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LOWNDES OF SOUTH CAROLINA

3n PiStortcal and (lD>eneaIogical iHemoir

GEORGE B. CHASE
A. M. HARV.

'¦ Nothmg can we call our own — except our Dead"

BOSTON
A. WILLIAMS AND COMPANY
1876

Copyright, 1876,
By George B. Chase.

BOSTON :
PRESS OF DAVID CLAPP AND SON,
564 WASHINGTON STREET.

TO

MAJOR RAWLIISrS LOWl^DES,

FORMERLY OF THE ARMY,

NOW OF HOPELAND, STAATSBUKGH-ON-HUDSON,

THIS BRIEF MEMOIR OF HIS FAMILY

|b affectionatclg bcbtcafrlt.

II^TRODUCTION.

The name of Lowndes, an uncommon one in the northern states
of the Union, has been from an early period socially conspicuous
throughout the southern country. The several families of Maryland,
Virginia, and South Carolina cherished till recently the belief that they
were all descendants in common of but one and the same branch of
an ancient county family of England. This belief had in it much to
appeal to the generous traits and hospitable character of the southern
planters, who for a large part of each year lived in comparative re
tirement. They were always ready to assume, in the absence of any
thing to the contrary, that others of their name and class were of their
kith and their kin, since they could thus claim the right to make them
more welcome to their homes. While, too, such a belief gratified
their love of hospitality, it enlarged their acquaii'itance, widened and
deepened the current of their friendships, and increased the considera
tion and influence of their name.
Like others among the older English families of the South they
accepted their family traditions, and believed them without question
as they increased by repetition and friendly intercourse. Nor did they
find their conviction of a wide-scattered kindred in the colonies shaken,
even when the old family seals from different parts of the country
indicated a separation of their ancestors in England, relativfly as wide
as their own settlements in the original colonies. Attaching its proper
significance to heraldic distinctions, they were yet ignorant of the
rules of heraldry and confused in recent generations their arms. They
neglected their old seals and turned to later English dictionaries of
heraldry for their bearings and mottoes. They sometimes bore at
random the arms of one family of the name or another, and were un
conscious of the obligation to prove their hereditary right to their use-

IV INTRODUCTION.
The present head of the Carolina family of Lowndes, attracted by
the successful investigations of Somerby and Chester, American gene
alogists long resident in England, and desirous of placing upon perma-
nent record the most serviceable career of his ancestors in the United
"SlafesTas well as of embodying in correct form as much of the family
pedigree as could be authoritatively traced, authorized and approved
the memoir contained in the following pages, which was written for
the Historical and Genealogical Register, and is found in the number
of that periodical for April, 1876.
The portrait, which faces the title page, has been engraved from a
pliotograph of the figure of William Lowndes, as he is represented
among a group of members of the House of Representatives in a large
picture painted, as is said, by Morse about 1820. The sketches of the
heads of those gentlemen w^hose portraits have thus been preserved
were made by the artist from his seat in the gallery of the old chamber
of the House, as he looked down upon the floor. Mr. Lowndes never
sat for his portrait, and the representation thus disadvantageously taken
of him is the only one that can recall, however feebly, his personal
appearance. The Appendix, which has been divided into two parts, will be
found to contain in the first part, copies and extracts of those wills and
deeds referred to in the narratives which establish the connection be
tween the Cheshire and Carolina families, and in the second, copies
of some of the documents in the Record Office at London, which
illustrate the connection of the- Overton, family of Lowndes with
the Province of South Carolina, and throw light upon its early settle
ment and administration.
The writer regrets the imperfections of the accompanying genealogy.
The destruction of records-and family papers- in the Carolinas has been
so great, in the confusion of the times, that he has found it a matter
of unusual difficulty to determine the facts and dates herein given.
The genealogy is not free, as he fears, from omissions, nor, perhaps,
from errors. It has been his constant endeavor to be accurate, and he
will gladly receive any facts which may illustrate his- subject from any
who may be able to communicate them.
Boston, May i, 1876..

MEMOIR

LOWNDES OF SOUTH CAEOUNA.

A'

MONG the leading families of the
State of South Carolina, in by-gone
days, there was hardly one that exercised
so strong an influence throughout its colo
nial dependence, and the first half centu
ry of its existence as one of the United
States, as that of Lowndes of Charles
ton, and of Colleton County where were
its first plantations, — a junior branch of
an old and very numerous English family
which attained its highest honors in the
mother country during the reign of Queen
Anne. For well nigh a century from the year
1725, when Mr. Thomas Lowndes of
Overton, in the county of Cheshire, and
a descendant of the " anciente familye
of Loundes of Legh Hall," was busily
engaged in schemes for the settlement of
Soutli Carolina, of which he held the patent of Provost Marshal,
and was in active correspondence with the Board of Trade, at White
hall,  down to the period of the MiaSQuri Cinmpn-irpisg Jn 1820,
and the lamented death, two years ]ater,__Q£_BLilliam Laroides-of
Charleston, then nominated, after ten years of eminent service— i-n-
Tlongress, as a candidalEe for the Presidency of the United States, —
the strenuous character of thajr race had maintained a continual
representation of their name in the service of the colony and state.
When Crowfield, tlie family residence on the Ashley river, was
burned with all its contents, soon after the Revolution, the library,
2

8
together with its books, portraits and papers, including a pedigree
and all the early correspondence with their relatives in England
and the West Indies, were utterly destroyed. As the generation
then living, according to tradition, were very familiar with the
history of their line, and as little importance was then attached
to a continuance of that intercourse which had been rudely severed
by the outbreak of the War of Independence, no steps -were taken
to make any record of the history of the Carolina family, and so it
happened after the lapse of two generations of planters, who were
thoroughly content with their lot in life, and, " incuriosi suorum,"
were unaware of the importance to their descendants of a full i'aniily
record, that, when there arose among them, a few years since, the
natural spirit of inquiry into their antecedents, and a desire to establish
anew their traditional connection with England, there was no where
in Carolina any paper or record of the family descent, or even of the
family correspondence in the last century. Beyond an old seal and
a few pieces of English porcelain dinner service sent from England
to Rawlins Lowndes, subsequently President of South Carolina, soon
after his second marriage in 1750, and decorated with his arms,
there was no clue to which branch of the name in England the
Carolina planters had been related.
Several years since. Major Rawlins Lowndes, formerly of the
Army, and now of Hopeland, near Staatsburgh on Hudson, author
ized the inquiry which, conducted by the writer in the West Indies
and in England, resulted, after many unforeseen delays, in perfecting
anew proofs of that pedigree which had been consumed at the burn
ing of Crowfield nearly a hundred years befoie.
A comparison of the arms upon the seal and dinner service with
that of Lowndes of Bostock House and Hassall Hall, in Burlce's
History of the Commoners, showed them to be identical, save with
the proper difference when borne by a younger son, but the geneal
ogy of the Bostock line, as recorded by Burke, although it showed
a representation in the American Colonies at a late period, contained
no mention of any possible ancestor of Charles Lowndes of St. Kitts,
the founder of the Carolina family.
A correspondence was thereupon instituted with the clergy in the
island of St. Christopher, usually called St. Kitts, as it was known
from the printed notes of his grandson, the late Hon. Thomas
Lowndes, that Mr. Charles Lowndes had come with his family
from that island. After an interval of some months, an answer
was received from the late Rev. Ebenezer Elliott, then rector of
Christ Church, Nicola town, and St. Mary's, Cayou, St. Kitts, Hy
ing a record of all births, marriages, and deaths under the Lown^des
name before the removal to Carolina. A diligent search was com
menced in the record office at London, and a careful examination
was made of all the yvills which seenied to bear upon the family of
either Mr. Thomas Lowndes, of Overton, the first Provost Marshal of

Carolina under the king, or that of the Bostock line. Wills wore
transcribed, parish registers were searched, and the present repre
sentative of the Bostock family in England, now merged in tiic female
line, Miss Sophia Kirkby Reddall, of Congleton, niece and heiress
of the last Mr. Lowndes of Hassall, caused an examination of the
family papers in her own possession to be made by her solicitor.
It became at length evident, although not till the end of a long
and wearisome inquiry, which was carried on at intervals for upwards
of five years, that there were material errors and omissions in the
English pedigrees, the result of an imperfect and probably hasty
examination of the papers of the late Mr. William Lowndes of
Plassall, tlie last representative of his name, before they were
submitted to Mr. Burke's compilers for their perusal and use in the
preparation of his most comprehensive book, "The History of the
Commoners of Great Britain."
As Mr. Thomas Lowndes, Provost Marshal of Carolina in 1725,
was of the Overton family, an especial search was also made in the
will offices and among the church records of the various parishes in
Cheshire where the family name was found, for a proof of his pedi
gree and with the hope of bringing to light the presumed relationship
between this gentleman and Charles Lowndes, whose son Rawlins
had, as early as 1741, succeeded to the provost marshalship, with
the approval of the assignee of the patent. The wills of all persons
recorded under the name of Lowndes at the probate office in Chester
were carefully examined, and full extracts were taken from the
parish registers of Sandbach, Middlewich and Astbury, but while
the family of Mr. Thomas Lowndes of Overton, and afterwards
of Westminster — although never himself, after his appointment,
in the new world — was clearly ascertained, there was no trace of
Charles Lowndes, nor any one of his name.
In the autumn of 1872, the writer, who was then in London,
procured some additional lists of wills registered at Doctors' Com
mons, under the name of Lowndes, with copies of the names of all
persons mentioned in them. Among them he read the name of
Cliarles Lowndes as found in th'e will of Frances Lowndes of Covent
Garden. A copy of the will was immediately procured. While it
was, at once, evident that, although her name nowhere appeared in
the history of the Hassall family, she could have belonged to no
other, and that her place in the record could be marked out with
absolute precision, it was also apparent that the omission of her
name was not the only one of her generation, and that further
additions- to the family genealogy would probably be found.
In the sunnncr of 1874, by the kindness of Miss Reddall, a copy
of the will of William Weld of Weld House and Hassall Hall, who
died in 1705, in which the name of Charles Lowndes the elder
occurs, was furnished the writer, and from Mr. William H. Turner

10
were received abstracts of certain deeds relative to the Lowndes
property at Congleton.*
From these various papers, the following genealogical sketch has
been prepared, imperfect as it must always remain from the destruc
tion of so many records in the disorganized condition of South
Carolina during the last fifteen years. The genealogy, however,
establishes perfectly the connection which was known by tradition to
have existed between the old family of Cheshire and the officers of
the crown in the province of South Carolina a century and a quarter
ago. AYilliam' LowNDES,t a descendant of a younger son of the family of
Lowndes, of Overton, in Smallwood, and itself a branch of the ancient
family of Lowndes of Legh Hall, near Middlewicb, bought, in the reign of
Queen Elizabeth, Bostock House in Little Hassall, in the parish of Sand-
bach, all in the county Palatine of Chester, from the family of Bostock of
Moreton Say in the county of Salop, lie married Ellen, daughter of  ,
and had issue :
i. Ellbn,^ bapt. Sept. 25, 1580.
ii. JoAN,»bapt. Oct. 21, 1582.
iii. William,* bapt. Juno 9, 1585, who died in childhood.
2. iv. Richard,* who succeeded ns heir.
V. Thomas,* bapt. Miirch 15, 1590-1 ; buried May 8, 1591.
Mr. Lowndes died 4th June, 1590, and by his will, proved 9th October in
the same year, appointed his wife, and his brothers Richard and Thomas,
executors of his will.
2. RicriARD* Lowndes, gent., of Bostock House, baptized 22d .Tan.
1587-8; married llth Aug. 1611, Elizabeth, daughter of  Rawlins,
and had issue :
i. MAROERy," biipt. Sept. 17, 1012.
ii. Elizabeth," bapt. Oct. 22, 1013.
iii. Richard," bapt. April 19, 1015, who died in infancy.
iv. Ellen," bapt. Feb. 27, 1617-18.
By his second wife, Margery, daughter of  , Mr. Lowndes had one
son : —
3. V. John."
» By the will of William Weld, his cstntos passed to his srcnt nophnw, Richnrd LowndcR,
of Bostock Iloii.so and Hassall Hall, son of Richard, and nophow of Charles Lowndes the
elder. From the accession of Mr, Eichnrd Lowndes to the Hassall property, Bo.stoclv
House ceased to he the family residence. Ormerod, in his History of Cheshire, thus
descrihos the estates of Bostock and Hassall I-lidl, as they appeared in 1818.
Of Bostock Hall, ho says; "Tlic hall, from which this estate derives its name, is a farm
hOHBO, containing within its walls some portion of an nneiontmansion, wliich was defended
hy a moat, of which a part is remaining, and was the property and oceasional residence of
the Bostoeks of Moreton Say, co. Salop. Henry Bostock of that plaeo, by nn Inq p. m.
23. Eliz., is found to liold (inter alia) lands in Hassall from the lord of I-liillleld in socage "
" The Hall of linssall is a very rcspeetaiilo residence, linishcd with gables, and surrounded
with antiquated fiardens and olTlees. The situation is on an elevated knoll, where the
ncighhorins country undulates aKreeahly, and the olreumsfcmcos of the term interest of the
possessor, " with impeachment of w^istc," have already ornamented it with iilensure Krounds
and hedge rows, with trees of growth and propoi'tions striidngiy diBtinsuisliod from those
of the adJMccnt townships."
t Burke's History of the Commoners.

11
On 4th Jan. 1651, Mrs. Margery Lowndes died, and Mr. Lowndes dying
20th April, 1652, was succeeded by his son,
3. John'' Lowndes, gent., of Bostock House, baptized 24th April,
1625. He married Jane, daughter of John Welde, gent., of Weld House,
in Newbold Astbury, and co-heir to her brother, William Weld, Esq., of
Weld House and Hassall Hall.
By his wife Jane, Mr. Lowndes had ten children :
i. Richard,* bapt. at Sandbach, Oct. 13, 16-15, who succeeded as heir.
ii. John,* bapt. at Sandbach, Nov. 8, 1646.
iii. Mary,* bapt. at Sandbach, June 4, 164H ; m. — — Savyle.
iv. AuDREV,* bapt. at Sandbach, June 5, 1649; m. John Walker.
T. Ellen,* bapt. at Sandbach, April 19, le.ll; m. Robert Bennett.
vi. Christopher,* bapt. at Sandbach, Aug. 27, 1652.
vii. Edward,^ bapt. at Sandbach, Aug. 1, 1653.
Not long after the birth of his seventh child, Mr. Lowndes, as appeal's bj'
the deeds of Congleton Borough, moved to Middlewich,* where, by an
indenture dated 13th Oct. 1657, he made a feoffment to William Welde of
Newbold Astbury and John Welde of London of certain premises which he
held as heir of his father Richard Lowndes. It is probable that there were
born to Mr. Lowndes, while a resident of Middlewich, his younger children,
of whose existence the compilers of the family history appear to have been
unaware ; for, in addition to the children whose baptisms are recorded in the
Sandbach records, Mr. Lowndes had :
viii. Frances.*
4. ix. Charles,* who was bapt. at Middlewich, Deo. 6, 1658, and was described
in the parish register as " son of John Lownes."
X. William.*
Mr. Lowndes made his will 18th May, 1667, and died the same day. He
was buried two days later at Sandbach. His wife, who was co-executrix of
his will, died 2d Feb. 1 690, and was buried at Worthenbury in Flintshire.
Frances* Lowndes, of Covent Garden, made her will 29tli March, 1690.
She did not long survive, for the will was proved llth April following. In
her will she mentions her mother Jane, her brothers Richard* and Charles,*
her sisters Mary,* Audrey * and lillen,* and their husbands, who have not,
hitherto, been anywhere recorded. She also mentions her sister-in-law
Sarah, wife of Charles,* and tlieir son Charles,' to whom she left a bequest
of money which was to be paid him when he attained the age of twenty-one
years. She also mentions her cousin, Ann Whittingham, the daughter of
her mother's sister, Elizabeth AVeld, who had married Thomas Whittingham,
gent., of Brereton.
It is worthy of note in this place that the brother of Mrs. Jane Weld
Lowndes, William Weld, of Weld House and Hassall Hall, who died at
Hassall, and was buried at Sandbach, 23d April, 1705, bequeathed by will to
his nephew Charles* Lowndes, the elder, an annuity of £5. No trace of
* Middlewich and Sandbach are adjoining parishes, and the Lowndes family which had
"been settled in the neighborhood from the earliest dates had become wealthy, hi the seven
teenth century, from their success in the opening of salt mines on their property. Of tliese
mines in Cheshire which have now been worked for several centuries, an English writer
(Littell's Living Age, May 2, 1874, No. 1560, p. 319) says, in 1871 an enormous amount of
salt was .sent out of that country to foreign lands .and the home market. " The demand
increases, and the supply as yet shows no sign of failure, for the salt district occupies about
twenty six square miles, of which not more tlian five have been hitherto worked. As a
single square yard of surface is reckoned to cover one hundred and twenty tons of salt, it
Will bo understood that the total quantity is amazing."

12
the three younger children of John' Lowndes had been found by Mr. Burke
in the Hassall papers, nor was their existence known to the representatives
of the family in England, until the discovery of the existence of Frances*
and Charles* had led, at the request of the writer, to a re-examination of
the early wills, and the discovery by Miss Reddall in the will of WiUiam
Weld, of the tenth child, William * Lowndes, of whom, however, we have
no other trace.
4. Charles' Lowndes, the elder, as he was known and described
in the family papers, married Sarah, daughter of  , and had one son :
5. i. Charles,^ b. — -.
5. Charles ' Lowndes, the younger, the ancestor of all of the name
of Lowndes in South Carolina, who emigrated in early life to St. Christo
pher's, or, as it is usually called, St. Kitts, the largest of the Leeward
Islands. Soon after his arrival he married Ruth, daughter of Henry
Rawlins and — — his wife.* By this marriage he connected himself with
a numerous and influential family, long established in the island, for, as
early as 1635, the name of Rawlins is found, and more than once among
the list of passengers to St. Kitts from England. Henry Rawlins was
in the third generation of planters there, and although he had been at one
time a heavy loser by the depredations of the French cruisers, as appears
by a record of the year 1 705 in the state paper office at Loudon, showing
that he had sustained damage on one such occasion, to the amount of
£961. 15s. 3d., of which a third part was subsequently recovered, he was
enabled to bequeath to his daughter a considerable estate, both real and
personal. Mr. Lowndes, whose three children were born to him before the
year 1723, embarrassed his property b}' free living and an unrestrained
expenditure, as his grandchildren were informed by their father, and, in
1730, having resigned his position in the Council as representative of the
parish of St. Peter. Basseterre, to which he had been elected in the previous
year, sailed with his family for Charleston, South Carolina. He was soon
after followed by his negroes and movable property, paying £25 duties
upon his slaves, and £54. 8s. Sd. on his effects. He executed a mortgage,
recorded in the registry of deeds at Charleston, on the 7th of March, 1731,
to secure certain bills of exchange drawn by him on the 18th of February
previous.! Mr. Lowndes died in Charleston, March, 1736. His children were:
0. i. William."
7. ii. Charles. '^
8. iii. Rawlins, ° b. January, 1721.
6. William" Lowndes, the eldest of these brothers, accompanied his
mother on 'her return to St. Kitts after the death of her husband, whom she
survived more than twenty-seven years, dying in Christ Church, Nichola '
Town, 25th July, 1763. She was buried there on the following day. v
* Mr. Elliott was not able to And the record of Mr. Henry Rawlins's marriage. In alaw-
suit, instituted in 1716, at St. Kitts, the papers of which are preserved among the colonial
records at London, tliore is a deposition of one Robert Davis, showing that Henry Rawlins and
Ruth Garner, widow, had seized a long time before npon land in Basseterre, to which
Davis conceived lie had a claim, and the deposition recites much of Mr. Rawlins's doings,
but says nothing further of the widow Garner. The assumption is reasonable that Mr.
Rawlins married the widow, and that Mrs. Charles Lowndes had thus received at
baptism the name of Ruth from lier mother who bore it.
t Among the acts passed in 1733 by tlie Colonial Legislature was one entitled, "An act to
encourage Charles Lowndes, Esquire, to make a new machine to Pound and Beat Rice and'
to appropriate the benefit thereof to himself."

