continental Association]], which he signed. He left the [[Second Continental Congress]] before it declared independence. Back in South Carolina, he served as president of the provincial congress and senator in the newly created state government. After his capture by the British in 1780, he accepted defeat and returned to the status of a British subject until the end of the war.

==Early life==
Henry Middleton was born in 1717 on the family plantation, "The Oaks", near [[Charles Town, South Carolina|Charleston]], [[Province of South Carolina]]. He was the second son of Susan ([[née]] Amory) Middleton (1690-1722) and [[Arthur Middleton (1681–1737)|Arthur Middleton]] (1681–1737), a wealthy planter who had served as an acting [[governor of South Carolina]].<ref name="DAB">{{cite book |first=John G. |last=Van Deusen |chapter=Middleton, Henry |title=Dictionary of American Biography |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofamer6john/page/600/mode/2up?view=theater |edition=revised |location=New York |publisher=Scribner's |year=1961 |volume=6 |page=600}}</ref> His grandfather, Edward Middleton, emigrated from England via [[Barbados]].<ref name="middletonplace">{{cite web |title=Middleton Place And Middleton Family Stories, Enslaved Charleston History, Plantation Life |url=https://www.middletonplace.org/explore/stories/ |website=www.middletonplace.org |publisher=[[Middleton Place]] |access-date=June 4, 2019 |language=en |archive-date=June 4, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190604174823/https://www.middletonplace.org/explore/stories/ |url-status=live }}</ref> He was educated in England before returning to South Carolina to inherit his father's plantation. He became one of the largest landowners in the colony, owning {{convert|50000|acre|km2}} and about 800 slaves.<ref name="DAB" />

==Public career==
Middleton served in a variety of public offices in South Carolina. He was a [[justice of the peace]] and a member of the [[Commons House of Assembly]], where he was elected speaker in 1747, 1754, and 1755.<ref name="DAB" /> He was a member of provincial council<ref name="Edgar1977">{{cite book |last1=Edgar |first1=Walter |last2=Bailey |first2=N. Louise |title=Biographical Directory of the South Car- olina House of Representatives. Vol. 2, The Commons House of Assembly, 1692–1775 |date=1977 |publisher=[[University of South Carolina Press]] |location=Columbia}}</ref> but resigned in 1770 in opposition to British policy.<ref name="DAB" />

In 1774, at the outset of the [[American Revolution]], Middleton was selected as a delegate to the Continental Congress.<ref name="McCrady1901">{{cite book |last1=McCrady |first1=Edward |title=The History of South Carolina in the Revolution, 1775–1780 |date=1901 |publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers]] |location=New York}}</ref> He served as that body's [[President of the Continental Congress|president]] during the last few days of the [[First Continental Congress]], following the departure of [[Peyton Randolph]].<ref>Calvin C. Jillson and Rick K. Wilson, ''Congressional Dynamics: Structure, Coordination, and Choice in the First American Congress, 1774–1789'' (Stanford University Press, 1994), 51.</ref> Middleton opposed declaring independence from Great Britain and resigned from the [[Second Continental Congress]] in February 1776 when more radical delegates began pushing for independence.<ref name="DAB" /> He was succeeded in Congress by his son [[Arthur Middleton|Arthur]] who was more radical than his father and became a signer of the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]].<ref name="DAB" />

After Middleton's return to South Carolina, he was elected president of the provincial congress and, beginning on November 16, 1775, served on the [[Committee of safety (American Revolution)|council of safety]].<ref name="DAB" /> In 1776, he and his son Arthur helped frame a temporary state constitution.<ref name="DAB" /> In 1779, he became a state senator in the new government.<ref name="DAB" />

When Charleston was captured by the British at the [[Siege of Charleston]] in 1780, Middleton accepted defeat and status as a British subject.<ref name="scencyclopedia">{{cite web |title=Middleton, Henry (1717-1784) |url=http://www.scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/middleton-henry-2/ |website=www.scencyclopedia.org |publisher=South Carolina Encyclopedia |access-date=June 4, 2019 |archive-date=June 4, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190604174825/http://www.scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/middleton-henry-2/ |url-status=live }}</ref> This reversal apparently did not damage his reputation in the long run, because of his previous support of the Revolution, and he did not suffer the fate of having his estates confiscated, as many [[Loyalist (American Revolution)|Loyalists]] did after the war.<ref name="DAB" />

==Personal life==
In 1741, Middleton was married to Mary Baker Williams (1721–1761), the daughter of John Williams, an early South Carolina planter who began building what is today known as [[Middleton Place]] around 1730.<ref name="Cheves1900">{{cite book |last1=Cheves |first1=Langdon |title=Middleton of South Carolina |date=July 1900 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=weg6AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA380 |publisher=South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine |pages=228–62}}</ref> Together, Henry and Mary were the parents of five sons and seven daughters, seven of whom survived to adulthood, including:<ref name="DAB" />