13
William Lowndes was married at Christ Church, April 7th, 1739, to
Mary, daughter of Nicholas and Mary Taylor. Their children were :
i. Mary,^ bapt. June 1, 1740.
ii. John-Taylor.^ bapt. Aug. 1, 1744, named in the will of his uncle Charles
Lowndes. John-Taylor ' Lowndes m.  and had : —
i. John Lowndes,^ m.  ,dau.of  Bailey of Domenica, and had :
i_. Henrietta,' m. Rev. Henry Newman, of Roseau, Domenica.,
ii. Grace,' ia.  Walsh, of Roseau, Domenica, and had issue.
Mr. John^ Lowndes was Surveyor-general of Dominica. He died in 1812.
7. Charles^ Lowndes, at the time of his father's death, was about
seventeen years of age. His portrait, taken not long before his death,
represents a very tall man, with a countenance indicating great determina
tion and fixity of purpose, traits which have been recognized in Carolina as
characteristics of the race since Thomas Lowndes, as agent for the duke
of Newcastle, had first visited the colony, as early as 1685. Charles'
Lowndes finished his education under the care of Mr. Robert Hall, a lawyer
of position and influence, and soon after established himself as a planter in
Colleton County. In 1752, he was appointed Provost Marshal, in immediate
succession to his brother Rawlins,^ and held the oflBce several years. He
married Sarah, daughter of  Parker, and had :
i. Charles,' m. Jeannie Perry.*
Mr. Lowndes made his will 18th Jan. 1763, and died the same year. In
his will, which was proved in the following May, he mentioned his brother
Rawlins,* and his nephew John Taylor^ Lowndes, of St. Kitts, and
bequeathed his estate to his wife and sod.
8. Rawlins * Lowndes, who was about fourteen years of age when his
mother returned to St. Kitts, had been placed by her in the family of the
resident provost marshal, Mr. Robert Hall, as his guardian. This gentleman,
who possessed a large library, of which his ward was a diligent student,
carefully directed, during the four remaining years of his most useful life,
the education of his pupil in the study of the law. Such was the value of
Mr. Hall's training, and such was the diligence of young Mr. Lowndes, that
on the death of his guardian in January, 1740, it proved to be the well-nigh
unanimous desire of the provincial bar that the position of Provost Marshal
should be but temporarily filled, and the permanent appointment reserved
till he came of age and be enabled to take the oath of office. Early in
1742, Mr. Lowndes received the appointment, which he held for ten years,
when he was succeeded, as we have already seen, by his brother Charles.*
The office of Provost Marshal corresponded to that of High Sheriff, and
had been granted to Mr. Thomas Lowndes, of Westminster, Gent., 27th
Sept. 1725. A copy of his Patent, which contains a curious provision, is
preserved at the Record Office, London. f
* The authority for this lady's name depends solely npon an old rhyme, for which the
neighborhood rather than the family were responsible, handed down through the retentive
memory of the late Hon. James L. Petigrn :
" H— 11 of a wedding over the Ferry ;
Charley Lowndes to Jeannie Perry."
The ferry, in the neighborhood of which this old fashioned jollification seems to have
taken place, was Parker's Ferry, on the Edisto River.
t Plantations General, vol. 51, p. 63.
"1725, Sept. 27th, Patent for Mr. Tho: Lowndes to be Provost Marshall, Clerk of the
Peace and Clerk of the Crown in South Carolina."
, " KNOW all Men, by these Presents, that We the true and absolute Lords Proprietors of
Carolina, do hereby give and grant unto Thomas Lowndes, Gent,, his Heirs and Assigns

14
After Mr. Lowndes retired from office and commenced the active practice
of the law, he was elected a member of the Legislature. He carried
as zealous a spirit of fidelity to the discharge of his duties into this assembly
as he did to the conduct of his cases at the bar. By his untiring industry
and impressive speech, no less than by his intellectual power and that
spirit of absolute independence by which he was best known among the
public men of his time, Mr. Lowndes soon rose to be Speaker of the House.
He was also Justice of the Quorum. He discharged upon a writ of habeas
corpus Powell, a printer of Charleston, who had been imprisoned by the
Governor and Council. In 1766, he received from the Crown the appoint
ment of associate judge.
On the 13th of May, 1766, he delivered the first judicial opinion rendered
in America upon the Stamp Act, declaring it against common rights and the
Constitution, and refusing to enforce it in his court. His rapid success at
nisi prius, and his superior influence with juries, excited the enmity of Chief
.Justice Gordon, who laid before the Governor and Council charges of mis
behavior against him. He was, however, unanimously acquitted. In 1775,
he was removed from the Bench under the prerogative of the Governor, owing
to a letter of the Attorney General, Simpson, who was also Secretary to the
Governor and Council, and thus in a position to have greatinflueuce with them.
Simpson, who feared the impending troubles, shortly afterreturned to England.
Mr. Lowndes's reputation as one of the Judges of the Province had, how
ever, become so well known in England, that, on information of his removal
by the Colonial Authority, the Home Government appointed Gordon to a
situation in Jamaica, and directed the commission of Chief Justice of South
Carolina to be issued in favor of Mr. Lowndes.
The Provincial Congress, as it was styled, called in defiance of the royal
authority, met on the first of June, 1775. Henry Laurens was chosen
President. A Committee of Safety was immediately appointed, which con
sisted of thirteen members who were vested with supreme power. Of this
the Ofllee and Place, and Offices and Places of Provost Marshall, Clerk of the Peace, and
Clerk of the Crown of and in the Province of South Carolina in America, for the several
and respective natural lives of the said Thomas Lowndes and Hugh Watson of the Middle
Temple, Gent., to execute the same by the said Thomas Lowndes, his heirs and assigns, or
by his or their sufiieient Deputy or Deputies. And we do hereby authorize and impower
tlie said Thomas Lowndes, His Heirs and Assigns to demand and receive take and enjoy all
Salaries, Wages,Pees,Allowances,Profits, Perquisites, Travelling Charges, Bill Mony, Benefits,
Immunities, Privileges, Advantages and Emoluments anywise incident or appertaining to
the said Offices or Places or any of them In as ample and beneficial manner as any former
Provost Marshall or Marshalls, Clerk of the Peace, and Clerk of the Crown of any other
Province or Cokaiy in America, have or hath used, had received or enjoved. And Lastly
AVc do hereby revoke and make void all former commissions granted for all or any of the
saiti Offices or Places by us or by our Predecessors, or by any Governor or Governors of the
said Province of South Carolina. Witness our hands and the seal of the said Province this
twenty-seventh Day of September, Anno Domini, 1725.
[Signed] Beaufort Jon. TyiTcU
Craven Hen. Bertie
Ja. Bertie J. Colleton."
This patent was accompanied by the further grant to Thomas Lowndes of four baronies
of land in tlie province, of twelve thousand acres each, by possession of which he became
one of the original landgr.aves of the colony. When the government of Carolina was taken
from the Lords Proprietors in 1729, Mr. Lowndes surrendered his patent, and in the following
year received a renewal of it from the crown, under date ¦'JOth Nov. 1730. Hardlv two
months later, llth Feb. 1731, Mr. Lowndes assigned it to George Morley, who soon after
left England for Charleston, and assumed the duties of the office. In 1736, Morley returned
to England, and on his nomination, Mr. Roljert Hall was appointed to succeed him, and
held the oflice, as we have seen, till his death. A temporary appointment was then given
liy the governor. Colonel Bull, to Mr. William Williamson, who held it till the 1st March,
1742-3, when Rawlins Lowndes received his commission.

15
committee Mr. Lowndes was chosen the third member, being preceded only
by Mr. Laurens and Mr. Charles Pinckney. That he was influential in
their debates may be seen in the following letter of Andrew Marvell to
William Henry Drayton, written at
" Charleston, Sunday, August 12th, 1775.
" I have twice pushed hard for the ' Resolution for attaching Estates in
case of Desertion,' but have not been lucky enough to get a second. The
matter, however, is not rejected, only postponed. Rawlins postponator de
clares the resolution not proper to proceed from the Committee of South
Carolina, and so arbitrary, that nothing but the Divan of Constantinople
could think of promulgating such a law."
He opposed the pretensions of the British Government, as violations of
the rights of English subjects, and he was the first to denounce on the floor
of the House the claim of taxation without parliamentary representation
as the chief grievance of all. Yet, vi^hile there were none in their atti
tude more bold than he in Carolina, he did not till the last abandon the hope
of reconciliation with England. Either from his training as a lawyer, his
position as a judge, and his peculiar means of ascertaining the temper of the
friends of the Colonies in England, he had been led, as he stated later in
life, to the belief that the early measures of hostility would lead to recon
ciliation and to the retirement of the British Ministry from their unfortunate
position on colonial questions.
His opposition to all harsh acts at this time and to the declaration of inde
pendence in the Colony was consistent with his uniform policy to oppose all
measures' that would tend to close the door to reconciliation, while there was
yet a hope of success. A fortnight later, the last Royal Governor, Lord
William Campbell, arrived to supersede Colonel William Bull. The Pro
vincial Congress made him an address which he refused to receive, as he did
to recognize their existence. On the 16th of the following September, he
fled to the British ship-of-war Tamar, carrying the great seal of the
Colony. Six months later, on the twenty-fourth of March, 1776, South
Carolina declared her independence of the British Crown, and Mr. Rut-
ledge was elected President of the State. Mr. Lowndes, who had been one
of the committee of eleven to devise a plan of government, was chosen a
member of the legislative council.
On the 10th of March, 1778, he succeeded to the Presidency of South
Carolina, and was so formally proclaimed at the State House on that day,
" under the discharge of the Artillery both from the Troops and Forts and
the discliarge of small arms."* He gave his approval to the Constitution
of 1778, by which the power to reject a legislative act, the veto power, which
had been vested in the Executive, was relinquished, and a subject of earnest
contention in the State, since John Rutledge had rejected the first bill for a
reformed constitution, was thus settled in favor of the representatives of the
people. After the treaty of alliance between France and the United States had
been concluded, the British Government sent the Earl of Carlisle, Governor
Johnstone, and Mr. Edenf to America, as commissioners authorized to offer
* Lettei- of James Cannon to tho Honorable George Boyle, Vice-President of the Com
monwealth of Pennsylvania, 14th March, 1778.
t Ramsay, i. p. 29J.
a

16
Congress a repeal of all those Acts of the Crown which had led the Colo
nies to declare their independence, and to threaten with the extreme penal
ties of war all those who should continue to prefer an alliance with P'rance
to a re-union with the mother country. The Commissioners, repelled by
Congress, determined to address the people of each state, and sent a vessel
under a flag into the port of Charleston, with their propositions separately
addressed to the governor, the assembly, the military, the clergy, and the
people of South Carolina. By order of President Lowndes, the vessel was
detained in the roadstead, below the harbor, until the council was convened,
and the chief men of each class of the people to whom these propositions
were addressed, were assembled. When the letter of the Commissioners
had been opened and read, a resolution was drawn up and unanimously
voted requiring the flag-ship to immediately leave the waters of the State.
President Lowndes accompanied the resolution with a stern reprimand of
the attempt to violate the constitution of the country, by the offer to nego
tiate with the state in its separate capacity.
As soon as it was known, towards the end of the year 1778, that the
British authoi ities intended to transfer the seat of active hostilities to the
southern states. President Lowndes laid a general embargo, and prohibited
the sailing of vessels from any port of the State.* He ordered all live
stock from the islands and exposed parts of the coast to be transported
inland, and sent an address to the Legislature calling upon them to take the
most energetic measures for successful resistance. In that message, he said,
" Our inveterate and obdurate enemy, foiled in the northei-n states, and by
the valor and good conduct of the inhabitants compelled to abandon their
hope of conquest thei-e, have turned their arms more immediately against
the southern states, in hopes of better success. They are now in possession
of Savannah, the capital of Georgia, from whence, if not prevented, an easy
transition may be made into this country. This situation of danger, gentle
men, calls for your most serious consideration. Our whole force and strength
should be exerted to stop the progress of the enemy."
President Lowndes gave to General Lincoln, who had been sent by Con
gress from the North to the command of the southern department, an earnest
support, and exerted his official and private influence in vigilant and unre
mitted efforts for the defence of Charleston.
In 1779, Mr. Lowndes was succeeded in the Presidency by John Rut-
ledge. He shared, however, in the defence of Charleston, and was person
ally a heavy sufferer by the enemy's depredations along the coast and rivers, ,
as he was obliged on one occasion to drive into Charleston, in his carriage
hauled by a yoke of oxen, his horses having all been carried off by a sudden raid.
On his retirement from the Presidency, he had been elected a member of
the Senate from St. Bartholomew's, the parish he had before I'epresented in
the other House. Upon the declaration of peace, he was chosen to the
Legislature as Representative from Charleston, and was continued in this
position by reflection until the removal of the seat of government to Colum
bia led him to decline further service.
The constitution of the United States, recommended by the general
convention at Philadelphia, in 1787, was received by the legislature of South
Carolina, and read before the House of Representatives on the 1 6th of
January, 1788, It was debated for three days in Committee of the Whole —
* Rams.ay, i. p 295.

17
by Charles Pinckney, Gen. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, John Rutledge,
and Pierce Butler, who had been delegates to the Federal Convention, —
by the Speaker, John Julius Pringle, by Robert Barnwell, Edward Rutledge,
Dr. David Ramsay the historian, all men of signal ability, the reputation
of whose talents has long survived them, and all in favor of the constitution,
and by Rawlins Lowndes alone on behalf the minority in opposition to it.*
Among the discissions upon the adoption of the Constitution there is no
debate more able, nor, in the light of history since, is there one more curious
and interesting. Mr. Lowndes, who spoke four times, objected principally
to the restrictions upon slavery, nor did he shrink as others did from saying
so, — to the provisions which gave Congress power to regulate commerce,
and to the centralization of power in the Federal Government. He concluded
on tho third day in these words :
" I desire to thank the House for their very great indulgence in permitting
me, on behalf of those members who have desired that I should fully express
my sentiments, to debate it at such length. The vast importance of the
subject will plead my excuse. I thank the gentlemen on the other side of
the question for the candid and fair manner in which they have answered
my arguments. Popularity is what I have never courted, but, on this issue,
I have spoken merely to point out those dangers to which my fellow citizens
are exposed, dangers so evident, that, when I cease to exist, I wish for no
other epitaph than to have inscribed on my tomb, ' Here lies the man who
opposed the Constitution, because it was ruinous to the liberty of America.'"
When the question on the assembly of the convention to consider the
Constitution was about to be put, Colonel James Mason, of Little River, by
desire of the minority members of the House, rose and formally thanked Mr.
Lowndes for his opposition.
The Convention assembled on the 12th of May. Mr. Charles Pinckney
opened the debate on the 14th, and on the 23d the Constitution was adopted
by a vote of one hundred and forty members in its favor, to seventy-three
in opposition.
The debate in convention, however, attracted but little notice in the State,
so thoroughly had the battle been fought in the legislature. The opponents
of the Federal Constitution had lost by the refusal of Mr. Lowndes to stand
for St. Bartholemews the leader of their party, nor could they furnish another
to give dignity and interest to debate by a forcible presentation of such
objections as had occurred to the ingenious and able reasoning of Mr. Lowndes.
Many years ago, one who remembered him well, contributed to a Southern
journal his impressions of Mr. Lowndes's character and attainments to this
effect. Possessed of a strong judgment, a ch.'ar, logical, and discriminating mind,
he enforced his opinions, unmindful of their popularity, with strength and
freedom. In a debate, at Charleston, when the question of the right of his
constituents to instruct their representatives was under discussion in the
House, he opposed it with vehemence and great force, declaring it to be a
pretension which required representatives to suppress their own judgment
and substitute that of others, and which renders their oath to discharge their
duty according to their best judgment, a mere form and in effect a sham.
ilr. Lowndes married, 15th of August, 1748, Amarinthia, daughter of
Thomas Elliott, of Rantoules, Stone River. Mrs. Lowndes died 14th of
* Elliot's Debates, vol. iv. pp. 253-316.

18 '
January, 1750, and was buried by the side of her parents at the cemetery
near Rantoules.
Mr. Lowndes married,' 2nd, December 23d, 1751, Mary, daughter of 
Cartwright, of Charleston. By this lady he had:
i. Amarinthia,'' b. July 29, 1754 ; m. Sept. 23, 1770, Roger Parker Sanders,
Esq., and after his death, married, second,  Champney, Esq.
ii. Mary,^ b. Aug. 1755 ; d. unm.
iii. Rawlins,^ b. November 5, 1757; d. in childhood.
iv. Harriet,'' m.  Brown, and had :
i. Lowndes,^ who m. Margaretta Livingston, dau. of Hon. John R.
Livingston, third son of Judge Rohert R. Livingston, of New-
York. By this marriage Mr.'Lowndes Brown had :
i. Harriet- Lowndes,^ who m. August, 1855, Henry, Baron
Solwyns, of the Belgian Diplomatic Service.
V. Sarah-Ruth,^ b. 1764 ; m.  Simmons; d. 1852.
9. vi. Thomas,' b. January 22, 1766.
10. vii. James,' b.  , 1769.
Mr. Lowndes married, third, Sarah, daughter of  Jones, of Geor
gia, and had:
11. viii. "WliLLiAM'-J'oNESj_b,JVb^J7^
By his success at the bar and by fortunate investments in land Mr. Lowndes
left to his children large estates on the Ashley, Combahee, and Santee Rivers.
He died in Charleston, 24 August, 1800, and was buried in St. Philip's
Church. A few months later, his widow, while driving with her son, was
thrown from a chaise and instantly killed.
9. Thomas'' Lowndes was educated in the city of Charleston, and at the
family residence on the Ashley River.
A child of seven years at the outbreak of the Revolution, he was old enough
to fix in his memory as they occurred the entire succession of events which
led the colonies from unheeded petitions for redress to their Declaration of
Independence, and through a weary and painful war to an absolute union
of independent States. He was already of age when he studied, as part of his
preparation for the practice of law, those debates upon the new Constitution
he may have heard in the old State House at Charleston, where his father
had stood as the solitary speaker in opposition to an able and triumphant
majority. Inheriting strong powers of mind, he cultivated in his youth that
taste for English literature and the study of constitutional law, which has
always largely characterized the best minds in the Southern Slates. Re
maining unmarried till, for those days, the somewhat ripe age of thirty-two,
he met as guests at his father's table in town and country a long succession
of men from the North and the South who had made their names illustrious
in the public service, either in, jieace or war. lie had been, too, an attentive
listener to their interesting discussions upon the questions how best to build
up a free Republic in the new world. He was thus by study, by acquaintance
and by family tradition, no less than by the almost inevitable tendencies of
the profession he had chosen as the recognized path to public life, a politician,
familiar with tlie whole subject of national legislation, — like so many other
leaders of opinion under the old order of things in the Carolinas, — and he
fitted himself with care for liis turn of duty, when the time determined in
his own mind shouhl come.
In the autumn of 1800, a few months after his father's death, having
already served in the Legislature of the State, he accejited from the Fede
ral party the nomination of Kepre.sentative from the Charleston District to

19
the Seventh Congress. He took his seat at the opening of the first session
on the 7th of December, 1801. On the next day he was appointed to the
Committee of Commerce and Manufactures, and was prominent from that
time in the discussions of the House. As early as Dec. 14th, almost in the
first week of business, he spoke upon the resolution of inquiry into tlie
conduct of Mr. Pickering when Secretary of State, and he took part in
" an animated debate," — as the National Intelligencer of that day, more
mindful for the dignity of Congress than are the public journals of our own
time, described in language somewhat euphuistic a stormy scene, so often
repeated afterwards on any sectional issue, — which occurred over an amend
ment to the Apportionment Bill providing that Maryland should be entitled to
nine rather than eight representatives. The Intelligencer tells us that
" a debate of the utmost dilatoriness took place. Much personal recrim
ination, chiefly on the charge of delay on the one side and precipitation on
the other, was exchanged, which we think it our duty entirely to suppress."
Mr. Lowndes on the 15th of March, 1802, opened the debate, on the
French Spoliation Claims, speaking in favor of their recognition, and urging
prompt measures for their settlement. Little could he, or any statesman of
that day, foresee the uncertainties of legislation which the history of this
measure was in itself to illustrate. Reported formally to Congress again
and again by Committees, it finally passed both Houses only to become void
by the refusal of the Executive's approval. Again revived and apparently not
yet despaired of, these claims, now as old as the century, have already outlived
three generations of public men. At the end of the long debate, in April,
1802, in the Act providing for the redemption of the entire public debt of
the United States, Mr. Lowndes was in the minority of nineteen members,
all federals, who voted against the bill.*
Constant in attendance upon the House, he was earnest and assiduous in
committee, and though mingling often in debate, he was yet aiile to contribute
to the discussion something of value in fact and much of weight in judgment,
enforced as his sentiments always were by a natural eloquence, which had
been carefully cultivated under the soinid opinions then entertained by all
educated men, who valued the study of oratory not as that of a graceful
accomplishment, but as the mastery of an essential influence and tested power
over the emotions and conduct of men.
In the intervals between the sessions, Mr. Lowndes, accompanied by his
family, visited the Northern States, and passed the summer in New England
and the neighborhood of Boston. He was warmly welcomtd by his politi
cal associates, and received much hospitality from them. An intimate ac
quaintance with many northern families was thus established, which was
maintained with unvarying cordiality through life, and descended to his
children. He resumed his seat at the Second Session, on the 13th. of Decem
ber, 1802. On the 22d of that month, he spoke in the discussion on ihe
circulation of gold coin, which, owing to the erroneous valuation put by the
statute upon the eagles and half eagles previously coined, below their metallic
worth, had led to their being everywhere hoarded. In the long debate on
the 6th of January, 1803, on the cession by Spain of Louisiana to France,
he was early upon the floor, urging with force the proposed call upon the
Executive for the precise facts of the transaction which had been withheld
from Congress. « National Intelligencer, llth April, 1802.

20
Mr. Lowndes was re-chosen to the Eighth Congress, and took his
seat in the House on the 29 th of October, 1803. He spoke, on the 6th
and 8th of the following December, on the constitutional amendment rela
tive to the method of election of President and Vice-President, in favor of
postponement till after the ensuing election, and again on the 6th of January,
1804, in opposition to the proposed impeachment of Samuel Chase, a Jus
tice of the Supreme Court, who was tried a few months later by the Senate,
and acquitted. '
At their session of this year, the Legislature of South Carolina had
passed an act repealing all restrictions upon the importation of slaves. The
subject early attracted the attention of Congress, and on Tuesday, 14th of
February, as will be seen from the following extract from the debates,
the following motion by Mr. Bard, of Pennsylvania, was taken into con
sideration in Committee of the Whole.
" Resolved, that a tax of ten dollars be imposed upon every slave imported
into any part of the United States."
On motion of Mr. Jackson, it was agreed to add after the words United
States, " or their territories."
Mr. Lowndes. " I will trespass a very short time upon the attention
of the House at this stage of the business, but as I have objections to the
resolution, it may be proper that I should state them now. I will do so
briefly, reserving to myself the privilege of giving my opinion more at
length when the bill is before the House, should the resolution be adopted,
and a bill brought in. I am sorry, Mr. Speaker, to find that the conduct of
the Legislature of South Carolina, in repealing its law prohibitory of the
importation of negroes, has excited so much dissatisfaction and resentment
as I find it has done with the greater part of this House. If gentlemen
will take a dispassionate review of the circumstances under which the repeal
was made, I think this dissatisfaction and resentment will be removed, and
I should indulge the hope that this contemplated tax will not be imposed.
Antecedent to the adoption of the constitution under which we now act,
tlie Legislature of South Carolina passed an act prnhibiting the importation
of negroes from Africa, and sanctioned it by severe penalties, — I speak from
recollection, but I believe not less than the forfeiture of the negro and a
fine of one hundred pounds sterling for each brought into the State. This
act has been in force until it was repealed by the Legislature at their last
session. *****
" The law was completely evaded, and for the last year or two, Africans
were introduced into the country in numbers little short, I believe, of what
they would have been had the trade been a legal one. Under the circum
stances, Sir, it appears to me to have been the duty of the Legislature to
repeal the law, and remove from the eyes of the people the spectacle of its
authority daily violated.
" I beg. Sir, that from what I have said, it may not be inferred that I am
friendly to a continuation of the slave trade. I wish the time had arrived
when Congress could legislate conclusively upon the subject. I should then
have the satisfaction of uniting with the gentleman from Pennsylvania who
moved the resolution. Whenever it does arrive, should I then have a seat
in this House, I assure him I will cordially support him in obtaining his
object. But, Mr. Speaker, I cannot vote for this resolution, because I am
sure it is not calculated to promote the object which it has in view. I am

21
convinced that the tax of ten dollars will not prevent the introduction into
the country of a single slave. * * * * The gentleman from Pennsylvania,
and those who think with him, ought, above all others, to deprecate the
passing of this resolution. It appears to me to be directly calculated to
defeat their own object, — to give to what they wish to discountenance a
legislative sanction, and, further, an interest to the government to permit
this trade after it might constitutionally terminate it. When 1 say that I
am myself unfriendly to it, I do not wish, Mr. Speaker, to be misunderstood ;
I do not mean to convey the idea that the people of the Southern States are
universally opposed to it — I know the fact to be otherwise. Many of the
people in the Southern States feel an interest in it, and will yield it with
reluctance. Their interest will be strengthened by the immense accession
of territory to the United States by the cession of Louisiana. ******
" My greatest objection to this tax is, Mr. Speaker, that it will fall ex
clusively upon the agriculture of the State of which I am one of the Repre
sentatives. However odious it may be to some gentlemen, and however desir
ous they may be of discountenancing it, I think it must be evident that this tax
will not effect their object ; that it will not be a discouragement to the trade,
nor will the introduction of a single African into the country be prevented.
The only result will be that it will produce a revenue to the government.
I trust that no gentleman is desirous of establishing this tax with a view to
revenue. The State of South Carolina contributes as largely to the revenue
of the United States, for its population and wealth, as any state in the
Union. To impose a tax falling exclusively on her agriculture would be
the height of injustice, and I hope that the Representatives of the landed
interest of the nation will resist every measure, however general in its ap
pearance, a tendency of which is to lay a partial and imequal tax upon
agriculture." Mr. Bedinger. " The gentleman from South Carolina has so fully
expressed the opinions I entertain, I shall say but little. Every one w'iao
knows my opinions on slavery, may think it strange that I shall give my
vote against the resolution. There is no member on this floor more inimical
to slavery than I am, yet I am of opinion that the effect of the present reso
lution, if adopted, will be injurious. I shall, therefore, vote against it."
When on Friday, February 17th, the third day of the debate, the House
resumed the discussion of the bill, Mr. Lowndes rose, and after a rapid re
view of the subject, moved that its further consideration be postponed till
the following December. By an amendment, the bill was set down for the
second Monday in March, and thus the same end was accomplished, as the
House did not sit on that day.
Upon the issue of this debate, Mr. Benton* remarks, "To prevent an
erroneous impression being made upon the public by the above proceedings,
it is proper to remark, that, during the whole discussion, not a single voice
was raised in defence of the act of the Legislature of South Carolina, al
lowing the importation of slaves, but that, on the contrary, while by some
of the speakers its immorality and impolicy were severely censured, by all
its existence was deprecated. A large number of those who voted fur the
postponement, advocated it on the express and sole ground that it would give
the Legislature of South Carolina an opportunity, which they believed
would be embraced, to repeal the Act."
* Abridgment of Debates, iii p. 142.

22
Just three years later, the question was definitely settled by Congress.
On the 13th of February, 1807, the House passed the Senate bill, prohibit
ing the importation of slaves by a vote of one hundred and thirteen mem
bers in favor over five in opposition, — and this slender, indeed nominal,
minority were members from both free and slave states, who dissented only
upon matters of detail, so that, as Mr. Benton observes,* " the prohibition
of the trade may be deemed unanimous."
Mr. Lowndes passed the summer at the North and in the neighborhood
of Philadelphia. He did not reach Washington till the 6th of November
following, after the second session of Congress had commenced, and had thus
not been in his place when the Committees of the House were appointed ;
but, a fortnight later, on the announcement of the resignation of Mr.
Samuel L. Mitchell, chairman of the Committee on Commerce, who had
been appointed by the Legislature of New York a Senator of the United
States, it was Ordered, " That Mr. Lowndes be appointed chairman of
the Committee of Commerce and Manufactures," &c. &c. He thus
returned to his old place on the Committee to which he had been first
appointed on his entry to the House.
He spoke for the last time in Congress, on the 13th of December, against
a bill to regulate and permit the clearance of private armed vessels. His
speech, though brief, was marked by the same quick, ready and logical rea
soning which had always characterized his appearance in debate. He left
Washington on the 6th of March, 1805, and, failing to obtain his reelection
to Congress on the general overthrow of the Federal party in the South,
retired to private life. He continued, however, a steadfast adherent to the
principles of his party, and earnestly supported John Quincy Adams, when
nominated for the presidency against Andrew Jackson. He often remarked,
in allusion to the brilliant political career of his brother, William Lowndes,
that coming as a Republican later into public life than himself, his brother
differed from him in no essential principle of his j)olitical faith.
Mr. Lowndes never resumed the practice of the law. He devoted
the remainder of his days to the education of his family, and care
of his large estates, and especially the cultivation of his plantation Oak
land, on the Combahee river. He passed a portion of each year at his
residence in Charleston. He entertained both in town and country, with
the cordial hospitality characteristic of the manners of the period, and his
con,spicuous social station. His house was the resort, as his father's had
been before him, of distinguished citizens of the State. An occasional
journey to the North, where two of his children had married, enabled
him to continue those friendships which he had formed when in the public
service. Mr. Lowndes married, on the 8th of March, 1798, Sarah Bond, daughter
of Richard Ion, Esquire, of Springfield, St. James, Santee.
By this lady, who united great charm of manner to a handsome and dis
tinguished presence, and whose portrait by Gilbert Stuart has been ranked
among the most successful of all his pictures of women, as it was the favor
ite of the artist himself, Mr. Lowndes had :
i. Rawlins,^ b. May 28, 1789; d. October, 1800.
ii. Marv-1on,» b. August 1, 1800; ra. March 12, 1816, to Frederic Kin-
loch, of Charleston, and had issue :
»• Abridgment of Debates, iii. p. 519.

23
i. Martha-Rctledge,' b. April 28, 1818 ; m. Matthew Singleton.
ii. Thomas-Lowndes,' b. January 3, 1820; d. unm.
iii. Cleland," b. October 6, 1823; d.  , — .
12. iii. Rawlins,' b. September 1, 1801.
13. iv. Thomas,* b. June 26, 1S03, at New-Haven, Conn.
V. Jacob-1on,8 b. Sept. 19, 1804, at Philadelphia; d. February 7, 1829,
unm.
14. vi. ¦William-Price," b. Sept. 21, 1806.
15. vii. Charles-Tidyman," b. June 28, 1808.
viii. Edward-Tilghman," b. January 15, 1810; d. July, 1837, and was bu
ried in Georgetown, South Carolina.
ix. Harriett ,8 b. January 18, 1812 ; m. February 3, 1831, the Hon. 'VVil-
liam Aiken, proprietor of Jehossee Island, Governor of South Caroli
na 1844-46, a member of Congress from 1851 to 1857, and has :
,i. Henrietta," who m. Burnett Rhett, Esq., and has issue.
X. Cargline-Hugbr," b, Sept. 25, 1813 ; d. Sept. 8, 1817.
16. xi. Richard-Henry," b. March 4, 1815.
Mr. Lowndes died in Charleston, on the 8th July, 1843. He had sur
vived his wife less than three years, as Mrs. Lowndes had died 7th October,
1840. 10. James'' Lowndes, m. Catherine Osborne, and by her had issue :
i. TnoMAS-Osborne," b. 1801 ; m. 1824, Elizabeth-Wragg, dau. of William-
Lough ton Smith.
ii. Amarinthia," b. 1803 ; m. 1834, Lewis Morris, and had ;
i. Elizabeth,' died unm.
ii. Lewis.' Mrs. Morris died 1843.
iii. James," b. 1806 ; d. unra. 1838.
17. iv. Edward-Rutledgb," b. 1809.
v. Julia,' b. 1811 ; m. 1830, W. Brisbane, and had i
i. Mary,' m,  ^ — Hickok.
ii. JoLiA,' m. R. Rhett.
iii. Ruth,' m. Golden Tracy.
iv. Oatherine-Osbornb,' ni. Charles Davis.
V. Amarinthia.'
vi. William.'
vii. James.'
Mrs. Brisbane died 1847.
vi. AVilltam," b. 1817 ; m. 1841, Mary Middleton, and had issue :
i. Harriet-Kinloch.'
ii. Mary-Amarinthia.' Mr. Lowndes died 1865.
Mr. Lowndes died 1839.
11. William' Lowndes, as he is usually styled, since he never used
his second baptismal name, was t.ali-pp Jiy his njother, in his seventh_jffiaiu-tft
England, and placed at the school of jVlr. John Savage, at Brompton Grove.
The first glimpse of him in England, is obtained in a letter from Mr. Savage
to Mr. Rawlins Lowndes, at Charleston, written in the month of December,
1790. The son's progress was s23oken of in cordial approval, and as equal
to his 'father's anticipations. This favorite report was, unhappily, soon fol
lowed by one of a different nature, which carried the news of a singular
and most unfortunate occurrence to the little boy. After a fatiguing game
with his playmates, one day during the heavy snows of the winter of 1791,
he sat down to rest by a drift of snow and soon fell fast asleep. He was there
left unnoticed by his companions, and was not thought of by them till his
unexplained absence, on their return to schooj, caused a search to be made
4

1

24
for him. He was brought back alive, yet so thoroughly benumbed with
cold, that, despite the remedies which were at once given to him, he only
escaped with, life after a long and severe attack of inflammatory rheuma
tism. His health, on convalescence, was found to be so seriously affected,
that a return to his home and the warm climate of Carolina was pronounced
necessary by the physician of the school. Nor was this opinion ill founded,
for, during the remainder of his boyhood, cut off from its sports, he struggled
ggainsraTconstitution permanently impaired.
On his return home, he was sent to aTschool in_Charleston,J.on£ famous
jn the Soath, — the joint establishment, of thrp.p. divines — Dr. Simon_JB^lix
Gallagher^ a Rmn.an Catholic, Dr. Beust, a Presbyterian, and Dr,_Fiircfell,
anEpiscggaliiin. Dr. Gallagher was a man of great ability and learning,
and'young Lowndes soon showed how quick, capacious, and retentive was
his mind. His memory was such that he could repeat long passages of
poetry after a single reading. His progress in his studies was most rapid,
and seemed to his schoolmates, as they were wont to say in after life, and
in warm remembrance of him-, absolutely marvellous.* He remained
under Dr. Gallagher's charge more than five years, when the teacher at
length said of his pupil, that " his mind had drank up knowledge as the dry
earth did the rain from heaven, — that he had learned all that his teacher
could impart to him, and that he must thenceforth depend on his own guid
ance for further progress." The pupil was but fifteen. He joined at this
time a youth's debating society, and was soon conspicuous for his fluency
and reachness hi debate. It was remem'6ereff~on]im, afterward, that all
his written essays, while at school, had been deemed by the instructors re
markable for their merit. He had, too, some talent for versification, and
translated the Odes of Horace into English verse.
His father watched with pride the rapid progress of this child of his old
age. Guided by him, the son pursued his studies from an early period,_tQ
..^t himself for a political career ; yet his peculiar desire for information-
based, perhaps insensibly, upon an instinctive confidence in his own large
capacity for knowledge, seems to have led him into wider paths of learning
_thanwere_usually entprpd by those who aspired to po!Ttic^distinctioTi7 He
haiTstudied the writings of La Place as they appeared, and had attained
sufficient proficiency in Greek to correspond years afterwards upon the prin
ciples of its pronunciation. He continued to read, under the influence and
suggestion of Dr. Gallagher, until he entereijlhe law office_of De Sau£s4tfe^
at a later period Chancellor of th.e'Si^de.
. Mr. Lowndes was, at this time, conspicuous in society, fond of gaiety, and
had some tastes unusual in one of his studious mind. He was fond of horses,
and eager in his desire to improve the breed in Carolina. He had, too, a
jtrong infusion ojjnilitary zeal, and, a few years later, on the formation of
TTTe'Washington LightTnf'anti'y was chosen its first TOmmandpivf HeVas
fairly entitled to the distinction; he was head and shoulderstaller than his
men. At the time of his marriage to Miss Pinckney in 1804, he was hardly
more than twenty years of age. As soon as he felt able to practise, he
was admitted to the Charleston Bar. He applied to Mr. Cogdell, then City
Attorney, for permission to enter his office and assist him, without recom-
* Mr. Fraser to Mr. Ravenel.
t This company still exists, and enjoys a conspicuons and honorable position among the
ividely known militia orgamziitions of the Uuion. Its visit to Bo!>ton at the eeltbraliSa of
the 17th of June, 1875, was a distinct feaiure in the occurrences of that day

25
pense, in its duties.* This proposal was generously refused by Mr. Cogdell,
who offered him in turn a partnership on equal terms. The offer was
accepted, and in March, 1804, the two-- .gentlemen commenced practice
together as law partners. The firm, however, did not continue long, for at
tEe end~ol the following September, a severe storm raged over the whole
of the lower country, and did much damage to the plantations, especially to
the rice harvest. When Mr. Lowndes learned that his own valuable plan
tation had been well nigh ruined by the rains and winds, he felt obliged to go
to it at once and direct in person the slow work of restoration. In taking
leave of his partner, he modestly regretted that he had been of so little
service to him.
As he had never intended to pursue thepracticeof law as his profession
in lifer&jit rather~to~acquire the power to use it a3"a means" to an end~in~tEe'
"worlt of soun jTeojislation, so he never returned to iti 3i early as 1806 he
was engaged in the discussion of a subject, connected with international
law, which bore directly upon the political questions of the day. England
was then at war with France and her tributary states, and she had sought
help in the great struggle by a grave violation of neutral rights. Her
merchants, who had seen with alarm that the maritime trade of Europe
was bestowing immense profits upon the commerce of America, made bitter
and indignant complaint to Pitt. He speedily determined that neutral trade
should cease. An interdict, by the issue of new orders in council, was put
upon it, and American vessels with their cargoes were seized and confiscated.
To support its action, the British ministry called at this time into its service
able pamphleteers, and, among their productions, there was one of great
influence and power, which attained a wide circulation, entitled "War in
Disguise." It was ascribed at first by some to Canning, by others to James
Stephens, a lawyer of great ability, who was, in fact, its author. It was an
ingenious and eloquent attempt to show that neutral trade was in effect the
maintenance of war against England, aiid of all the political productions of
the time was the best designed and fitted to make quick mischief between two
countries peopled by the same race. The claims of England were discussed
by Mr. Lowndes in a series of thirteen papers, which appeared in_the
Ufiarlest'oTi Courier over the signature of "A Planter," in the spring and
summer of 1806. They were written with great clearness of language and
force of reasoning; considered as the production of a very young man,
they were not unworthy of the author's later high reputation. They indicated
the tendency of his mind to. political discussion, and, in a larger view, the
tiirn of thought and sentiment which was nerving the South to overcome
all resistance to a declaration of war with England. These papers proeared
lor their writer an election to , the general assembly 'ol the State froni the
Parish of St. Bartholomews' in the autumn of 1806.
Mr. Lowndes beganhis political career under some light_§]iadows__of
anaoyance in socjaTliferforjie supported7with.aTew^oth£o^oang-JiifliL.o^^^
j^ass, th6~"Eepubircan Party and thg politiqaf'principles of Jefferson. The •
old Federal leaders of the day were the recognized heads of society, and
they resented the defection of their juniors as a revolt from sound principles
and just authority. Every social influence was brought to bear upon young
men of such striking promise as William Lowndes, Langdon Cheves and
Joseph Allston, and compel their return to the Federal fold. Deaf to the
* E. S. Thomns, "lleminisccnccs of sixty-five years," i. p. 101.

M
persuasion of their elders, these young gentlemen soon found that the
principles tlxey openly avovved caused them to be looked upon with aversion
and distrust by the Federal authorities, and shut them out from much of the
gaiety of town and country life. It was during the service of Mr. Lowndes
in the Legislature, from 1806 to 1810, that the change was madein the
basis of representation in the State, which, lasted dovyn to the abolition of
slavery. The constitutions of 1776 and 1778 had apportioned the representatioii
arbitrarily, and upon the basis of wealth alone. As the upper country increasr
ed in population, a change became necessary, and, in 1809, the Legislature
passed an act, providing that one half of the members of the lower house
should be elected on the basis of population, and the other half on the basis
of wealth. ,
The history of all measures of political reform has shown how difiicult
it is to take the first steps, and how easy the solution of the riddle afterwards
appears when the details of the question have been matiired, and its various
issues turned into one comprehensive measure. It then becomes a matter
of some interest to know who was the author of the system of representation
which served its purpose so well in South Carolina for more than fifty years,
and secured her, by the ability and character of her congressional reputation,
and the honest and dignified administration of her domestic concerns, so
great an influence among her sister states. The authorship of the amend
ment has been attributed by some to Col. Blanding, and by others to Mr.
Lowndes. Both were on the committee who reported it, but the original
manuscript, interlined and corrected, was in the hand- writing of Mr. Lowndes.*
The political nominations of 1810 were canvassed with an especial refer
ence to the attitude of candidates upon the all important question of the
apprehended war with Great Britain. Mr. Lowndes's views were already
well known from his letters to the Charleston Courier in 1806. B[e_had no
confidence in the shifts and expedients, the Embargo and Non-intercourse
Sets of ajornjcr administration^ Me regarded them rather as the illusory
schemes of a phTlosopher, thanas the measures of a clearsighted stat^maji.
'"he commerce they_were created to defend, ttiev tended in reality to destroy.
he encroachments of~England on Neutral Rights had contiivuedin face of
such enactments to increase, and had culminated at last on the attack of a
British man-of-war on an American frigate in our own waters, in the
summer of 1807.

^

* The late Mr. Francis J. Grayson made the question of the authorship of this amend
ment a subject of careful study, and wrote upon it an elaborate note, in which he reviewed
the various arguments from time to time put forth in Carolina on behalf of the friends of
Mr. Lowndes and Col. Blanding. His conclusions were wholly in favoi- Of the claims of' the
former, and one of liis reasons is so entirely in accordance with the conditions of the
measure at the time it was under debate, previous tb its passage, as to deserve great weight.
Mr. Gi-ayson was of opinion, that there was at that time a desire that Col. Blanding should
he regai-dcd as the head of the movement. It was important to conciliate the upper and
middle country. It conduced " to this end that the measure should have the approbation of a
judicious member from that quarter. Colonel Blanding vvas the man, less connected than
any other with the conflicting parties of the State and commanding the confidence of all.
He was willing to lend his aid to the pioposed change, -was put forward for tliat end. and
gave his help in a mode that necessarily eonnected his name with it before the people."
The reason here given is one that in its very nature would have occasioned great reserve
on tlie part of Mr. Lowndes ,and his friends, and such as would prevent not only any recog
nition of his connection with the movement, hut would even lead Its friends to obtain the
leadership of one who represented as distinctively, as did Col. Blanding, the other sections
of tlie state. Yet it was due to Mr. Lowndes and "to his sub.sequent distingiiishcd reputation
that the evidence of his claims should he preserved, and the declaration of Judge Huger,
his colleague. in the Legislature, who spoke from personal knowledge, and declared to Mr.
Grayson that Lowndes and not Blanding was the author, be authoritatively noted as it fell
from his lips.

27
The pride of the. American people had been then touched to the quick.
In vain had Mr. Canning oflTered instant and ample apologies, — for it had
been every where felt among the young, the bold, and the aspiring, that the
very fact that siich an nppasinn tnr apnlocTY should exist was in itself a
disgrace. It was in. this condition of the Southern mind that Mr. Lowndes^
received the^Tlominatinn of the Republicans of the Beaufort and Colleton
District, as Representative to the Twelfth Congress. He was elected in
1810, and took his seaf in obedience to the executive proclamation, in thp.
early assembly of the House, on the 4th of November,J811. South Caro
lina has neither before nor since introduced to the n ational service three.auch
able men as William Lowndes, John C. Calhoun, and l-angdon Cheves..
whom she sent to Washington at this time — as new and untried members.
It was not in the nature of Mr. Lowndes to rush into the arena of debate
with that eager haste for distinction, so often seen, since it is so natural to
men of an acquired local reputation. He was master of himself and felt
he could bide the worthy subject and the proper time. He had been named
by the Speakeri Mr. Clay, second on the Committee of Commerce and
Manufactures, a position which at once gave him influence in those days in
shaping the business of the session. He was earnest and diligent iii_t.bp!
advancement of all the measures of preparation for war, and madp hi.g-fiKB-t^
speech, 4th of January, 1812, in the support of the bill to provide an
additional~mriitary force, bv an addition to the armyof twenty thousand
men, and he immediately followed it with another in support of an increase
ofthe naval establishment, voting on this question, during the long debate
upon it, for every amendment in favor of an heavy increase to our vessels of
war, more than once finding himself upon the record in company with the
Federalists under the lead of Josiah Quincy, rather than with his own party.
The war spirit continued to increase in and out of Congress, despite the
opinions of the older and more cautious politicians who were averse to it,
and who had, in their opposition, the undivided support of the Executive
and the Cabinet. Madison, indeed, viewed a declaration of war with no
favor, and only gave at last to the deputation of his political supporters
i wEo^ with Clay at their head, waited upon him in a body, and demanded it
1 as the necessary condition of his re-nomination to the Presidency, a timid
\ and reluctant assent.
When the House re-assembled on the 2nd of November, 1812, Mr.
Lowndes, who had already been elected to the ensuing Congress, was
appointed to the Committee of Military Affairs, on which he— s«wted
tergughout the"session as a zealous supporter of the war. He received in
consequence, on tlie assembling of the Thirteenth Congress, 13th of December,
1813, the appointment of Chairman of Committee on Naval Affairs, and on
the 4th of January follownigrhaving reported a resolution pi honors to the
Navy, made in support of it a speech, brief, yet so eloquent and stirring that
it was received and read with enthusiasm in every part of the country. Nor
can this kindling address, so happily conceived and so forcibly delivered, be
read to-day without emotion. It deserves, too, an especial attention from the
extensive popularity it gave to its author. Mr. Lowndes spoke as follows :
"I should be inexcusable if I were long to detain the committee from
the vote — I hope the unanimous vote — which they are prepared to give
upon the resolutions. The victories to which they refer are, indeed, of
unequal magnitude and importance ; but the least important of them, if
it had been obtained by the subjects of any government on the continent