* [[Arthur Middleton]] (1742–1787), a signer of the Declaration of Independence who married Mary Izard (1747–1814).
* Henrietta Middleton (1750–1792), who married Governor [[Edward Rutledge]].
* Thomas Middleton (1753–1797), who married Anne Manigault.
* Hester Middleton (1754–1789), who married Charles Drayton.
* Sarah Middleton (1756–1784), who married [[Charles Cotesworth Pinckney]].
* Mary Middleton (1757-1825), who married Peter Smith.
* Susannah Middleton (1760–1834), who married Continental Congressman [[John Parker (Continental Congress)|John Parker]].

After his wife's death in 1761, Middleton would go on to marry twice more. His second marriage was to Maria Henrietta Bull (1722–1772), daughter of [[William Bull (governor)|William Bull Sr.]], the [[List of colonial governors of South Carolina|lieutenant governor of South Carolina]], in 1762.<ref name="scencyclopedia"/> His second wife's sister, Charlotta (née Bull) Drayton, was the mother of Continental Congressman [[William Henry Drayton]], and her brother, [[William Bull II]], served as [[List of colonial governors of South Carolina|governor of South Carolina]] before leaving the colony in 1782 when British troops were evacuated at the end of the War.<ref name="scencyclopedia"/>

After his second wife's death in 1772, he married for the third time, although it was her fourth marriage, to Lady Mary McKenzie,<ref name="DAB" /> the daughter of [[George Mackenzie, 3rd Earl of Cromartie]], in 1776.<ref name="scencyclopedia"/> Among Lady Mary's brothers were [[John Mackenzie, Lord MacLeod]] and [[George Mackenzie (1741–1787)|George Mackenzie]]. Her father was a Scottish nobleman who followed [[Charles Edward Stuart]], the [[Jacobitism|Jacobite Pretender]]. The Earl of Cromartie was tried and sentenced to death, but he obtained a conditional pardon although his peerage was forfeited.<ref>[[William Fraser (historian)|Fraser, William]]. (1876). ''[https://archive.org/stream/earlsofcromartie01fras#page/n329/mode/2up/search/1784 The Earls of Cromartie, Their Kindred, Country and Correspondence]''. '''Vol. 1'''. p. cclvi. Edinburgh.</ref>

Middleton died on June 13, 1784, in Charleston.<ref name="DAB" /> He was buried at Goosecreek Churchyard, St. James Parish, [[Berkeley County, South Carolina]].<ref name="HMbioguide">{{cite web |title=MIDDLETON, Henry - Biographical Information |url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=M000698 |website=bioguide.congress.gov |publisher=[[Biographical Directory of the United States Congress]] |access-date=June 4, 2019 |archive-date=September 26, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110926205255/http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=M000698 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Descendants===
His grandson, also named [[Henry Middleton (governor)|Henry]] (1770–1846), had a long career in politics. He was governor of South Carolina (1810–1812), U.S. Representative (1815–1819), and the minister to Russia (1820–1830). Henry had fourteen children, including [[Williams Middleton]] and [[Edward Middleton]].<ref name="DAB" />

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* {{CongBio|M000698 }}
* [http://www.middletonplace.org/ Middleton Place] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060813140703/http://www.middletonplace.org/ |date=August 13, 2006 }}

{{S-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Peyton Randolph]]}} 
{{s-ttl|title=[[President of the Continental Congress|President of the First Continental Congress]]|years=October 22, 1774 – October 26, 1774}} 
{{s-aft|after=[[Peyton Randolph]]<br>''(as President of the Second Continental Congress)''}}
{{S-end}}
{{Presidents of the Continental Congress}}
{{Signers of the Continental Association}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Middleton, Henry}}

{{commons category}}

[[Category:1717 births]]
[[Category:1784 deaths]]
[[Category:American people of Barbadian descent]]
[[Category:American people of English descent]]
[[Category:American slave owners]]
[[Category:Continental Congressmen from South Carolina]]
[[Category:Middleton family]]
[[Category:Politicians from Charleston, South Carolina]]
[[Category:People of South Carolina in the American Revolution]]
[[Category:South Carolina state senators]]
[[Category:People from colonial South Carolina]]
[[Category:18th-century American planters]]
[[Category:Signers of the Continental Association]]
[[Category:Speakers of the South Carolina Commons House of Assembly]]
[[Category:18th-century members of the South Carolina General Assembly]]