28
of Europe, would have been heard with admiration and rewarded with
munificence. I refer to the action between the Enterprise and the Boxer,
from which the public eye appears to be withdrawn by the greater
magnitude and the confessedly superior splendor of a more recent victory.
* * * Although Lieut. Burroughs was mortally wounded early in the
action, yet the skill and gallantry with which he commenced it, leave no
doubt that if he had been longer spared to the wishes and wants _ of his
country, the same brilliant result would have been obtained under his com
mand ; while the ability with which Lieut. McCall continued and complet
ed the contest, assures to him as distinguished a fame as if he had carried
the vessel into action. The loss of a commander, indeed, may fairly be
considered as rendering a victory more honorable to a successor, because it
must render it more difficult : it may be expected to confuse, though it may
not depress.
" Of the victory of Lake Erie it is impossible for me to speak in terms
which will convey any adequate conception of its importancCi of the un
rivalled excellence of the officers, and of the gratitude of the country.
" The documents referred to the committee sufficiently prove that superi
ority of force on the part of the enemy which would have insured their vic
tory, if it were not the appropriate character of military genius to refute the
calculations which rely on the superiority of force. Nor was the victory
obtained over an unskilful and pusillanimous enemy. The English officers
were brave and experienced, and the slaughter on board their vessels before
they were surrendered, .sufficiently attests the bravery of their seamen.
They were skilful officers subdued by the ascendency of still superior skill.
" There was one characteristic of this action which seems to me so strongly
to distinguish it, that I cannot forbear to ask the attention of the commit
tee to it for a few moments. I know no instance in naval or military
history, in which the success of the contest appeared so obviously to resiilt
from the personal act of the commander as in this. When the crew of Capt.
Perry's vessel lay bleeding around him ; when his ship was a defenceless
hospital, if he had wanted — not courage, which in an American officer forms
no distinction — but if he had wanted that fertility of resource which ex
tracts from disaster the means of success and glory, I do not say, if he had
surrendered his sliip, but if he had obstinately defended her, if he had gone
down wrapped in his fiag ; if he had pursued any other conduct than that
which he did pursue, his associates might have emulated his desperate
courage, but they must have shared his fate. The battle was lost.
" Now examine any other victory, however brilliant. If, in the battle of
the Nile, Lord Nelson had fallen even by the first fire, does any man believe
that it would have affected the result of the contest ? In the battle of Tra
falgar he did fall, and Victory never for a moment fiuttered from what was
then her chosen eyrie — the British mast. And, not only in this view
was the victory of Capt. Perry unrivalled, but in the_importanoe_eyen.j3f
its immediate consequences. X.-ki!oyv_noneJn_the modern history of_jia.val
warfai-el-hat can be compared with it. An important territ.riry in¦ut^pd^^r1r^^y
rescued from the grasp ot" EnglisE power — uppermost^Ca.r^a.da. mngnp.rp.d,
or prepared for conquest.; an ocean secured from the intrusion _of every
foreigiiHag ; a frontier of a thousand miles Eglievediroin' the hostility of
tfieraiost dreadful loe that civilized man has ever knowiT! Ntt/, further,
Capt. Perry and his gallant associates have ndt only given us victory in one
quarter, but shown us how to obtain it in another yet more important

29
How deep is now the impression on every mind that we want but ships to
give oar fleet on the Atlantic the success which has hitherto attended our
single vessels ! We want but ships. We want then but time. Never had a
nation, when first obliged to engage in the defence of naval rights by naval
means— never had such a nation the advantages or the success of ours. The
naval glory of other States has risen by continued flffiiLt — by slow gradation ;
That of the United States, almost without a dawn, has burst upon the world
in all the sudden splendor of a tropical day. To such men we can do no
honor. All records of the present time must be lost, — history must be a
fable or a blank, — or their fame is secure. To the naval character of the
country our votes can do no honor, but we may secure ourselves from the
imputation of insensibility to its merit — we can at least express our admira
tion and our gratitude."
The first measure of importance brought up at this session had been the
new and stringent Embargo Act. It became a law on the 17th of Decem
ber, and provided for a strict embargo until the 1st of January, 1816, un-
Ipss hostilities ceased meanwhile. The news_^f_theJiattle_pX.LeipaLG__and
fJapoleon|s retreat across the llhinar~wErch^ was made known just before
new-yeai''s day, 1814, caused an immediate agitation in favor of its repeal by
all who were in favor of peace, and who dreaded the advent of English
armies in Canada, when released from service in Europe by the fall of
Napoleon then thought to be imminent. Lord Castlereagh had at the same
time written to Monroe, the Secretary of State, to express the willing
ness of the British government to treat for peace. Kor_was it long befhlie
tbp^>nbar,Qfo Act was found to injure the country, whose commerce it para
lyzed, and not the enemy, who had accumulated provisions for a whole year
in ad^vance. On the 1 4tliof_April. such was the pressure of the peace party.
acting in concertTwItETeaSingrnembers who supported Mr. Lowndes in his
opposition to any restrictions upon commp.rnp, that, tbp A.ct was rpppalpd
hardly four months after its passage.
The bills whichjvere passed under Mr. Lowndes's influence at this ses-
sion were laws — in aid of the naval estahli.shment and the freneral systeia of
national defence; t." anthoHzp an innrpa.sp nf the marine corps, and the con
struction of floatinfy batteid£s ; to allow rank to be bestowed on naval offi
cers fordistinguished conduct ; to provide for the appointment of flotilla
officers, for bounties for prisoners captured on the high seas and brought
into port, and for pensions for the widows and children of those who were
slain in action.
Although the treaty between England and the United States had been
signed on the 24th of December, 1814, the despatches of our Commissioners
did not reach America, as is well known, till the llth of the following
February, more than a month after the battle of New-Orleans. As fast as
the news of peace was made known, the sound of rejoicings everywhere
filled the air, and the roads leading into the large cities were ahve with
people hurrying to behold illuminations or to listen to the congratulations
of party leaders.
The war had never been popular, for the sufferings and hardships it en
tailed had caused the grievances which led to it to be so far overlooked, that
there were very few to grumble at their relinquishment by President Madi
son, in the final instructions to the American Commissioners. The country,
however, soon saw and clearly understpod that the rtestablishment of peace
in Europe had removed that intense strain upon the resources of England

30
which had caused its government to wink at the impressment of seamen
from^vesieirBelonging to the United States and the consequent dishonor
to their flag. The American army had got no great amount of glory by
the war, but had rather given promise of future distinction by its gal
lantry at Chippewa and its steadiness at Lundy's Lane. The navy had
carried off the honors of the struggle, and was the popular arm of the ser
vice. Congressmen and politicians who had labored for it and supported it
acquired an undoubted hold upon the favor of the people. They were well
nigh the only class of public men who did.
Nor was England less willing to negotiate; for there had been from the
outset a large party in the mother country, who, like the Federalists of the
North, welcomed the treaty as " the conclusion of a destructive war which
wisdom and temper might have entirely prevented." *
The unwise project of invasion had been tried upon the northern and
southern border of the Union, and had failed through the victory of
McDonough on Lake Champlain and Jackson at New-Orleans. While the
defence of Canada and her supremacy upon the ocean were possible to Eng
land from the abundance and cliaracter of her resources, yet so distant was
the scene of war, that she could only maintain hostilities at an enormous
expenditure. Both countries desired peace so equally, that when peace was
made, the contemporary historian wrote of the provisions of the treaty that
" not the least notice was taken of any of the points at issue on the com
mencement of the war and which were the occasion of it; so that the con
tinuance of peace must depend either upon the absence of those circumstances
which produced the disputes, or upon a spirit of reciprocal moderation and
conciliation, the desirable fruit of dear-bought experience." f
In place of the circumstances which led to the dispute, a wise spirit of
conciliation has arisen among the educated statesmen of either country, which
is gradually spreading among the people of both nations, leading to a study
of their independent as well as their long common histories, and removing
many of the misconceptions which had naturally sprung into existence, like
baneful weeds in neglected ground, between two branches of the same race
so long widely separated, and whose only intercourse had been on little other
than cold or hostile terms.
While there were some among the public men who brought about the war.
who sufffixiedji popular opuiion, it was the good fortune of Mr. Lmmdes.
from his diligence^s chairman of the Naval Committee of the House.. and-his
identification thereliyr as it were, with the navy itself, to increase liis^Du-
Jation-ajid strengthen the favor in which his name was held.
On the 4th of December, 1815, he was placed at the Jiead of the Com
mittee of Ways anci Means. He served as its chairman for three years,
and until he staid away from Washington, in November, 1818, in order
to avoid re-appointment, not taking his seat until the second week of the
session.l He voted for the reestabhshment of the United States Bank, when the
measure was carried by the Republican adoption of the Federal argument
that it was a necessary financial instrument of the government. Few ques
tions have produced such violent controversy. The first bank had only re
ceived the approval of Washington, when the federal party was prepared to
* Annual Register, vol. 57, p. 123.
t Ibid, p. 124.
J Memoirs J. Q. Adams, iv. p. 174.

31
pass it over his veto.* The Republican party which had abolished it as un
constitutional, were subsequently led by the embarrassments of the govern
ment during the war, the disorder of the currency, and the difliculty of
taxation, to reverse their opinions and to regard its restoration as indis
pensable. At a later period, Mr. Lowndes, who had constantly supported
the bank, defended its refusal to redeem the notes of one branch at any
other, — wherever the holder might choose to present them, — and reviewed
the whole subject of banking and exchange, after a long study of the subject,
in a speech which was widely reprinted by the public journals. During the
whole period of his service upon the Ways and Means, he was most diligent
in committee, constant in attendance in the House, and a participant in every
important debate.
On the 16th of October. 1816. he was invited by Madison to become a
member of his cabinet as Secretary of War, hut declined t,bp honor. "In the
following year he was again offered by President Monroe the War portfolio,
but he preferred his position as the leader of the House, and it was given,
on his second declination of it, to Calhoun. The President's letter to Mr.
Lowndes upon this subject has been preserved. It is interesting, since it
serves to clearly indicate the considerations which formerly governed the
selection of the cabinet. It reads :
Confidential. Washington, May 31, 1817.
Dear Sir :
Having manifested my desire to draw into the administration, citizens
of distinguished merit from each great section of the Union, and Gover-
iiour Shelby who was appointed Secretary of War from the State of Ken
tucky having declined the appointment, I consider myself at liberty to look
to other parts for aid, from those best qualified to afford it. On you my
attention has in consequence been fixed, and I beg you to be assured that
your acceptance of that office will be highly gratifying to me from personal
as well as public considerations. As I am about to leave the city and shall
be absent some time, I will thank you to be so good as to transmit your
answer to me under cover of Mr. Rush, who will forward it to me-
I am, dear Sir, with great respect and esteem.
Your Obd't Sv't, (signed) James Monroe.
Mr. Lowndes also refused the mission to France, and again, a year later,
the choice of the special missions to Constantinople and St. Petersburgh,
which President Monroe, after consultation with John Quincy Adams, then
Secretary of State, had offered to him.f
In 1818, he spoke almost every week of the session upon a great variety
of subjects, and jiever failed _to command the undivided attention _Q£_the
House. On the 30th of January, 1819, he reviewed the whole subject of
the Seminole War, and the course pursued by General Jackson in Florida,
in a long but close reasoned speech, taking the ground that if Congress were
to suppress its disapprobation of the occupation of St. Marks and Pensacola,
it would not serve to raise in any waj^ the the military character of General
Jackson, but that it would impair its own character, its reputation and its
dignity. He was chairman of the Committee on Coins and on Weights and
* Letter of .Tames Madison to William Lowndes.
t Memoirs of J. Q. Adams, vol. v. p. 77.

32
Measures, and made upon these subjects numerous and elaborate notes,
which show his thorough method of work in the preparation of reports to the
House. He had, however, for a long time, over-tasked himself, and was
obliged to leave Washington in the spring of 1819, suffering greatly from
exhaustion. By the advice of his physicians he sought restoration to health
in the entire relaxation of a sea voyage, and, on landing at Liverpool, re
ceived the thoughtful, cordial, and generous welcome of an English gentleman,
from the historian of the Medici, Sir. Roscoe. Intent upon self-improvement
and knowledge, he remained at Liverpool until he had studied and re
corded in his note-book everything which struck his curious and active
mind. He found in the docks, the system of labor, the workshops, the com
mercial regulations, both of statute and local enactment, subjects worthy of
careful examination and study, to be afterwards made available in the com
mittee rooms of the Capitol.
He met, on one occasion, at Liverpool, a gentleman with whom he had a
long conversation, and, under the English custom of intercourse without in
troduction, they separated without receiving it. Mr. Lowndes had so
impressed himself upon the other, that the latter went immediately to Mr.
Roscoe and inquired who the stranger was, describing him as the tallest
man he had ever seen, the most unassuming he had ever met, and, certainly,
the man of the greatest intellect he had ever heard speak. " It is the great
American Lowndes you have been talking with ; come and dine with me
to-morrow, and I will introduce you to him." *
The journey to London gave him an opportunity to observe the agricul
ture of the midland counties. He visited Newmarket, went through the
stables, and wrote down in his note-book everything he could learn about the
care and improvement of horse-flesh, which he thought could be usefully
adopted on his own side of the Atlantic. At London, he took every oppor
tunity to visit the House of Commons, making the acquaintance of the par
liamentary leaders, and watching their conduct of public business. On his
departure from London he went directly to Paris, and there dined with
Humboldt at Mr. Gallatin's table. He constantly attended the Chamber of
Deputies, listened to their debates, and noted in his diary the characteristics
of the Chamber, comparing it with the House of Commons. He thought its
parliamentary rules well planned, and the French method of arresting de
bate by a direct vote to close the discussion seemed to him an improvement
upon our own rule of the previous question. He travelled through France
aiid Northern Italy, and returned to London afrer a tour through Holland
and Belgium. Remaining but a short time in England on his way home, he
took his seat on the 8th of December, two days after the assembly of the
Sixteenth Congress. He received on the same day the appointment of chair-
man of the Committee on jWurnAffWs^ On th'r"?2r''SrTebfuary,
1820, he introduced a resolution, wtich waTunanimously adopted, to author
ize the report of a bill to confer upon the family of Commodore Perry the
same pension that they would have been entitled" to receive had Perry fallen
in the battle of Lake Erie, instead of surviving for a few short years to die
of yellow fever at Port Spain. Mr. Lowndes's speech on this occasion
was written out by him on the evening after its delivery, at the request of
his friend the Hon. Nathaniel Silsbee, of Massachusetts. It is noticeable
as the only speech of the long series, comprehending every question of the
* "Reminiscences and Sketches," by E. 8. Thomas, i. p. 103. Tho author gives this
apcedoto on the authority of Mr. lloscoc liimfcelf.

33
time, which he delivered during his congressional career, that ever received
any revision at his hands.* As soon as the question upon the resolution had
been put after he resumed his seat, John Randolph of Roanoke arose, to
offer another resolution, the basis of the subsequent act, which provided not
only for the .support of Perry's family, but also for the education of his
children. His remarks, very characteristic of the man and strongly put,
were prefaced by these opening words of compliment, — a thing rare at any
time from him, — to Mr. Lowndes. " Mr. Speaker, I believe it will prove a
very difficult undertaking for any member of this House to keep pace with
the honorable gentleman from South Carolina in the race of honor and
public utility. It is certainly not possible for me to do so, for I have already
been anticipated in a proposition which I desired to make to-day, because it
is one eminently fit to introduce on this anniversary so inspiring to patriotic
emotions." Mn^^wndes spokeatthis session on the Missouri Compromise, against
IVIr. ClayVresolutiohs oirthe Spanish treaty, and _m_ofLpflsTtrnn to "The
revision of the Tariff. Wlien Mr. Clay resigned the speakership, at the
opening of the second session in November, 1820, Mr. Lowndes became
the candidate of his party against Mr. John W. Taylor, of New-Yorki At
the close of the ballot on the second day of the session he lacked but one
vote of an election. Fourteen votes had been diverted by the candidacy
of Gen. Smith, of Maryland, " a man ruined in fortune and reputation, yet
who commanded votes enough," as John Quincy Adams recorded in bis
diary on the evening of that day, " to defeat the election of Lowndes, a man
of irreproachable character, amiable disposition and popular manners."
Mr. Taylor was chosen Speaker on the next ballot, and on the 23d
of November, Mr. Lowndes, who had been appointed chairman of the
select committee on the proposed constitution of Missouri, reported a bill for
her admission to the Union. Its consideration was set down for the 6th of
December, and the whole country awaited the debate with a deeper interest
than it had given to any subject since the adoption of the constitution. It
was the first great encounter on the question of slavery, and the South, more
distinguished then in the superior weight and character of her delegations
in the House, than at any other period of her long supremacy — if we accept
the recorded opinion of him, then, too, illustrious in every branch of the
public service, yet destined to attain his own most enviable honors years
afterwards in that House as the worthiest champion of the North— the.SJau±ll,
grasping the situation with the keenest comprehension of its magnitude, eijr
- -^^   -^^ 

tr^fidjhe presentation and management of her cause to Mr. Lowndes, the
wjsesl since he was the most moderate_2f all her .public nien.
Of his speech, in opening the debate, there is left to us in the
annals of Congress only an insufficient abstract. His opening sentences
were lost to the official reporters of the House, as Mr. Benton tells us in his
note upon the speech, by the movement of representatives from every part
of the chamber, as they hurriedly changed their seats to get near the
speaker, and catch every word that fell from his lips, " Mr. Lowndes being
one of those so rare in every assembly around whom members clustered
when he rose to speak, that not a word should be lost where every word was
luminous with intelligence and captivating with candor. This clustering
around him, always the case with Mr. Lowndes when he rose to speak, was
* Abridgment of Debates, vol. vii. p. 346.

AV

34
more than usually eager on this occasion from the circumstances under
which he spoke ; — the Union verging to dissolution, and his own condition
verging to the grave." *
The debate lasted through the winter, and it was not till the 28th of
February, 1821, that the State of Missouri was conditionally admitted to
the Union, and the second Missouri question compromised like the first.f
During the greater portion of the winter Mr. Lowndes was confined to
his residence by severe illness, the premonition of the end to come two years
^ later. 'The management of the Missouri question, owing to his inability to
attend the House/was entrusted by him to Mr. Clay, who frequently con
ferred with him in his chamber in regard to it. The compromise became
thus the work, as it was the fortunate opportunity of Henry Clay. He
availed himself of the weakness of the Northern position to undermine it,
and dissension was, for a few years, allayed. Mr. Lowndes spoke but rarely
after his recovery, once or twice when able to attend the House on some
point in the Missouri debate, and once in favor of an inquiry into the Bank
rupt Laws. He was under medical observation during the summer of 1821,
and rallied somewhat before he returned to Washington, which was not
until the 21st of December, nearly three weeks after the opening of the
Seventeenth Congress, having once more kept away at the organization of
the House to avoid the chairmanship of a committee. In the last week of
December, at a ^ucus^of the Legislature of South Carolina, he received its
nomination for the Pre.qidgncy. This movement of his native state was an
entire surprise to him. His answer, which passed into *a proverb, and was
destined to be the speech by which he will be longest remembered, is best
given in a letter to his wife, written at Washington, 6th January, 1822.
" You have heard of the caucus nomination at Columbia. I hope you have
not set your mind too strongly on being President's lady. While you
wish only a larger fence for the poultry yard, and a pond for the ducks, I
may be able to gratify you, but this business of making a President either
of oneself or of another I have no cunning at. We live in a terrible con
fusion. I thought when I came here the question was a fact confined to two
persons, Mr. Crawford and Mr. Adams. Now, we have all the secretaries
and at least two who are not to be named. As to the answer which I have
made to the notification, here it is : 'I have taken no step and never shall to
draw the public attention upon me as a competitor for the Presidency. It
is not in my opinion an office to be either solicited or declined.' "
Mr. Lowndes served at this session on the Committee on the Mint and the
Coinage, and spoke for the last time in Congress on the 22d of March, 1822,
on a resolution authorizing an exchange of government bonds.
He continued to decline in vigor, under the debilitating infiuence of disease
and the method of treatment adopted in his case. The strength of the
overworked statesman at length gave way entirely. He resigned in the
autumn his seat in Congress, and sailed in October in the ship Moss, from
Philadelphia. Accompanied by his wife and daughter, he hoped to find, in
a longer absence from home, and in the choice of climate which Europe
afforded, restoration of health. It was not thus to be. He grew rapidly
worse, and died on the 27th of October, when he had been but nine days at
sea. The news of his death, which occasioned univeijsal concern and sorrow,
* Abridgment of Debates, vol vii. p. 12.
t Memoirs ol J. Q. Adams, vol. v. p. 307.

35
did not reach the United States till the llth of January, 1823. Ten days
later, on the 21st of the month, the House of Representatives, of which, at
his death, he was not a memlier, and in which James Hamilton, Jr. already
sat as his successor, passed the .^ame resolutions of respect to his memory,
and of mourning for his loss, which they would have done had he fallen
like the second Adams upon its floor. The eulogies upon him of Hamilton,
and Archer, and Taylor are among the most beautiful of such efforts.
Hamilton declared that his wisdom was equalled only by his moderation.
that he had less self-love and. more self-denial than any other man he had
known. Archer described his character as one in which the qualities that
win esteem were blended in the happiest way with those that command it.
Taylor, of New- York, affirmed that the highest and best hopes of the
country had looked to William Lowndes for their fulfilment, that the Chief
Magistracy would have been illustrated by his virtues and talents. " During
nine years," said Mr. Taylor, "I have served with him on many important
committees, and he never failed to shed new light on all the subjects to
which he applied his vigorous and discriminating mind. To manners the
most unassuming, to patriotism the most disinterested, to morals the most
pure, to attainments of the highest order in literature and .science, he added
the virtues of decision and prudence so happily combined, so harmoniously
united, that we knew not which most to admire, the firmness with which
he pursued his purpose, or the gentleness by which he disarmed opposition.
You, Mr. Speaker," he concluded, " will remember his zeal in sustaining
tJ2^''ailse "f "'ir r^nntry in tViq darkcst days of our late war. You cannot
have forgotten — who that heard him can ever forget the impression of his
eloquence in announcing the resolutions of thanks to the gallant Perry for
the victory on Lake Erie ? Alas 1 Alas ! the statesman has joined the
hero, — never — never again shall his voice be heard in this Hall."
Said the National Intelligencer of the following day: " The tribute, which
was yesterday paid to the memory of the lamented William Lowndes, is as
honorable to the feeling of the House as it is to the memory of the deceased.
The brief addresses, delivered on the occasion, were such as worthily became
the speakers, and never perhaps was eulogy more justly or more disinter
estedly bestowed."
For the_fieriod_of_ one month, in accordancewiththeir resolution,_the
House wore, as a badge of mourning, crap"e upon theleft armi This action,
which had been without precedent in the annals of the House, has served as
its example since that time, on the few occasions that the House has been
called upon to pay especial honor to the memory of a great citizen who was
not at the time of his death a member of their own body.
Not less deep and earnest than the tributes of the House were the latei-
words of Mr. R. H. Wilde, subsequently Professor of the University of
Louisiana, in his " Sketches of Members of the Fourteenth Congress."
"Preeminent, yet not more proudly than humbly preeminent among
them was a gentleman from South Carolina, now no more : the purest, the
calmest, the^^most philosophical of our country's modern statpsmen. one no
less remarkable for gentleness of manners and kindness of heart than for
that passionless unclouded intellect which rendered him deserving, if ever
man deserved it, of merely standing by and -letting reason argue for him.
The true patriot, incapable of all self-ambition, who shunned office and
distinction, yet served his country faithfully because he loved her, — he, I
mean, who consecrated by his example the noble precept so entirely his own.

36
that the first station in the Republic was neither to be sought after nor
declined, a sentiment so just and so happily expressed that it continues to
be repeated because it cannot be improved."
Nor is the deliberate opinion of the graver historian less warm. Bentonj
.who said of Mr. Lowndes, that his opinion had a weight never exceeded by
tliat of' any other American statesman, who wrote at a period when almost
all who had ever served with him m Uongress had passed away, and whose
personal acquaintance with him had been but slight, since he commenced
his own long career at the time that declining health had led to Mr.
Lowndes's resignation, devotes to his character and influence one of the
opening chapters of his worki
"All that I saw of him confirmed the impression of the exalted character
which the public voice had ascribed to him. Virtue, modesty, benevolence,
patriotism, were the qualities of his heart; a sound judgment, a mild,
persuasive elocution were the attributes of his mind ; his manners gentle,
natural, cordial, and inexpressibly engaging. He was one of the galaxy,
as it was well called, of the brilliant young men whom South Carolina sent
to the House of Representatives at the beginning of the war of 1812, —
Calhoun, Cheves, Lowndes, — 'and was soon the brightest star in that
constellation. * * * He was the moderator as well as the leader of the
House; and was follolved by its sentiment in all cases in which inexorable
parEy^'eeling or some powerful interest did not rule the action of the mem
bers, and even then he was courteously and deferentially treated. It was so
the only time I ever heard him speak,— session of 1820-21, and on the
inflammable subject of the admission of the State of Missouri. His death
was a public and national calamity."*
When Mb\Clay_was asked, towards the close of his long life, by Colonel
John Lee,"5rMaryland, who, of all the public men he had known, was in
his opinion the greatest, he replied that it was difficult to decide among the
many whom he had been associated with, but, said he, " Ijjiiak the wisfiat.-
man I ever knew was William Lowndes."
Ex-President Van Buren, towards the end of that work which occupied
his later years, and which he did not live to see published,t in speaking of
the protective system, which had its origin in the prolific mind of Hamilton,
says : " The enforcement of Hamilton's recommendations was reserved for
the close of the war of 1812, a period of which I have already spoken as
one which brought on the ]3olitical stage a new class of Presidential aspirants.
members of a succeeding generation and unknown to ReyobitiQna.ry f^mp,
Sjiiong the- most prominent of these stood Crawford, Clay,'Callioun7Adams,
Webster and Lowndes, — the latter, perhaps, the most likely— ta-have suc
ceeded, if his useful life had not been brought to a premature close."
SiTch are some of the opinions given of this most highly gifted man. He was
a descendant, let it be here said, of the same family as was his distinguished
namesake, William Lowndes, Secretary of the Trea^ry to Queen Anne.
This statesman, the author of the British funding system, rose to influence
of the first rank by service upon the Committee of Ways and Means in the
House of Commons. By a curious and striking coincidence, a century
later, the subject of our sketch, as chairman of a similar committee in the
House of Representatives, earned the same designation in the annals of the
* Benton. " Thirty years View," vol. i. pp. 9, 10. 1.5.
t •' Folitical Parties in tho United States,'' pp. 415-16.

37
United States that the other had won as the " Ways and Means Lowndes "
of the Parliamentary History of England, and thus, long ago, there sprang
from the old manor house of Legh Hall in Cheshire, offshoots of that
family, which had been even then long associated with its walls, that were
destined to carry in after time their common name high into the councils
of each of the great families of the English race.
To the student of the constitutional history of the United States, the life
and character of William Lowndes, although it may be utterly forgotten
among the people, will always have a peculiar interest from the numerous
possibilities which associate themselves with it and which were extinguished
at his death. He was called "an old statesman " by the press, and yet he
was but forty when he died. He had never served the country biit_jLS-a
member of the lower House of (Congress, rejecting m turn the summoiis_of
Madison_and Monroe to their cabinets., and the offers of three foreign mis- ,
sionsTyet it is safe to say that tjie Union has never, in this thefir^t_centu_ry |
of its independence, lost another statesman of his age who made "so deep an j\
jmprpssinn iipnn its affection and judgment, and who left so enviable a fame.
His last public act, as it might be called, such is the temper of the Republic
towards all who have incurred her suspicion of unduly striving for the Pre
sidency, and in such sharp contrast was his attitude to that assumed by his
three great contemporaries, Webster, Clay, and Calhoun, — the dignified
position he took in reference to his nomination, — won for him a feeling of
personal admiration, even from his opponents, which was expressed long
afterwards in conversation and private correspondence whenever his char
acter and attainments were the subject of affectionate and interesting
reminiscence. The personal appearance of Mr. Lowndes was remarkable ; for his stature
exceeded six feet and six inches, and he was as slender as he was tall.
Though loose limbed he managed his length easily. His features were
large, while the face was thin, long and pale. He was habitually grave and
thoughtful, and never relaxed into idle conversation or even social raillery,
yet — comitate condita gravitas — he was neither solemn nor severe, and his
smile, though rare, was said to be inexpressibly engaging. His habitual
seriousness was relieved by the presence of his children, and he was always
cheerful when they were with him or came to be tossed in his long arms.
Present or absent, says Mr. Grayson, they were objects of tender solicitude.
He found time to correspond with them even during the labors attendant
upon a session of Congress, and watched their progress as evidenced by
their letters. He urged them to be diligent by appeals to their filial affec
tion rather than to their desire of emulation. His manners and address
were full of dignity, and he was as invariably courteous in private life as he
was in his public career. How distinctively he may be said to have earned
his public reputation for these qualities we have already seen, yet it is well
to notice the valuable opinion of the distinguished historian of the Aboli
tion Party, the late Vice-President of the United States, who speaks of Mr.
Lowndes " as one of the ablest and certainly one of the most courteous and
moderate Southern statesmen,"*
While sought in society by its most conspicuous members, and honored
by the friendship of his elders in years and station, he was always a peculiar
favorite of men and women younger than himself He had from natural
modesty rather than from cultivation that faculty of deferent attention to

" Rise and Fall of the Slave Power,"' by Henry Wilson, i. p.

158.

38
others which wins in social intercourse at once confidence and regard. The
late Mr. John Ravenel sometimes told the following anecdote in illustration
of the attachment Mr. Lowndes inspired among young people : — Mr.
Ravenel was the pupil of a Major Wilson, a surveyor, and had been sent
by him into the neighborhood of El Dorado, the estate of General Thomas
Pinckney. He was at once asked by the General to his house. A youth and
a stranger, he felt and perhaps betrayed something of natural embarrass
ment incidental to his position in the company at General Pinckney's table,
when a tall gentleman, who was entirely unknown to him, engaged his at
tention, and delighted him by the charm of his manner, and by his agreeable
conversation. He soon learned that the tall gentleman was his host's son-in-
law, and the leader of the congressional delegation of his State.* As he
was considerate and attentive to others, he was modest in his own share of
conversation ; and, while insensibly guiding it, never took the exclusive con
trol which would so often have been willingly accorded him. Conversation in
his presence never became monologue. He was in no sense disputatious,
and talked for the sake of truth and not for victory. Whether in the draw
ing-room, in committee, or in the House, he never became heated nor vehe
ment, but turned an angry disputant by calm remark and gentle manner.
When once asked by a gentleman long noted for colloquial skill, what but
failure v\^uld be the fate of the American Republic; what would be the
condition of things when there came to be more than thirty states ; how
could faction be controlled, where could safeguards be found in a democracy
to protect the liberties of the people, Mr. Lowndes, to whom it would have
been easy as one hopeful of the Union to reply in "glittering generalities,"
quietly observed, " That the people of that future time would be so much
better informed than he could be of the evils approaching and their reme-
die.s, that he was entirely content to leave the whole subject for them to
examine and arrange."
Without despising popular opinion, he placed no great value either on
its praise or its censure, and was entirely undisturbed by the occasional
attacks of party journals. It was Mr. Rutledge who related of him the
story that once, while on a journey with Mr. Lowndes through Pennsyl
vania, they stopped a short time at a village, and that a stranger to them
in the hotel, who seemed to be a prominent character in the town, after
listening to their conversation, came up to Mr. Lowndes and asked him as
a favor to run his eye over a communication he had prepared for the coun
try newspaper and give him the benefit of his corrections. Mr. Lowndes,
on reading the article, found it to be an attack upon the administration and
its leading supporters, and especially virulent upon himself. He corrected
and returned the paper without intimating who he was, and then asked the
writer what reason lie had for abusing Mr. Lowndes. "None at all," was
the reply, "but I don't believe any man ever possessed so many good qua
lities as are imputed to him by all parties." t From this slight incident we
may infer his estimate of popular censure and a])plau,se.
Hi_8 oratory was_easy, unaffected, and refined in manner. It made a deep
jmpressTon'uljoTi hislmlTence byjts contrasTwdt^ niore fiprid style of
jhe pffliod in whlcFjie fjypd. In t.hp Sfat.p Hnngp ITTyTLw^Kin fie was
always heard with profound attention. His manner was calm and persua
sive, his action subdued, his style clear and flowing, his voice good but not
strong. He made no questionable rhetorical flights, but seemed to the
* Mr. F. J. Grayson. f Ibid.

39
listener to be animated solely with the desire to ascertain and enforce the
truth. He was remarkable in debate for a candor that never failed to see
and acknowledge the strength of an opponent's argument. He would freely
admit what an inferior mind would have striven only to elude, and would
always concede all that his adversary's argument could demand. His prac
tice in debate was to state at the outset, fully and clearly, the strong points
of the speech to which he had risen to reply. Mr. Alfred Huger related
that, on some occasions, Mr. Lowndes would put his adversary's argument
with such force that his own friends would become alarmed lest he might
fail to pull down what he had so firmly erected. The fear was needless,
even on the occasion when John Randolph of Roanoke, who was opposed
to him, had declared aloud on the floor of the House, as Mr. Lowndes went
on, that the speaker had entrapped himself and would never answer his
own argument. Mr. Randolph, however, at the end of the speech, admitted
that he had been mistaken.
Fortunate as Mr. Lowndes was in his public career, he was not the less
happy in his private relations. No censure ever assailed his domestic life,
for he was known of all men to be pure.
Mr. Lowndes married,  , 1802, Elizabeth-Brenton, daughter of
General Thomas Pinckney.* By this lady, who died in July, 1857, Mr.
Lowndes had :
i. Rawlins,' b. 1804 ; m.  , 1827, Emma-Raymond Hornby, and
died s. p.  , 1834.
18. ii. Thomas-Pinckney,!* b. Oct. — , 1808.
iii. Kebecca-Motte,« b.  , 1810; m. June 16, 1829, to Edward-L.
Rutledge, of the Navy, and has issue :
i. Harriott-Hobky,' m.  , 1851, St. Jalien-Ravenel, and
has issue :
i. HarrioU-Ruthdge,^° b. 1852.
ii. Anna-Eliza,^° b. 1853.
iii. John,'" b. 1856.
Iv. Elizabeth-Rutledge,'"' b. 1857.
V. Edward- Rulledye,^" b. 1859.
vi. St.-Julien,^" b. 1861.
vii. Frances- Guuldn,^" b. 1865.
ym. Francis-GuaMo,^''h. 1869.
ix. Helen-Lowndes,^" b. 1872.
ii. Blizabeth-Pinckney,' b. 1842 ; died in infancy.
12. Eavtlins^ Lowndes, now the senior representative of the family
which has been the subject of this sketch, was educated at the United States
Military Academy at West Point, which he entered August 31, 1816. He
was graduated 1st July, 1820, and promoted in the Army to the rank of 2d
Lieutenant, Corps of Cavalry. He was stationed at E^ort Moultrie in the
winter of 1820, and was on topographical duty in 1821, in the valley of the
Missouri, at that time a pathless waste of prairie. He was appointed Aide-
* Thomas Pinckney was born in Charleston, 23d October, 1750. The child of wealthy
parents, he received a thorough classical education in England. He was conspicuous at the
outbreak of the Revolution, and on the assumption by Gates of the command of the
Southern Army was appointed his aide. When the array was defeated at the battle near
Camden, Major Pinckney, whose leg had been shattered by a musket ball; was taken
prisoner. He succeeded General Moultrie as Governor of South Carolina in 1787. In 1792
he received the appointment of Minister Pfenipotentiary to Great Britain, and in 1794 was
sent with the same rank to Spain to treat in reference to the navigation of the Mississippi. In
1800 he was chosen Member of Congress. At the commencement of the second war with
England, Dearborn, having received the appointment of Commander-in-Chief, and been
assigned to the Northern Army, Pinckney was commissioned as Major General and placed
in command of the Southern Department. At the end ot the war he retired to his planta
tion, EI Dorado, where he died on the 2d of November, 1828.
6

40
de-Camp, with the rank of Major, to Brevet^Major General Gaines, July
1, 1821, and remained on the staff of this officer till Dec. 31, 1830, when
he resigned from the army, and returned to Carolina.
Here at his plantation. The Strip, on the North Santee River, for a pe
riod of thirty years. Major Lowndes resided during a portion of each year,
returning to his town residence in New- York in the spring. . In 1860, hav
ing purchased a small estate on the east bank of the Hudson, near to and
between the old family seats of the Livingston family, into which he had
married, he gave up his town residence, and, a few months later, in April,
1861, was forced to abandon his Carolina estate to swift destruction from
neglect and the plunder of marauders, when the sea coast of the state
became the scene of active war.
Since the year 1861, Major Lowndes has resided upon the Hudson Riv
er. , He married, October 24, 1826, Gertrude-Laura, daughter of Maturin
Livingston and Margaret Lewis his wife, only daughter and heiress of
Morgan Lewis,* a Major General in the Army in the last war with England,
son of Francis Lewis, a Signer of the Declaration of Independence, and
by her has issue :
i. Julia-Livingston,' m. May 19, 1853, William-Augustus James, of
Lynwood, near Rhinebeck-on-IIudson, and had issue :
i. "WiLLiAM-LowNDES," b. June 1, 1855.
Mrs. James died January 26, 1875.
ii. Mary-Livingston," m. January 31, 1855, John-Pyne March, son of the
late Charles March, of Greenland, New-Hampshire. By her husband,
who died November 25, 1873, she had issue :
i. Chakles," b. September 23, 1856.
ii. Clement,'-'' b. November 21, 1862.
iii. Gertrude-Lewis," b. September 22, 1833 ; d. October 26, 1834.
iv. Anne," m. George-B. Chase, of Boston [Harv. Coll. 1856J, sou of the
late Theodore Chase, of Portsmouth, New-Hampshire, and afterv/ards
of Boston, and has issue :
i; Stephen," b. January 30, 1863.
ii. Gertrude-Lowndes.'"
V. Harriett-Lowndes," m. April 27, 1859, Eugene Langdon, son of the late
Waiter .Langdon, of Portsmouth, New-Hampshire, and has Issue :
* Upon the east wall in St. James's Church, Hy de-Park-on-Hudson, N. Y., there is a mural
tablet with this inscription : To the Memory of
Major General Morgan Lewis,
Younger son of
Francis Lewis,
A Signer of the Declaration of Independence :
Born in New York, Oct. 16, 1754,
Died April 7, 1844.
In 177/5, he enli.sted as a volunteer in the army investing Bo.-;ton.
In 1777, he served under General Gates, as Chief of his Staff,
and received the surrender of Burgoyne.
He conducted the retreat from Ticonderoga,
led the advance at Stone Arabia,
and was in active service till the close of tho war.
In 1783, he commenced the practice of the Law,
and became Attorney General, Chief Justice, and
Governor of his Native State. •
Under his administration the foundation was laid for our public school fund.
In 1812, as Major General, he served through the second war.
He was, for many years, Senier Warden of this Church,
and at the period of his deatli, was President of the Cincinnati,
and Grand Master of the Masons.
"Warned hy advancing years, with a mind unimpaired.
He retired from public life to tlio quiet of his fiimily,
Where living and beloved, he went down to the grave
In a good old age, and in the fulness of honors.

41
i. Marion.^" ii. Anne-Lowndes.'"
Mr. Langdon died Februrary 22, 1866. Mrs. Langdon m. secondly,
November 2, 1872, Phihp Schuyler, of New-York.
13. Thomas^ Lowndes was graduated at Harvard College, 1824; m.
February 12, 1828, Allen, daughter of Henry and Margaret Deas, of
Charleston, by whom he had issue :
i. Henry," b. January 29, 1829. ii. Sarah-Ion."
iii. Thomas," b. September 26, 1842 ; d. 18—.
Mr. Lowndes died July 8, 1833.
14. William-Price^ Lowndes, educated at New-Haven, and after
wards at Columbia College, South Carolina; m. October 30, 1833, Susan-
Mary- Elizabeth, daughter of Maturin and Margaret (Lewis) Livingston, of
Staatsburgh, New- York, who died in New- York, February 10, 1875. By
her he had issue :
i. Margaret," m. June 6, 1865, Edward-Henry Costar, of the City of New-
york, and has issue.
ii. Francis-Lewis," b. August 8, 1837 ; now a Councillor-at-Law, of the City
of New-York.
iii. William," b. August 1, 1843 ; m. May 22, 1875, Katherine-Grant, daugh
ter of Daniel Ransom, of New- York.
15. Chaeles-Tidyman' Lowndes, m. December 31, 1829, Sabina-El-
liott, daughter of Daniel-Elliott and Isabella Huger, by whom he had issue :
i. Daniel-Hugek," b. February 27, 1832; d. August 1, 1832.
ii. Daniel-Huoer," b. June, 1833 ; d. January 9, 1835.
iii. Mary-Huger," m. Edward-Laight Cottenet, of New- York, and has issue.
iv. Rawlins," b. July 23, 1838 ; m.  _, Sarah, daughter of General
John-S. Preston, of Virginia, now a resident on the family estate. Oak-
lands Parish of St. Bartholomew's, South Carolina.
V. Samna-Huger," m. William-Harleston Huger, M.D., of Charleston.
vi. E.mma-Huger."
16. Richaed-Henry' Lowndes, entered the Navy in 1831, served on
the Brazils in the Lexington, as Aide to Com. A.-J. Dallas, in the Con
stellation, and as Aide to Com. Hull, in the Ohio, when flag-ship of the
Mediterranean Squadron. Mr. Lowndes resigned in 1842. He m. Nov.
10, 1845, Susan-Middleton Parker, daughter of John and Emily (Rut
ledge) Parker, of Charleston, and has issue :
i. Caroline," m. Nov. 10, 1870, Dominic-Lynch Pringle, son of the Hon.
John-Julius and Jane [Lynch] Pringle, and by him has issue.
ii. Richard-L)n," b Dec. 13, 1847 ; m Nov. 15, 1870, Alice-Izard, dau. of
Ralph-Izard and Charlotte-Georgina [Izard] Middk'ton, and has issue :
i. William,'" b. Aug. 10, 1872.
iii. Bmily-Rutledge," m. Nov. 7, 1874, Charles-Petigru Allston, son of the
Hon. R.-P.-W . and Adele (Petigru) Allston, and by him has issue.
iv. William-Aiken," b. April 20, 1856 ; d. April 23, 1863.
17. Edwaed-Rctledge' Lowndes, m., 1833, Mary-Lucia Guerard,
and by her had issue :
i. James," b. Jan. 6, 1835 ; was graduated at South Carolina College, Dee.
1854, and afterward a student at Heidelburg. Counclllor-at-Law ;
served on the staff of the Confederate Army; resumed the practice of
the law as partner of the Hon A. G. Magrath, in Charleston, in 1866 ;
now a member of the bar of the District of Columbia, and resides at
Washington.
ii. Edward," b. 1836 ; m. Celestina Fuller, and had :
i. Edward-Rutledgb.'" ii. Rawlins.'" iii. Alice.*"
iii. Mary-Lucia." iv. E-hily."' v. Elizabeth." vi. Sophia- Percy."

42
vii. Julia," m. William Hamilton, viii. Mary-Ruth.'
ix. Catherine-Hamilton."
Mr. Lowndes died 1853.
18. Thomas-Pinckney* Lowndes, m.  , 1829, Margaret-M.,
daughter of William and Martha (Blake) Washington, of Charleston, and
granddaughter of Colonel William Washington, of the Revolutionary Army.
By whom he had :
i. Jane-Washington," m. May 18, 1854, Robert-William Hume, and
has is-sue :
i. Mary-Morse,™ b. 1858.
ii. Margaret-Lowndes,'" b. 1859.
iii. William-Lowndes,'" h. 1863.
iv. Jane- Washington,'" b. 1871.
ii. William," b. 1832 ; d. at Heidelberg, Germany. 1856.
iii. Thomas-Pinckney," b. Feb 22. 1839 ; m. Nov. 9, 1865, Anne-Branford
Frost, daughter of the Hon. Edward Frost, of South Carolina, and
Harriet-Horry his wile, hy whom Mr. Lowndes has issue :
i llARRrET-HoRRY,'" b. Oct. 1866.
ii. Margaret- Washington,'" b. May, 1869.
iii. William,'" b. Oct. 1871.
iv. Edward-Frost,'" b. March, 1874.
Mr. Lowndes died in 1838.
Arms op Rawlins Lowndes, President of South Carolina in 1778.
Quarterly of six.
Lowndes — Argent fretty azure, on a canton gules a lion's erased, or.
Weld. — Azure, a fesse nebule, between three crescents, ermine.
Wettenhall. — Vert — a cross engrailed, ermine.
LiVeksage. — •Argent, a chevi'on between three plough-shares erect, sable.
Whelock. — Argent, a chevron between three Catherine wheels, sable.
Rawlins.* Note.-^Charles' Lowndes (page 12), the ancestor of the Carolina
family, died in Charleston, March 27, 1736. Among the persons named in
his will, occur the well-known names Arthur Middleton, Ralph Izard,
Colonel Blake, Nathaniel Broughton, and Hon. John Colleton, Esq., cousin
of Sir John Colleton, Baronet, one of the original Lords Proprietors of the
Province.

It has not been deemed within the limits and scope of this memoir to
trace in detail the descent of other branches of the Cheshire family of
Lowndes, nor to endeavor, by a long and uncertain search, to carry the
strict pedigree of the Bostock line back to a period anterior to that given
by the English representatives of the family to Mr. Burke or his son for
incorporation either in the History of the Commoners or in any of their
later productions. A brief sketch, however, of the several branches of this
old county family, with such mention of them as the local histories afford,
may have some interest for American readers, especially as it embodies
* It has not been possible to ascertain vi'ith certainty the seal of the St. Kitts family of this
name. In tropical climates wax imnressions are rarely used, and can never be preserved.
A wafer impression from the seal of Mr. Henry -Kawlins is too faint to authorize any descrip
tion of the arms of his family.

43
\
some facts which throw light upon other early settlements in the colonies
by representatives of the Lowndes name. •
To recur to the records of Lowndes of Bostock House, which, in tracing
the pedigree of the Carolina branch, was brought down to
Richard* Lowndes, gent., of Bostock House, who succeeded his father,
John' Lowndes, on the death of the latter. May 18, 1667, and who was
baptized on the 13th of October, 1645.
He married  ¦ and had issue :
i. Mary ,5 bapt. Oct. 25, 1670 ; m. Feb. 3, 1690, John Kelso, Esct., of the
City of t'hester.
ii. Richard,' his heir.
iii. William,' bapt. Sept. 30, 1678.
iv. Alice,' bapt. June 1, 1683.
V. Frances,' bapt. Sept. 2, 1684.
vi. Thomas,* bapt. Sept. 25, 1686.
Mr. Lowndes died January 14, 1709, and was succeeded by his elder son,
Richard^ Lowndes, Esq., of Bostock House and Hassall Hall, baptized
Oct. 17, 1673, who m. Margaret, daughter of  Poole, gent., of a
younger branch of the Pooles, of Poole, in the county of Chester, and
had issue :
i. Margaret,^ bapt. Sept. 21, 1697.
ii. Katherine,' bapt. Oct. 7, 1699; died unmarried.
iii. Frances,' bnpt. March 26, 1701 ; d. Nov. 9, 1716, unmarried.
iv. Richard,' of Bostock Hou.se and Hassall Hall, bapt. April 8, 1703.
V. William," of whom hereafter.
vi. John,' bapt. May 23, 1707; m. Mary, daughter of John Houghton,
gent of Baguley, and had issue.
vii. Ellen,' bapt. August 16, 1709 ; died May 21, 1735, unmarried.
viii. Charles,' bapt. August 27, 1711.
ix. Christopher,' bapt. June 19, 1713. Settled in America.
X. Anne,' bapt. Oct. 6, 1715.
xi. Edward,' bapt. Jan. 22, 1717.
xii. Thomas,' bapt. Oct. 22, 1720; died unmarried.
xiii. Francis,' bapt. March 28, 1724.
Mr. Lowndes made his will on the 21st of February, 172G, and settled
his estate of Bostock House on his eldest son Richard for life, and his heirs
general, in consequence of which it descended to the two daughters and
co-heirs of Richard Lowndes, Jun. Esq. Through the marriage of his
father, he had succeeded to the representation and property of the eldest
branch of the ancient family of Weld, now represented in the male line by
the Welds of Lul worth Castle, in the county of Dorset. This property.
Weld House and the Hall of Hassall, with adjoining estates, he settled on
his eldest son for life and then on his heirs male ; in fault of which, on his
younger sons in tail male, but reserving a power to trustees to lease, in
order to raise portions for younger children. The trustees did so for 500
years, and transferred the term to Richard Lowndes, the son, who left the
leasehold interest to the daughters before mentioned. The free hold and
reversion, however, remained with William Lowndes, the second son, whose
grandson and heir, the late William Lowndes, Esq., in 1819 purchased the
term, and thus became possessed of the family estate.
Mr. Lowndes died August 30, 1744. His second son,
William^ Lowndes,* gent, of Sandbach, baptized August 11, 1705,
* History of the Commoners, iv. p. 334.

44
m. September 24, 1740, Anne, eldest daughter and co-heir of William
Berington, of Sandbach, gent, (by Anne, daughter and heir of Thomas
Fletcher of Creswellshaw), descended from the ancient family of Berington,
alias Barrington, of Bradwall, in the county of Chester, and by her, who
died April 9, 1788, aged eighty-two years, left at his decease. May 15,
1789, an only son and successor,
William' Lowndes, Esq., of Sandbach, baptized June 9, 1744, who
m. December 2, 1789, at Astbury, in the county of Chester, Susanna
Sydebothom, daughter and heir to John Kirkby, gent., of Congleton,
(descended from the Sydebothoms, of Northenden, in Cheshire), and by her,
who died December 14, 1804, aged fifty, had issue :
i. William," his heir.
ii. John-Stdebothom," born May 13, 1798, and died November 23, 1819,
aged twenty-one.
iii. Anne-Barrington," m. July 22, 1818, at Astbury, to William Reddall,
of Liverpool, gent., and has a daughter Susanna Kirkby" Reddall.
Mr. Lowndes was one of the deputy lieutenants for the county of Chester.
He died, Nov. 7, 1806, and was succeeded by his eldest son,
William Lowndes,* Esq., of Hassall Hall, born October 27, 1795. He
married, Sept. 13, 1827, Mary Elizabeth, daughter of William Smith,
Esq., of Lichfield, and, dying without issue, left his property, papers, and
the representation of his family to his niece. Miss
Susanna Kirkby' Reddall, now of Parnelscraft, Congleton.
Arms and Crest. Same as those of Lowndes of South Carolina.
Estates. — The Manor and Hall Estate, of Hassall : Creswellshaw : lands
in Sandbach : Betchton : Astbury : and Congleton, all in the county of
Chester.

We have already seen that the Carolina family trace their descent from
William Lowndes, a descendant of a younger son of the family of Lowndes
of Overton, who was born possibly as late as the middle of the sixteenth
century, and who died in 1590. There was living at Overton* about this
time, in possession of that estate, as appears by a pedigree preserved in the
Harleian manuscripts. No. 1505, fol. 336 and 197,t a William Lowndes,
who traced his descent from
John' Lowndes of the same place, born about 1500, who married a
daughter of  Sherman of Smallwood in the same county, and had,
among others, a son and heir,
Richard' Lowndes, of Overton, who married Isabel, daughter of 
Lawden, of Gosty Hill, and left a son, the
* Overton Hall, in the township of Smalhvbod, and parish of Asthury, about three
miles south-east from Bostock House, is an ancient seat of the family of Lowndes, but is
now occupied as a farm house. If hns about one hundred and twenty-five acres of land
attached to it, and belongs to the University of Cambridge, to which corporation it possibly
passed from the Executors of the will of Thomas Lowndes. Most of the house is compara
tively modern, but a portion of the front represents the original structure, and re
sembles the architecture of the time of Henry the Eighth. On the roof, under a canopy, is the
bell which tolled the hours ; the clock, which still exists, laid away in the garret, being affixed
to the inside of the back wall of the central hall : the dial plate was on the outside of the
back wall, and was, with the clock, removed only a few years since when alterations were
made in the building. The front of the older p(n-tion of" the buiUling is covered with rough
plaster or cement; the buck shows the timbers filled in with mortir, so peculiar to ancient
buildings in Cheshire. The walls of the modern portions of the building are of brick. A
gateway built about 1700, with large stone posts, stands in front of the building.
t See also The Visitation of Chester in 1613.

45
William' Lowndes above referred to, who married his cousin, Isabel
Lawden, 3au,of David or Daniel Lawden, and had issue. This William
Lowndes, whose will was proved in October, 1592, had a son,
John* Lowndes, who married Alice, daughter of Randall Rode, of
Rode in Astbury, and had " a son and heir,
John' Lowndes, aged 12, 1613," who married Alice Stephenson,* and
had, with ten other children,
Robert* Lowndes, of Overton, who married Eleanor Raven, and was
the father of
William^ Lowndes, of Overton and Lea, who married, on the 27th
January, 1679-80, Elizabeth, daughter and eventually co-heir of Ralph*
Lowndes, of Lea Halhf in Wimbaldsley, in the parish of Middlewich. The lat
ter died in 1690, and left to his daughter the ancient residence of his family,
in consequence of which William' Lowndes established himself soon after
wards at'Lea Hall. This gentleman is recorded in Burke as the founder of
the present family of Lowndes of Barrington Hall. He resided sometimes
at Overton and sometimes at Lea Hall, and was succeeded by his son,
John' Lowndes, of Overton and Lea, who, by his wife Anne, had an
only child.
Sarah,' who married Awnsham Churchill, and had issue. She sold
Lea and Overton to her uncles.
By the death of all the brothers of his mother without issue, Mr. Lowndes
became heir to the estate of Lea Hall in accordance with the will of his
uncle Ralph' Lowndes of Lea, who died in 1716.
He was the brother of Thomas' Lowndes, baptized at Astbury, Dec. 7,
1692, who was, according to Burke, the founder of the professorship of
astronomy at Cambridge. He was also brother of
Robert' Lowndes,! who purchased the Lea estate from his niece Sarah,
only child of John* Lowndes of Overton and Lea, and who, by his first wife
Ruth Graves, had :
i. Elizabeth,' who died, unmarried.
He married, 2dly. Mary, daughter of  Kenyon, and widow of the
Rev. W. Turton, and by her had issue :
ii. Edward,' of Charleston, South Carolina, who after a long residence in
that city, returned to England, and died at 17 Mount Street, West
minster Road, in 1801, leaving an estate in Carolina.
* Burke.
t Lea Hall, in Wimbaldsley, in the parish of Middlewich, like many other old country
houses in England is now occupied bv a farmer; the present building, which occupies but
a portion of the foundation of the original hall, is a large square house in the barbarous
style of the Commonwealth period. Some of the walls about the grounds are still standing
with their massive pillars. The parish church dates apparently from the end of the fifteenth
century. Ormerod, in his History of Cheshire, p. 101, says t
" There is a school in Middlewich, in which eight boys are educated free of expense, who
are selected from the parish by the four church-wardens, each warden nominating two
boys. This school was founded before 1693, when the parish had the appointment of the
master; in 1709, Robert Lowndes nominated, who claimed that right on account of his
giving the school-house. An indenture, dated June 24, 1762, recites that Ralph Lowndes,
late of Lea Hall, Wimbaldsley, clerk, deceased, as owner of the mansion-house called Lea
Hall, and the demesne lands thereto belonging, and of several other messuages, lands,
tithes, hereditaments, in Lea, otherwise Wimbaldsley, in the parish of Middlewich, and
elsewhere in the county of Chester, was entitled to the nomination of a master or masters
of the school situate in Newton, near Middlewich, commonly called Middlewich School."
The manor of Wimbaldsley passed about the beginning of this century from the devisees
of Robert Lowndes, Esq., to Sir Philip Leicester, Bart.
t Burke.

46
iii. Robert,' of Lea and Palterton, who married Elizabeth, daughter and
co-heir of Richard Milnes, of Chesterfield, and by her, who died m
1769, had :
i. MiLNES," who died, i. p.,£et 36.
ii. Thomas,*" of Barrington.
iv. Mart.'
Mary" Lowndes, who married Chad wick Gorst, Esq., of Preston, and
died in 1804, had issue by him [who died in 1797] :
Edward" Gorst, Esq., of Preston, who by Elizabeth, his wife, daughter
of James Wigglesworth, Esq., had issue :
i. Thomas," of Palterton, who took the name of Lowndes.
1. ii. Edward-Ohaddock," who also assumed the name of Lowndes.
iii. Elizabeth."
iv. Barbara-Janb.**
2. v. Mary."
1. Edward-Chaddock" Lowndes, married Elizabeth, daughter of the
late J. D. Nesham. Esq., and by her had issue. He died in 1859, and was
succeeded by his elder son
Edward-Chaddock'^ Lowndes, born in 1833, who was educated at
Rugby and Trinity College, Cambridge; B.A. 1856, M.A. 1859, He is a
magistrate for the counties of Lancaster and Wiltshire.
Arms. — Argent, fretty azure on a canton, sable, a lion's head erased, or.
Crest. — A lion's head erased, or.
The arms, it will be noticed, are the same as those of Lowndes of Bos
tock, except in the color of the canton.
Seats. — Castle Combe, Chippenham.
Palterton Hall, Mansfield.
2. Mary" Gorst, of Preston, married in 1823, William Clayton,
Esq., of Lostock Hall, and had issue, among others :
George-Alan'* Lowndes, Esq., of Barrington Hall, co. Essex; a
Deputy Lieutenant and Justice of the Peace for that county. High Sheriff,
1861, who married Nov. 13, 1856, Helen-Emma, 2d daughter of the late Rev.
Arthur-Johnson Daniell, of Rampisham Manor, co. Dorset, and has issue.
Mr. Lowndes, whose patronymic is Clayton, assumed by royal license in
1840, the name and arms of Lowndes in succeeding to the estate of the late
Thomas Lowndes, Esq., of Barrington Hall.
Seat. — Barrington Hall, Halfield, Broad Oak, Essex.

The pedigree of the Lowndes family of Lea Hall, sometimes written
Legh Hall, was traced for the writer by the late Mr. H. G. Somerby, from
Roger' Lowndes, of Sandbach, who, in accordance with a request in
his will, was buried in the church there on the 17th of May, 1586. By his
wife, Ellen, he had a son,
Ralph,'' born before 1562, who married, October 22, 1587, Elizabeth
Poole, and had
Ralph" Lowndes, who married. May 21, 1622, Eleanor Lea, and was
the father of
Samuel* Lowndes, of Marshall, and
Ralph* Lowndes, of Lea Hall, gent., baptized May 21, 1626, who m.
Elizabeth  , and d. in 1690, having made his will Jan. 26, 1688-9.
He was the father, among others, of

47
i. Ralph," bapt. at Middlewich, Oct. 29, 1663, who bequeathed Lea Hall to
.his nephew, John" Lowndes, of Overton, son of his sister Elizabeth.
He made his will July 12, 1716, but it was not proved till Sept. 22, 1727.
ii. Thomas,' who was named in his lather's will as entitled to a bequest when
he should attain the age of twenty-one, of whom presently.
iii. Elizabeth,' who was married at Middlewich on the 27th of January,
1679-80, to William Lowndes, of Overton, as has been already men
tioned.
Thomas'' Lowndes, who was not of age in 1689, and who probably died
unmarried, is often confused with his nephew, Thomas' of Overton, born in
1692. It is somewhat difficult to determine which of these two persons, uncle
and nephew, was Provost Marshal of South Carolina and also the found
er of the professorship at Cambridge, as is manifest from the provi
sions of the will containing the bequest. Burke has accepted without ques
tion, in his account of the Barrington Hall family, the claim of that line.
Yet a study of the probabilities of the case, and of the pedigree of the Lea
Hall family, would point to the older wearer of the name as the bustling
and nervous correspondent of the Board of Trade a hundred and fifty years
ago.^ Thomas Lowndes, who described himself as of Overton in the county of
Ch'ester, residing in London, made his will May 6, 1748, and died shortly
after. In his will, which was proved on the 4th of June following, he di
rected his lands in Smallwood and other places in Cheshire to be sold, and
the proceeds devoted to the foundation of a professorship of astronomy at
Cambridge. He left also bequests to the University of Oxford, and to the
Foundling Hospital. He bequeathed his baronies of land in South Caro
lina to Randle Wilbraham, Esq., and Thomas Booth, Esq., in trust, they to
have out of them £100 each. He also spoke of his invention relative to
salt. His will, however, contains no mention of any of his kindred, and is
therefore of no help in a direct determination of his family. Of the first
named of his executors, Thomas Booth, little is known. The second, Ran
dle Wilbraham, was of Rode, in Cheshire ; he was abarrister-at-law, LL.D.
and Deputy Steward of the University of Oxford.
It is clear that the signer of this will was the same Thomas Lowndes who
was Provost Marshal of Carolina under the Lords Proprietors, and again
under the Crown. By the records of the Board of Trade for October 25,
1726, there is entered a grant of twelve thousand acres of land in South
Carolina to Isaac Lowndes, his heirs and assigns, who, by a deed of the 26th
of August, 1729, declared that his name was made use of only as trustee for
Thomas Lowndes, of the city of Westminster, gent. And this Isaac
Lowndes was a son of Samuel* Lowndes, of Marshall, and therefore first cous
in to Thoma,s' Lowndes, of Lea, the elder of the name. It would seem to be
more probable, that Isaac^ should have held the trusteeship for his cousin
than for a more distant relative. Nor is there any improbability that Thom
as," of Lea, should have, late in life, purchased Overton, when that estate
was sold by the heiress, Sarah, daughter of John' Lowndes, since his
elder sister Elizabeth, by her marriage with William Lowndes of Overton,
had lived and died there.
If, on the other hand, we accept Burke's statement that the founder of
the Cambridge professorship was Thomas the younger, son of Elizabeth,
we are driven to the conclusion that he was hardly thirty-two years of age,
when, after long scheming over the settlement of the Carolinas, he received

48
the Patents of Provost Marshal, Clerk of the Peace and Clerk of the
Crown, and carried on a correspondence with the Board of Trade, the whole
tone of which shows that he was of age and experience, although some
what of an invalid, and given to persistent and worrying complaints.*

There remains, in conclusion, but one other family to notice. It is, how
ever, of unusual interest, since it is that with which the American families
of the name in Virginia, and possibly in Maryland, claim descent. For the
following statement of pedigree showing its several branches, each of which
has now for more than a century and a half constituted a separate county
family, the writer is indebted to the compilation from the family papers in
possession of William Lowndes, Esquire, of the Bury, Chesham, Bucks.t
Captain  ' Lownes, who was believed to be a son of Robert'
Lowndes of Winslow, by Jane Croke, or Crowke, his wife, and who was an
early settler of Virginia, where he acquired a large plantation, by his will
settled his estates on his heirs male, with remainder to the heirs male of the
younger son of Wilham Lowndes, of Winslow, co. Bucks. He m. Anne,
daughter and heiress of  Gates, of Jamestown, of the family of Si?
Thomas Gates, J by whom he had issue : —
i. William,'' who died in 1589.
1. ii. Robert,'' born 1594.
iii. Sarah,'' born 1596.
1. Robert' Lownes, who lived at Jamestown from 1620 to 1650, m.
Elizabeth Newport, and had : —
i. Richard,' died young, 1634.
ii. JoH.N,^ died in infancy, 1623.
2. iii. William," born in 1624.
2. William' Lownes, m. in 1650, Anne Brocas, and had: —
3. i. John,* born 1654.
4. ii. Robert.'' born 1656.
iii. Rebecca,* died in infancy.
3. John* Lownes, of Jamestown and Lownes Creek, in Virginia,
merchant and planter, m. Margaret,* daughter of Robert' Lowndes, of Wins
low, CO. Bucks, by whom he had : —
* Heeords of the Board of Trade, Colonial Papers, Carolina 2, Vol. 5. (See Appendix.)
t This eentlemnn, who is Lord of the M;inor of Cliesham, is also tho owner of the ad
joining estate of Hundrich, in Chesham, which was held by the Chase family of that place
for nearly two centuries from the time of Henry the 7th, when a younger branch of the
Puffolk family of that name moved into Buckinshamfhire, and settled at Chesham, Amer-
sham and Great Marlow. From a younger son of a junior branch of the Ctiase family of
Choshiim, descends the large Americnn family which .settled in Essex County, Mas.'achu-
setts, about 1636, and has spread from that county over a large part of New-England and
the north-western States —See " Heraldic Journal," vol. iv. 1868 ; Art " Chase Family."
t Sir Thomss Giites was a member of the London Company, formed in 1609 for the
colonization of Virginia. He sailed, with Sir George Summers, soon after, but was
wrecked rear the Bermudas, and did nut reach Jamestown till the following year, six
months after Captain Smith had left it. Finding it in a starving condition, he embarked
with the remaining settlers, about sixty in all, for Newfoundland. At the mouth of the
river they encountered Lord De la War, the new Governor, " with provisions and comforts
of all kinds," and returned with him to Jamestown. In 1611, when Lord De la War re
signed his office. Sir Thomas Gates, who had previously returned to England, was appointed
by the. Council to succeed him, with full powers as Governor. — Old Churches, Ministers,
and Families of Virginia, Bishop Meade, i. pp. 69, 75, et supra.

49
i. Robert,' of Jamestown and Lownes Creek, in Virginia, born 1692 ;
died in 1775, s.p., when the settled estates passed to his uncle's grand
son as heir male. Ue left his personal estate to Charles Lownes, of
ii. Margaret,' married James Baez.
iii. Rebecca,' died in childhood.
iv. Anne,' died in childhood.
V. James,' died in childhood.
4. Robert* Lownes, of Jamestown, married Mary Jennings, and had
by her : —
. 5. i. William,' born 1697.
ii. Anne,' died young.
iii. Mary,' " '¦
iv. Sarah,' " "
V. Robert,' " "
5. William^ Lownes, of Matovey Creek, married, in 1757, Jane
Wormley, and had by her: —
i. Richard,* born 1757, who succeeded to the settled e.=itates in Virginia,
when hewas eighteen years of age, and who died in 1830, unmarried.
ii. Mary,' m.  Lee, of Jamestown.
Robert' Lowndes,- of Winslow, a scion of the ancient family of
Lowndes, of Lea Hall, in Buckinghamshire, who died in 1 602, married in
1576 Jane Croke, or Crowke, atid had, among other children,
William" Lowndes, of Winslow, bapt. Jan. 5, 1585, upon whose chil
dren the American estates with remainder were settled, in accordance with
the will of Captain  ' Lownes, died in James City, June 6, 1654.
He m. Oct. 27, 1612, Frances Wendover, and had twelve children, of whom
we notice : — •
i. Edmund,' bapt. 1617, who lived in Virginia and North Carolina, from
1643 to 1650. In 1650, he discharged certain trusts as Trustee to
the settled e.'itatcs with Robert'' Lownes, at James City, on the mar
riage of William" Lownes and Anne Brocas.
I. ii. Robert," bapt. July 4, 1619.
1. Robert' Lowndes, of Winslow, who fled to America in 1642, where
he remained for about eight years, when he returned to Winslow, and there
resided till his death. Ue w^s buried Jan. 29, 1683. He married 1st, Mar
garet Selby, and had : —
i. Margaret,* wife of John Lownes of Jamestown.
Mr. Lowndes married 2d, Elizabeth, daughter of Peter Fitzwilliam, and
had, with four daughters, a son : —
William* Lowndes,* of Westminster, and of Winslow, born at Winslow,
Nov. 1, 1652.
This gentleman, who has already been referred to, was by far the most
distinguished man of all who have ever borne, in England, his old and well-
known name. He sat for many years in the House of Commons, and served
as Chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means. He originated the
funding system, and rose to great power and influence in Parliament. In
recognition of his services. Queen Anne conferred upon him the office of
auditor of the land revenue for life, in reversion to his sons, with an aug
mentation to his coat of arms. He married 1st, Oct. 24, 1677, Elizabeth,
* Dictionary of the Landed Gentry. Sir Bernard Burke. Art. Lowndes of Whaddon.

50
daughter of Sir Roger Harsnett, and by her, who died Nov. 6, 1680, had a
son : —
2. i. Robert,' his heir ; bapt. in 1678, at Winslow.
Mr. Lowndes married 2d, Nov. 26, 1683, Jane Hopper, by whom, who
died in July, 1685, he had a daughter : —
ii. Anne,' born in 1684, who married.
Mr. Lowndes married 3d, Jan. 12, 1686, Elizabeth, daughter of the Rev.
Richard Martyn, D.D., by whom, who died July 6, 1689, he had : —
3. iii. William,' of Astwood Bury, ancestor of tho family of Lowndes-Stone,
of Brightonwell Park. j , •
iv. Elizabeth,' born in 1688 ; m. Thomas Duncombe, Esq., and d. in 1712.
Mr. Lowndes married 4th, Nov. 29, 1691,. Rebecca, daughter of John
Shales, by whom he had fourteen children, seven sons and seven daughters,
and among them,
4. Charles^ Lowndes, ancestor of the family of Lowndes of Chesham.
Mr. Lowndes died in 1722. In his will, dated March 27, 1721-2, proved
1723, he desired to be buried at Winslow, co. Bucks, where he was born.
He also mentioned his eldest son Robert and his sons Richard, Joseph
and William. To his eldest son by his " present wife " he bequeathed the
new house at Chesham, aLd entailed his property, which was very large,
upon his grandchildren.
Mr. Lowndes was succeeded by his son,
2. Robert' Lowndes,* Esquire, of Winslow, Bucks, who died in 1728,
and left by his wife Margaret, a son and his successor,
Richaud° Lowndes, Esquire, of Winslow, high sheriff of Bucks in 1742,
and M. P. for that county in the same year. He married Essex, youngest
daughter and co-heir of Charles Shales, of London, by Anne, his wife, 2nd
daughter and co-heir of Thomas Barrington, Esq., son of Sir John Barring
ton, Bart., of Barrington Hall, who was 3rd in descent from the marriage of
Sir Thomas Barrington with the Honorable Winifred Pole, granddaughter
and co-heir of Margaret Plantagenet, Countess of Salisbury, daughter and
sole heir of George, Duke of Clarence, brother of King Edward IV.
By this lady, Mr. Lowndes left a son and successor,
William' Lowndes, of Winslow and Whaddon, who took the name of
Selby before Lowndes. By his wife Mary, daughter of Thomas Goostrey,
Esq., of London, whom he married in 1766, he had :
i. William,' his heir.
ii. Robert.*
iii. Richard,' A.M., Vicar of Swanbourne.
iv. Thomas," LL.B., Rector of North Crawley.
William-Selby' Lowndes, Esq., of Whaddon Hall and Winslow, who
sat in Parliament as member for Buckinghamshire from 1807 to 1820, mar
ried Aug. 25, 1806, Ann-Eleanora-Isabella, daughter of the Rev. Graham
Hanmer, and had issue :
i. William-Selby,' his heir, born Nov. 5, 1807.
ii. Thomas-William,' b. Oct. 8, 1810.
iii. Richard-William,' b. Oct. 2, 1811.
iv. Harry-William,' h. Sept. 20, 1812.
V. Edward-William,' b. Sept. 9, 1813.
vi. Charles-William,' b. Nov. 10, 1815.
* Burke.

51
Mr. Selby Lowndes died May 18, 1840, and was succeeded by
William-Selby^ Lowndes, now of Whaddon Hall and Winslow, co.
Bucks, who married, first, June 28, 1832, Lucy, eldest daughter of Isaac-
Rawlings Hartman, Esq., Coldstream Guards, and by her, who died 21st
October, 1852, has issue.
Mr. Lowndes married, second, Clara, 2d dau. of I.-R. Hartman, Esq.
Mr. Selby Lowndes is one of the co-heirs of the Barony of Grandison,
and also a co-heir of the Barony of Montacute. He has petitioned her
majesty to determine the abeyance of the latter in his favor.
Arms of Lowndes of Whaddon : Argent fretty azure, the interlacing each
charged with a bezant, on a canton, gules, a leopard's head erased at the
neck, or. Crest, a leopard's head, as in the arms, gorged with a laurel branch,
ppr. Seat, Whaddon Hall, Winslow, Bucks.
3. William^ Lowndes,* of Astwood Bcrt, in Bucks, grandson of
Robert' Lowndes, the Virginia refugee, married in 1711, Margaret, dau'diter
and heiress of  Layton, Esquire, and had issue :
William,' born in 1712, who married, 1744, Catherine, eldest daughter
of Francis Lowe, Esq., of Baldwyn Brightwell, in the County of O.xford,
and assumed, in consequence of the testamentary injunction of Mr. Lowe,
the surname of Stone. He died in 1773, and left, with a daughter Cath
erine, a son, who became
William' Lowndes, of Astwood and North Crawley, Bucks, and of
Baldwyn Brightwell, co. Oxford. He was born in 1750, and on the death
of his mother in 1789, assumed the surname and arms of Stone. He
married, in 1775, Elizabeth, 2d daughter and co-heir of Richard Garth,
Esquire, of Morden, in Surrey, and by her, who died in 1837, had with five
daughters, three sons :
i. William-Francis.'
ii. Richard,' born in 1790, in holy orders, who assumed the surname of
Garth.
iii. Henry-Owen,' born in 1795, who settled in America, and married in
1827, Sarah-Anne, daughter of Angu.stus Trinibish. Esq., and had
issue.
William-Francis' Lowndes-Stone, b. Oct. 27, 1783; married, October 3,
1811, Caroline, 2d daughter of Sir William Strickland, Bart., of Boyntcn,
CO. York, and had, among others,
William-Charles,' b. Aug. 7, 1812, who married. May 7, 1840, Cath
erine, daughter of Rev. Reginald Winniatt, and by her left at his
dccea.se, April 21, 1845, two daughters :
i. Catherine Charlotte.'"
ii. Susan.'"
Catherine Charlotte "° succeeded her grandfather on his death,
in 1858, and married in 1862, her cousin, Capt. Robert Thomas Norton of
the Grenadier Guards, by whom she has issue :
i.  , a son, born 1863.
Seat, Brightwell Park, Tetsworth, Oxfordshire.t
<
* Dictionary of tlie Landed Gentry.
t For description of Brightwell Park, see Burke's Visitation of Seats and Arms, ii. p. 196.

52
4. Charles' Lowndes,* son of William Lowndes, Esq., Secretary
of the Treasury, by his fourth wife, Rebecca Shales, married Anne, eldest
daughter and co-heir of Charles Shales, and sister of Essex Shales, who
married Richard Lowndes, nephew of Charles. By this lady Mr. Secretary
Lowndes had
William' Lowndes, of Chesham, Commissioner of Excise, who married
Lydia Mary, daughter of Robert Osborne, "Esq., and had a son and
successor, William' Lowndes, Esq., of Chesham, who married Harriet, daughter
of John Kingston, of Rickmansworth, Herts, and left issue, with seven other
children, William' Lowndes, Esq., of Chesham, who died in 1864; a Justice of
the Peace for Bucks and Herts ; Deputy Lieutenant for the former county
and High Sheriff in 1848 ; a B. C. L. of Trinity Hall, Cambridge, who was
born Nov. 24, 1807, and married twice. By his first wife Mary Harriet,
daughter of Kender Mason, Esq., of Bell House, Amersham, who died
April 18, 1836, he had,
William' Lowndes, Esq., of the Bury, Chesham ; who has been already
referred to as the furnisher for this memoir of the Virginia pedigree above
given. Mr. Lowndes, who was born in 1834, was educated at Trinity Hall,
Cambridge, and received the degree of LL.B. in 1863. He was called to
the bar. at Lincoln's Inn, in 1859. He is a Justice of the Peace and Dep^
uty Lieutenant for Buckinghamshire.
Mr. Lowndes, who is a claimant of the ancient Barony of Monthermer,
quarters the arms of Lowndes of Winslow, with those of Shales, Barring
ton, Pole, and Plantagenet. The crest is the same as Lowndes of Whaddon.
His motto is " Ways and Means."
Seat, The Bury, Chesham.
The earliest seats in Cheshire of the Lowndes family, who received a
grant of arms in 1 180, were at Orton and at Lea Hall. A branch settled at
a very early period in the county of York, the name of Lownde of Cave, of
Holdernesse, of Thorneton in the Benes, and of Ilarewood continually oc
curring in the commissions of ari'ay for that county in the 13th and 14th
centuries. William' Lowndes, of the Bur3', Chesham, made during his life-time ex
tensive collections of documents relatinir to the several families of Lowndes.
Accordiiiif to the old pedigree of the Winslow branch, the first of the name
in England, and the common ancestor of the race, was Wdliam, Seigneur
de Lounde, who accompanied William the Conqueror into England in lOOli,
and acquired large possessions in the counties of Bucks, Northampton,
Lincoln and Bedford. From him Robert' Loundes of Winslow, who mar
ried Jane Coiks, Croke, or Crowke, as the name has been variously spelled,
was sixteenth in descent. It is not improbable that this pedigree is correct,
yet it should be, like all ancestral records which come down to us from so
remote a period, regarded only as a possible or probable pedigree. In- ¦
deed, there are few family records in llingland which spring from" the Con
quest, except those of great historic lines,> closely interwoven with that of
the times in which they lived, that can be regarded as wholly correct.
* Burke's Dictionary of the Landed Gentry.

53
A pedigree of the family of Perchay is recorded in the Herald's Visita
tions of Yorkshire, 1584-1612, which shows also the antiquity of the family
of Lownde and their arms. Thomas or John Perchay, who lived about
1350, married a daughter and heir of Lownde of Riton, in Risdale, whose
arms are quartered with those of Perchay, and are the same, argent fretty
azure, as Lowndes of Bostock, but without the canton.
Bardsley, in his work on surnames, derives the name of Lowndes from
the old English word of launde, which " signified a pretty and rich piece of
grassy sward in the heart of a forest, what we should now call an open
wood, in fact. Thus it is we term the space in our gardens within the
surrounding shrubberies, lawns.
" Chaucer says of Theseus on hunting bent —
To the launde he rideth him ful right,
There was the hart wont to have his flight.
" In the ' Morte Arthur,' too, we are told of hunting —
At the hartes in these hye laundes.
"This is the source of more surnames than we might imagine.
" Hence are sprung our 'Launds,' 'Lands,' 'Lowndes,'"* etc.
In a list of ninety-nine wills of persons of this name proved, in the
probate court at Chester, between the years 1586 and 1768, the writer found
the names variously' spelled, viz. : Lounds, Lownes, Lounde, Loundes,
Lound, Lowiide, Lownds, Lowndes. The first of the spellings here given
occurs in the will of Roger Lounds of Sandbach, and the last, which has been
the form in general use for now more than a century, is found in that of John
Lowndes of Cranage.

Notes contributed to the local column of the Manchester (England)
Courier : — •
Note No. 238.—" On the 5th of June, 1830, died at the Hot Wells, ISristol, in his
86th j'ear, Robert Lowndes, Esq., formerly of Lea Hall, Cheshire, and of Chester
field, Derby, but late of Widcombo Crescent, Bath. He was the eldest male repre
sentative of the Lowndes of Overton Hall, from whom are descended the Lowndes
of Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire."
This gentleman was undoubtedly Robert' Lowndes. (See p. 46.)
Note No. 313. — " Robert Lowndesof Rochdale, attorney-at-law, was appointed by
Lord Byron Steward of the Manor, and held his first cause there, 2 May, 1723. The
old Manorial Rolls from this date ceased to bo in Latin, and the entries are made in
books, in English. Mr. Lowndes made his last cause 23d May, 1747. He married
at Rochdale Church, 19th June, 1726, Ruth, daughter of William Greaves of Gart-
side Hall, Gent., and sister of William Greaves, Esq., Fellow of Clare Hall, and
Commissary of the University of Cambridge, who assumed on his marriage the ad
ditional names of Beaupre-Bell."
* " Our English Surnames," by Charles Warcing Bardsley, M.A.

APPENDIX

P A E T I

ABSTRACTS OF DEEDS, WILLS, &c.
( 1 )
Extracted from Congleton Borough Deeds [p. 11].
Indenture made 20*'' October 23. Charles 1" 1648. between Edmund
Spencer of Longe Eaton in the County of Derby Gent of the one Part,
and Richard Lotcndes of Bostock House in the County of Chester Gentle
man of the other Part, Being a Feoffment to the said Richard Lowndes his
heirs & assigns for ever of a Messuage and Tenement with the appur
tenances commonly called the Kings Head situated in Hegle Street in
Congleton in the said County of Chester together with a moss room upon
Mossley Moss in Congleton aforesaid & two sittings in Congleton Chapell.
Indenture made 13. Oct'. 1657. between John Lowndes of Middlewich of
the one part and William Welde of Newbold Astbury Gent and John
Welde of London Gent of the other part being a feoffment to the said John
& William Welde & their Heirs of the above premises upon trust to the use
of the said John Lowndes during his natural life Remainder to John
Lowndes second son of the said John Lowndes & his heirs. Remainder to
Christopher Lowndes third son of the s^ John Lowndes & his heirs re
mainder to Edward Lowndes the fourth son & his heirs & remainder to the
right heirs of John Lowndes.
Indent. 29 & 30 May 36 Cha". IL Release from John Lowndes of
Clerkenwell gent. William Welde and John Welde & Rich'^ Lowndes of
Bostock house to W"" Dean of Congleton, of the above premises.
( 2 )
Will of Franc es'* Lowndes, of Covent Garden [p. 11].
In the Name of God Amen I ffrances Lowndes of the Parish of S'. Paul
Covent Garden in the County of Midd^ Spinster being infirme of body but
of good and perfect memory all praise be therefore given unto Allmighty
God and calling to mind the fraile and uncertaine Condicoa of this Transi
tory Life doe make and ordaine this my Last Will and Testament in man-

56
ner and forme following (that is to say) first and principally I commend my
Soule into the hands of Allmighty God my Creator trusting and assui'edly
hopeing through the merritts and mediacon of my blessed Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ to inheritt Eternall life my body I committ to the Earth
whence twas extracted to bee decently buried in .Christian Buriall at the
discretion of my Executors hereinafter named in sure and certaine Expecta
tion of A Joyfull Resurrection at the Last day And in respect of my worldly
Estate wherewith it hath pleased Allmighty God to bless mee I order and
dispose of the same as followeth (viz') Impris I give and bequeath unto my
brother in Law John Walker A debt of Twenty pounds which is due and
oweing to mee upon bond from my brother Richard Lowndes Gent and
the said bond and all Interest and other profitts due and accruing due there
upon In Trust neverthelesse to and for the only proper use and behoofe of
my Neice ffrances Binet daughter of my brother in Law Robert Binet the
summe of Twenty pounds sterl' to bee paid to or taken by the said Robert
Binet in trust for his said daughter untill shee shall have attained to her
Age of one and Twenty yeares or day of Marriage (which shall first happen)
Item I give and bequeath unto my Nephew Charles Lowndes sonn of my
brother Charles Lowndes the summe of Tenne pounds sterl. to bee paid to
or taken by my said brother Charles Lowndes in trust for his said sonn
vntill hee shall have attained to his Age of one and Twenty yeares. Item
I give and bequeath unto my Mother Jane Lowndes and to my Sister
Elianor Binet and to my Sister in Law Sarah Lowndes wife of my said
brother Charles Lowndes and to my brother in Law John Walker and my
sister Awdi'cy his wife and to my sister Mary Savill and to M" Simpson
and to M" Price and to Madam Elizabeth Brereton and to my Cozen Anne
Whittingham a Ring of Tenn Shillings price a peece Item 1 give and be
queath unto M"'. SelDastian Jason Two Guines to buy him A Ring Item I
give and bequeath unto the Lady Harriett Churchill and to the Lady Ann
Churchill a ring of five shillings price a peece Tlie rest and residue of all
and singular my estate ready money plate goods and Chattells whatsoever
(my debts Legacies and funerall expences being thereout first defaulked
paid and discharged) I give and bequeath unto my said brother Charles
Lowndes and my said brother in Law Robert Binet equally to bee divided
betweene them part and share like whome I doe hereby make and appoint
joynt Executors of this my Last Will and Testament And I doe hereby
annihilate renounce and make void all former Wills and Testaments by mee
made declareing this present Testament to bee my true and last Will In
Wittnesse whereof I have hereunto sett my hand and scale the Seaven and
Twentieth day of March Anno Dno 1 690 And in the second yeare of the
Reigne of their Maj""^" King William and Queene Mary &c.
Frances Lowndes.
Seald Subscribed published and declared by the Testatrix
ffrances Lowndes as and for her last Will and Testament
in the p'sence of us who have hereunto Attested the
same as Wittnesses thereto in her presence.
William Ellis William Hues Rob'. Hodson.
Probatum apud London fuit humoi Testum Coram venli viro Dno Thoma
Pinfold mite Legum dcore Surro veiilis et egregii viri Dfii Richi Raines
Militis Legum etiam dcoris Curias Pra;rogat Cantuar Magri Custodis sive.

57
Comq Itime constituti Vndecimo die mensis Aprilis Anno Dfii Millimo
Sexcenmo Nonagemo Juram Caroli Lowndes et Robti Binett Exrflm in
dco Testam'" nominat Quibus comissa fuit Admico omniii et singulorii
bonorfl juriu et cred diet deft de bene et fidelr Admistrando eadem ad
Sancta Dei Evangelia Jurat. Exam''.
Prierog. Court of Cant^. Doctors Commons.
Dyke 60.
Note. — The name of Frances Lowndes does not occur in any of the
Registers of St. Paul's, Covent Garden. She could not therefore have been
long a resident of that parish. She probably came to London a short time
before her death, took apartments in Covent Garden, at that time the
fashionable quarter of the town, and was taken ill soon after.

( 3 )
Will of Jane Lowndes, of Checkley, Widow.
In the name of God amen the fifteenth day of July and in the yeare of
our Lord God one thousand six hundred and ninetye I Jane Lowndes of
Checklej'' in the County of Chester widdow being by divers infirmities put
in mind of my mortalitye knowinge that death is certaine but the hour
thereof most uncertaine doe in perfect memory make this my last will and
Testament in writinge in manner and forme followinge And first I Com
mend my soule into the hands of the Almighty God my Creator hopeinge
and faithfully beleivinge that all my sins are purged and done away in and
throughe the blood of my blessed Saviour Jesus Christ And that I shall
arise againe an incorruptable body to Raigne with him in his blessed King-
dome for ever And my body I commend to the earth to bee decently
buried by my Ex'ors hereafter named And for those worldly goods where
with God hath blessed mee I do hereby dispose of the same in manner and
forme following And first my will and pleasure is and I doe hereby give
and bequeath unto my grandchild John Walker the clerke 44 yerds of new
flaxen cloth one dozen of new napkins 4| yards of new towells the broad
piece of gold and four gold rings And if it shall happen that my said
grandchild shall die and depart this life before he come to the age of 21
years Then my will and pleasure is that my grandchihi William Wallcer
shall have all the gifts and bequests that are now given to his brother John
Wallcer. Also I doe hereby give and bequeath unto my daughter Mary
Snvile one shilling Also I doe give and bequeath unto my daughter Ellen
Bennett 2 6. Also I doe hereby give and bequeath unto my son Richard
JjOiondies one pound Also unto my son Charles Lowndes 2|6. Also I
give and bequeath unto Margaret Cocke one flanell peticote, one sagg peti-
cote and all my shoos. Also I doe hereby give and bequeath unto rny sister
Anne Welde my last Holland Showes. Also 1 doe hereby give and
bequeath all the rest and the remainder of my apparill unto my daughter
Awdry Walker. And my will and pleasure is and I doe hereby order
appoynte and Alott the sume of £20 for my funerall charge and expences.
And lastly I doe herelijr give and bequeath all the rest and remainder of all
my goods to my grandchild John Walker if he shall attain to the years of
21 and if not then to his brother WiUiam Walker. And I doe hereby
constitute ordaine and make my Loveing brother M' William Welde of

58
Little Hassall my sole executor to see this my last will and Testament
executed and performed according to the trust I repose in him. And I doe
hereby adiiull and revoke all former and other will or wills by me heretofore
made and doe pronounce this my last will and Testament And in witnesse
hereof I have hereunto put my hand and seale the day and yeare first above
written. Jane Lowndes.
Mary Welde 1
Anne Welde 1 y^;^^^,,^,,
Mary Whittingham (
y" marke of John Johnson J
proved 12 May 1691.
A true and perfect Inventory of all and singuler the goods and Creditts
of M" Jane Lowndes deceased Taken and appraised by John Walker sen
ior and John Walker junior at Checkley the 8"" of March Annoq dfii 1690.
Imprmis the Clocke
Item 44 yards of new flaxen cloth
Item one dozen of napkins
Item 4 yards and ^ of new Toweling
Item 4 gold rings and one broad
piece of gold
Item moneys in her purse
Item moneys oweinge her
Item Desperate Debts
Item more moneys oweing
Item her weareing clothes and Linnen
Item her Bookes
Item some Boxes and small thinges
forgott
In witness &c. 70 05 10
John Walker
' John Walker Exhibited, 12 May 1691

( 4 )
Will of William Weld of Hassall, 1699.
In the name of God Amen. I William Weld of Little Hassall in the
parish of Sandbach in the County of Chester gentleman doe make this my
last Will and Testament this Twelfth day of September in the year of our
Lord One thousand six hundred and ninety nine And first I doe hereby
give and devise unto my loveing wife Mary Weld and her assigns all my
Messuages lands tenem'' hereditaments tithes and leasehold lands with their
and every of their appurtences lying & being in Hassall Newbold Ast
bury and Congleton in the said County of Chester or any of them for and
dureing her naturall life if she keep herselfe sole and unmarried I likewise
give and bequeath unto her all my personall estate goods and Chattells
whatsoever And from and after the death of the said Mary my wife I
hereby give and bequeath all my said Messuages lands tenem''''and heredi-

£

s.

d.

02

10

00

02

10

00

00

12

00

00

04

06

02

13

00

11

18

00

22

10

00

15

00

00

01

16

04

10

00

00

00

10

00

00

02

00

59
tam" wherein I have any Estate of Inheritance in possession reversion or
remainder to Richard Lowndes the younger of Hassall aforesaid son and
heir of Richard Lowndes my Nephew And I doe hereby further give and
devise unto my sister Ann Weld my Nephew M' Thomas Whittingham
Rector of Brereton my Nephew William Whittingham my niece Ann
Whittingham Elizabeth Whittingham daughter to William Whittingham
to my Nephew Charles Lowndes the elder to his brother William Lowndes
my Godson to my Godson William Walker to John Lowndes brother of
the said Richard Lowndes and to Richard Lowndes the elder father of the
said Richard Lowndes the young'' the severall yearly surnes herein after
mentioned to be issuing and goeing out of all my said Messuages lands and
premises and payable to them respectively for and during their respective
natural lives at two dayes of payment that is to say upon the nine and
twentieth day of September and the five and twentieth day of March yearly
by equall portions the first payment to be made at such of the said dayts
as shall first happen next after the death of my said wife which said yearly
sumes are these herein after following that is to say to my said sister Ann
Weld ten pounds to the said Thomas Whittingham Rector of Brereton ten
pounds to my said nephew William Whittingham five pounds tb my said
niece Ann Whittingham five pounds if she doe not marry John Swaine To
the said Elizabeth Whittingham daughter to William Whittingham five
pounds to the said Charles Lowndes the elder five pounds to the said Wil
liam Lowndes my godson five pounds to the said William Walker my god
son five pounds to the said John Lowndes five pounds to the said Richard
Lowndes the "elder father of the said Richard Lowndes the younger five
pounds all which said several yearly summs I give unto them severally
and respectively with power to distrayne for nonpayment as in case of a
rent charge. I hereby further give and bequeath to every servant of mine
that shall be with me at the time of my death forty shillings apiece and to
the poore of the parish of Sandbach twenty pounds to be equally distributed
amongst them And I doe hereby constitute and appoint my said loveing
wife Executrix and the said Richard Lowndes Executor of this my last
Will and Testament In witness whereof I have hereunto sett my hand and
seal the day and year first above written.
Will _ ¦] l. s. l Weld
Signed sealed and published in the presence of
G Booth
Mary Booth
Peter Brittaiu

60

PART II.

DOCUMENTS
Relating to South Carolina, with Letters from Thomas Lowndes and others,
filed among the Colonial Papers, Record Office, London,
( 1 )
[Endorsement.]— Grant to M' Tho: Lowndes of 12000 Acres of land
in S"' Carolina dated y' 25'" Oct. 1726.
To all to whom these presents shall come :
His Excellency John Lord Carteret, Palatine ; the most Noble Henry
Duke of Beaufort, y" Right Hon'''^ William Lord Craven, y" Hon"'' James
Bertie & Henry Bertie his brother. Sir John Colleton Bar' & Sir John
Tyrrell Bar', being seven of the eight true and absolute Lords Proprietors
of Carolina, send greeting. AVhereas Tho: Lowndes hath surrendered to
us, our heirs & Assigns a Grant for four Baronies in our Province of
Carolina ; containing in the whole Forty-eight Thousand Acres of Land,
together-, with the Title, Dignity & Honour of a Landgrave, w"'' was
heretofore granted to John Price Gent : In consideration whereof we do
Consent & Agree to grant to the said Tho: L^owndes one Tract or Barony
of Land to contain Twelve Thousand Acres of Land, One other such like
Tract or Barony of Land to Isaac Lowndes ; one other such like Tract
or Barony of Land to Cha' Edwards Gent: & one other such like Tract
or Barony of Land to John Beresford Gent: all which four Baronies are
to contain in the whole Forty-eight Thousand Acres of Land, to the
end and intent that he & they, & his & their Heirs & Assigns may hold &
enjoy the same (according to their several & respective Grants) together
with all such Liberties, Benefits, Immunities, Priviledges & Advantages
whatsoever as we have power to grant by Virtue of the Letters Patents
Granted to our Ancestors or Predecessors. Now these Presents Witness,
That We, the said Lords Proprietors, in Consideration of the Premises, Have
given & granted & by these Presents do Give & Grant unto the said Tho:
Lowndes, his heirs & Assigns one Barony or Tract of Land to contain
Twelve Thousand Acres of Land, together with all the Wood, Timber,
Royalties & Advantages to be had, found, received & taken thereby, & all
our Estate, Inheritance, Use, Possession, Claim & Demand of Us the s*
Lords Proprietors, of, in, to or out of the same Premises hereby given &
granted with their Appurtenances, unto the said Tho : Lowndes, his Heii'S
& Assigns, unto the only use of y' s"" Tho: Lowndes, his Heirs & Assigns
for ever. Yielding & Paying to the s** Lords Proprietors, their Heirs &
Assigns for ever the Summ of One Penny Sterling Yearly at the Royal
Exchange of London on the feast of St. Michael the Archangel for ever.
Provided nevertheless that in case this present Grant shall not be duly
inrolled within the space of Two Years after the Date hereof in one of his
Majesty's Courts of Record at Westminster, or in the office of the proper
Register, Secretary, or in the InroUment Office of the said Province; Then
this present grant shall be void & of none effect. And the said Lords

61
Proprietors do hereby authorize and require that the Surveyor Gen^ of the
Province of South Carolina immediately, within 20 days after notice given
him of this present Grant, do allot & set out the said Tract or Barony of
Land in any Place within the said Province of South Carolina. Given
under our Hands & Seal this 25"" day of October 1726.
Signed,
Entered 6"^ Dec' 1726 Carteret P.
by Ri. Shelton, Sec'^ Beaufort. Craven.
Cognit pr infra noiat Ja: Bertie.
Hen ricum Bertie Hen: Bertie.
6 die Februarii John Tyrrell.
1726 in Cur' J. Colleton.
Sign'd Alex. Denton. (l. s.)

( 2 )
[Endorsement.]— L' from M"' Tho: Lowndes to y" Sec'^ dated y" 16"'
of Feb''' 172| relating to his Services in promoting the Purchase of Carolina
by the Crown from the L*^ Proprietors.
Rec^" 16 Feb'y 172|
Read July 16, 1729
Sir, Hearing that the Lords Commissioners for Trade are teazed by
Pretenders to Merit in bringing about the purchase of Carolina, I take the
liberty to transmit to you a Copy of the Reasons which last year I drew
and which were presented to and approved of by the Speaker of the House
of Commons and Sixteen other Members, when the Demand was made for
the Purchase Money in Parliament.
The Proposal of attacking Fort Augustine and obstructing from Port
Royal in South Carolina the Spanish Navigation was first made by me to a
Person of great figure in the Administration in May next will be three
years and was then liked. What service I have since done in obviating any
difficulty that might happen, and in removing obstructions that arose whilst
the Bargain for Carolina was negociating a noble Lord of your Board
(whose Justice and Honour are equal to his Title) will I doubt not readily
vouch for me. And I have ample Testiniony of the Pains I have since
taken to keep Blatters between the Crown and the Proprietors from being
inflamed. Colonel Lilly was too candid a Gentleman not to own publickly the
assistance I gave him in drawing his Map of Carolina; I having the most
Authentic manuscript Map of that Country and of Port Royal in particu
lar. For as for poor Governour Rogers, his is only an unnatural Fiction,
for there can be no such place as he represents Port Royal to be till the
nature of water is altered and the Globe new moulded.
I likewise enclose a Copy of a Letter from Governour Craven which I
doubt not will give the Lords of Trade satisfaction, he being a Gent of
known honour, and I had a Liberty to do with it as I judged proper.
I beg leave to observe to you that it is my humble Opinion that the

62
Spaniards make their clamorous Mem" about the little Fort upon Allata-
maha River, to conceal their Intentions of getting from us by Treaty the
Territory we have upon the Gulf of Mexico. For the Bay of Apalachia
is most certainly ours. And it is highly probable there is a good Harbour,
either at the Entrance of the River de Guisare, or the River Flint. And
the country is esteemed very fertile and the Indians that did inhabit it are
either chased away or killecl. Of what use it may be to the Spanish nation
to have such a Concession or of what prejudice to us to grant it, the Lords
Commissioners for Trade are the best judges. I am Sir
ic -p -u iToa Your Most obedient and
lb i^eb. m% jjjpg^ humble Servant
p g Tiio: Lowndes.
There is I hear a great disposition in the richer Palatins and Germans
about Leige to go to South Carolina ; So a good Revenue may be made
immediately to the King by Quitt Rent.
[^Enclosure.]
[Endorsement.] — Copy of a L'from M' Craven formerly Governor of
Carolina to M' Tho. Lowndes dated y' 4'" of May 1726, in relation to
the harbour of Port Royal in South Carolina & Timber & other Products
at that Place.
Re""' from M' Lowndes with his Letter a Copy 16. Feb'' 1728-9.
Rec* 16 Feb^ 1728-9.
Read
Sir, Having received yours dated April 16"^ 1726 in relation to Port
Royal in South Carolina 1 can only give this Account.
'There is water enough for any Ships to come over the Barr. I had it
sounded when I was Governour, but through the Carelessness of my Servant
my Papers are lost.
It is my Opinion it may be very easily fortified at a small expense to se
cure the 'Trade from any Damage from Enemys.
As to the Timber near Port Royal it is as good as in any part of the
Continent. There are several Sorts of Oak for Building, Pine for Masts of Ships
and the Land very fertile and proper for Flax and Hemp or any other
Grain or Product and great plenty of good Cattle & Fish.
lam&c. May 4"' 1726.
CiiA : Craven.
Mem*. Lowndes had a Liberty to use M' Craven's Letter as he should
think proper.
(3 )
[Endorsement.] — Letter from M' Tho: Lowndes to the Sec'' dated 23'*
Dec' 1729, signifying the names of the Patent Officers in South Carolina.
Rec* 24'" Dec' 1729 )
Read March 13'" 17|5 j
Sir, The Officers of Carolina that are within the intention of the saving
Clause of the Act for Purchasing Carolina are Edward Bertie Esq. Secre-

63
tary and Register for Two Lives, myself for Two Lives, Provost Marshall
Clerk of the Peace and Crown.
M' Robert Wright was appointed Chief Justice for Life But he, having
never been possessed of his Patent and some of the Ministers urging of
what ill consequence it might be to have that Officer for Life, Twas agreed
that notwithstanding the suviiig Clause that Patent should be delivered up
to the Lord Commis" for Trade to be cancelled and that it should be an
Article in the Governour's Instructions to appoint Mr. Wright his Majesties
Chief Justice of South Carolina during his Majesties Pleasure only. I
know M' Wright's Patent is ready to be delivered to the Lords of 'Trade
any day. I am. Sir, your most obedient and most
humble servant
23 Dec' 1729. Tho : Lowndes.

( 4 )
[Endorsement.] — South Carolina. Letter from M' Tho' : Lowndes of
ye 24'ii of March 1730 relating to a Clause in an Act of South Carolina
for y'' better settling of y" Courts of Justice in that Province.
Read I March 26. 1731.
Sir, 'Tis with the greatest Confusion, that I beg pardon of the Lords Com
missioners for Trade, for giving their Lordships this farther Trouble, which
really is occasioned by an Innocent Mistake, and I intreat you, at a proper
time to move their Lordships to give Directions (in relation to the Clause
requiring Security of the Provost Marshall) agreeable to their Intentions
which this day they were so good as to express. For I never had an op
portunity to peruse the act of assembly till to-day, after I was called for in,
and only hearing it read over before at M' Counsellour Fanes Chamber, I
took it that the Deputy Provost Marshall was required to give the Security,
and accordingly had made provision for it, but their Lordships Candour and
Goodness make me sensible of my Misapprehension.
'The Complaint of the Merchants and the Point in Issue before M' Fane
was whether the summons should be restored or the Capias continued, not
but that Gent asked if there was any other objection to any part else of the
Act, and the Merchants answered " Nothing material."
In all the Plantations that are Royal Goverum'' these are, (as I am in
formed) standing Laws, that no Deputy shall be admitted to execute his
Office till he haa given such security as is agreeable to the Nature of his
Office and as is specified in such laws ; and the Notion of that and my only
hearing the Act very hastily run over was what lead me into the Error and
is the Cause of this Application. I am with the greatest respect
Sir Your most obed'
24 March and most humble
1730 Servant
Tho : Lowndes.
To Allured Popple Esq
Secretary to the Lords Commissioners
for 'Trade and Plantations.

64
( 5 )
Plantations General. Patents. VoL 52. Page 91.
Tho: Lowndes Provost
Marshall in Soiith
Carolina GEORGE R.
1730
Our Will and Pleasure is that you prepare a bill for our Royal Signature
to pass our Great Seal of Great Britain containing our Grant unto our
Trusty and Wellbeloved Thomas Lowndes Esq' & his Assigns of the Offices
or Places of Provost Marshall Clerk of the Peace and Clerk of the Crown
of and in our Province of South Carolina in America during the natural
lives of the said Thomas Lowndes and Hugh Watson of the Middle Tem
ple Gent: He the said Thomas Lowndes having surrendered unto Us a
grant of the said Offices for the lives of him and the said Hugh Watson
under the seal of the late Lords Proprietors : To have, hold and enjoy
the said offices unto him the said 'Thomas Lowndes and his assigns for and
during his own Life and the Life of the said Hugh Watson and the Survi
vor ot them to be executed by him the said Thomas Lowndes or his assigns
or their sufficient Deputy or Deputies ; together with all their Salaries,
Fees, Perquisites, Profits, Advantages and Privileges whatsoever to the
said Offices belonging, in a full and ample manner to all Intents and Pur
poses as any Person or Persons have heretofore held and enjoy'd or of Right
ought to have held and enjoy'd the same and you are to insert in the said
Bill all such clauses as are usual, and as you shall judge a Requisite in this
Behalf. And for so doing this shall be your Warrant.
Given at our Court at St. James's the Thirtieth day of November 1730
in the Fourth year of our Reign. By His Majesty's Command
HoLLES Newcastle.
To our Attorney )
or SoUicitor General \

(6 )
[Endorsement.] — L' from M'. T. Lowndes inclosing the Extract of a
L' to him from M' Wright, Chief Justice of South Carolina dated y'= G'" of
August 1731 about repealing y° Act passed tliere for bringing Debtors into
Court by Capias and thereby reviving y" Act for a Sumons in lieu thereof.
Reed. Oct. 26:) ,-„,
Read Nov. 16:) -^'^^•
Sir, I take the liberty to inclose two Paragraphs of M' Wright's Letter to
me dated 6'" August 1731 from South Carolina, where you know he is his
Majesties Chief Justice ; You'll please to communicate the same to the
Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations. And I beg you'll observe
to their Lordships that by Act of Assembly a Sallary is settled on the Chief
Justice, which with the old Sallary out of the Quitt Rents will make £200
per An"'- And I suppose long before this they have passed the Jury-Bill,
because they had it under consideration in the middle of last April ; so that
the Capias Act so prejudicial to Trade and so obstructive to Common Jus-

65
tice may (if their Lordships think proper) be repealed without any sort of
Incouveniency in any other respect.
1 am Sir
26 October 173P Your most obed' and
' Most humble Servant
Tiios : Lowndes.
Secref to the Board of Trade

( 7 )
[Endorsement.] — Letter from Mr. Tho: Lowndes in relation to the
Capias and Summons Process in South Carolina.
My Lords In order to set the Capias and Summons Process in South Carolina
in a clear light, I beg leave humbly to observe to your Lord"'' that in all
parts of America (Islands as well as others) the Capias was the original
Process. But in such places as the Climate or Product required many
Negroes, whenever there came to be a great disproportion of Slaves to
White People, then the summons was found necessary to be introduced, to
aid the Capias. For near the first forty years in South Carolina the Pro
cess was by Capias only, nor would any other be now required was the
Province in the same Condition it Was then. But about the year 1713
when the number of Negroes was increased they instituted the Summons
Act (I believe) for two Yeai's at first and afterwards it was made Indeffi-
uite. In the year 1720 it being thought too severe as to the Double mil
age and Double Process, it was remedied by an Act of Assembly which was
also Indeffinite. About the year 1726 after the Merchants had given the
Planters very large Credit, the Planters in a very tumultuous manner got
(by Act of Assembly) the Summons superseded, and the Capias introduced
again. And here I beg leave to hint of what ill consequence it may be, to
have an Act which immediately concerns the Property of the British Mer
chants repealed, only by some loose general Words without sO much as recit
ing the Act, which is the Case here in point before your Lordshijis.
I entirely agree with M' Johnson as to the Abuses committed by the
Provost Marshalls in South Carolina. And the case was thus. The late
Lords Proprietors, for their Governour's Emolument always permitted them
to nominate the Provost Marshall, who was accountable to the Governours
for half Profits and sometimes more, and for this Reason the Marshall was
generally protected in all his unjustifiable Practices. But now the Acting
Provost Marshall is to give Security (as is highly reasonable) to answer for
all mal-Practices ; 'That Officer will be obliged to the faithful! Execution
of his Office in South Carolina as well as in Jamaica and other parts of
America. For had the Practices of the Provost Marshall been not to
be remedied after thirteen years tryal of the Summons Act, one would rea
sonably have expected to have found some mention at least of such ill
behaviour in the Act of 1726 which repeals the Summons. And M' John
son takes no notice of the hazard of his Life that the Marshall now runs
in serving the Capias out of Charles Town, the frequent Rescues from the
Officer, how the Negroes are let loose upon him, and he frequently whiped
or drawn through a Ditch, and all Complaints upon this head are to no pur-

pose; for legal Proof cannot be made that it was by their Master's
order, tho' every one knows it could not be done without it. And these
Irregularities which cannot otherwise be prevented were the Cause of the
Summons both in South Carolina, Jamaica, Barbados and other places
where the Negroes are numerous.
Your Lordships I am sure will observe the Proviso in the Act of the
year 1720 for the Amendm"" of the law whereby thirty days is allowed
before P^xecution on Judgm' shall be granted, if the Party be brought into
Court by Summons, in which time it is hardly possible but he must be
apprized of what is going on against him, unless he-be an Indian Trader,
for whom I some time ago took the Liberty to propose a Remedy. And
if the Party be summoned upon an account not to be maintained he has
ample Redress against his Adversary by Law.
1 most humbly offer to your Lordships Consideration, his Majesties Let
ters Patent to me for the Office of Provost Marshall, the benefit of which
I am entirely deprived of by the present Capias Act, and (not of Mod
esty) I kept from complaining till your Lordships had heard from M' John
son upon that head, but now I must desire your Lordships to hear and
redress my Complaint.
The last part of M' Johnson's Letter is very fallacious. For, of what use
can it be to the Merchants that they may try the causes out of the Precinct
Courts where they may have fair Juries, unless they can bring their Debtors
(the Planters) into Court, which five miles out of Charles Town they can
not do unless the Summons be restored?
The I'eal truth, my Lords, is that the greatest part of the Planters being
indebted to the Merchants, M' Johnson is afraid of doing anything that
may disoblige the Planters, especially at this Juncture, his Appointment
being by the Country only granted for One Year. I humbly conjure your
Lordhhips to heai' the Act for the Amendment of the Law read and then
your Lordships will be convinced that nothing is desired but what is abso
lutely necessary for the obtaining Common Justice. I am with the great
est respect My Lords Your Lordships
14 Dec' 1831 Most obedient and
Most humble Servant
Thos: Lowndes.
P. S. If the Objection that the Act for the Amende"' of the Law, was
passed by Gov' More be allowed, several of the best Acts will be void and
great confusion ensue in the Province.

( 8 )
[Endorsement.]— Mem' from M' Lowndes against an Act of South
Carolina declaring all Process to be voydthat was not personally served upon
the Party by the Provost Marshall or his Deputy ; and ab' the Want of Pro
vision for Indigent Criminals.
'To the Right Honourable the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Planta
tions. 'The humble Memorial of Thomas Lowndes Sheweth

67
That about two or three years ago there passed in South Carolina an
Act declaring all Process to be void, that was not personally served upon the
Party, by the Provost Marshall or his Deputy which act makes the Execu
tion of Common justice not only difficult but impracticable; and is, very
prejudicial to the Commerce of Great Britain. For no Merchant will now
furnish any Commoditys to a Planter that lives at any distance from Charles
Town because he cannot be compelled to be just and the Planter is thereby
forced to go upon such Manufactures as interfere with those of Great
Britain. ^ That this Evil will be of very bad consequence if not speedily redressed
either by re-authorizing the Summons Act, or by some other Method as
your Lordships shall think proper. '
Your Memorialist also begs leave to observe That there wants in South
Carolina a Suitable Publick Provision for indigent Criminals, it being equally
inhuman that those poor Wretches should perish through want of common
sustenance, as it is unreasonable that the Provost Marshall or his Deputy
should subsist them at his own proper Charge.
All which is most humbly submitted to your Lordships great Judgement
and wisdome. Thos: Lowndes.

(9)
[Endorsement.] — Letter from Colonel Johnson dated Charles Town
28'" September 1732 to Allured Popple Esq. complaining of M' Thos:
Lowndes having ill-treated him in relation to the Summons Law and Deputy
Marshals Place in South Carolina.
Reed Dec' 22°" 1732
Read Aug 27'" 1735. [Extract.]
" I am in great pain for fear I should lye under your Lordships censure,
having had a Copy of M' Lowndes Memorial sent me, which he told M'
Fury he designed to prefer against me, setting forth that I did not obey
your Loi'dships orders in recommending to the Assembly the repealing of
the Capias Act, that I did is certain, and does appear by a Message of the
18'" of August 1731, which notorious falsity I hope will give him little cre
dit with your Lordships for the future ; he has also asserted that I have made
the Marshalls place a perquisite of my Government, which is likewise false, I
found M' Bampfield Marshal I continued him at his own request as is noto
rious to all the Province, I appointed a person of his recommending, he
telling me he desired to be dismist, because his affairs required his going
to England, and about six months after he told me he had altered his mind
and desired to be restored, which I granted him, and he was lately unfortu
nately drowned. I defy Lowndes to prove I had any profit by this ; but
did it only to serve a man I thought was worthy of the place, and one M'
Popple had a friendship for. M' Lowndes has sent no exemplification of his
Patent nor appointed any deputy, in the mean time the office must be sup
plied, so how I have wronged him above £200 as he has told my friends, I
can't find out, nor he neither I am sure, 'tis very hard to have my actions
so misrepresented, by one'that has cunningly made this Province his property
by the late Lords Proprietors neglect to the amount of £4000 or £6000 Stg :
nobody knows for what other merit than a consumate assurance, pretending
10

68
to know everything, betraying everybody and altering his opinion as often
as he finds it for his Interest ; I find his Malice to me proceeds from my
giving your Lord"' my opinion that the Assembly will hardly ever be
brought to inforce the Summons Law and I found it so when I sent to them
about it; That Law was disannuled before my time, I have no Interest one
way or other in it ; 'tis my Duty to give your Lordships my opinion of
things, I obeyed your Orders and recommended the repeal of it, but to no
purpose ; it now lyes with your Lordships to report as you please about it,
but am sure your Lord"" wont think a Legislature of a Province is to pass
Laws they disapprove of, purely to serve M' Lowndes Interest, or because
as he sets forth his Interest is hurt ; that is he won't have so good an op
portunity of getting £1500 St^ : which is his price for the Marshals place,
not intrinsically worth £700 altho' the Capias Law was repealed ; the hopes
of which keeps him from letting it, for fear of depreciating the sale of it ;
for he is sensible that nobody that knows the value of it will give him
above 50 or £60 a year for it."
Copy of M' Lowndes Petition or Memorial.
" 'That your Pet' finding a Clause in an Act passed in South Carolina 1726
contrary to a Maxim of the Common Law of England and the Universal
Practice of every Colony in America, applyed to the Lords Comm" for 'Trade
and Plantations to have the same remedyed and their Lordp' wrote to Gov
ernor Johnson about it, an Extract of which Letter is hereunto annexed.
But your Petitioner has not been as yet redressed nor likely to be, for tho'
the Assembly was sitting at the time M' Johnson received the Letter from
the Lords of 'Trade and continued to do business for more than two months
afterwards yet that Gentleman did not communicate to the Assembly the
Order he had received but has made your Petitioner's Office a Perquisite
of his Government and appointed a Creature of his own to execute the
place who renders your Petitioner no account whatsoever."

( 10 )
[Endorsememt.] — Order of a Committee of Council dated 27 April
1733 referring the Petition of M' Thorpe for the confirmation of a grant
of 9000 Acres of Land in South Carolina.
To the King's most Excellent Majesty
'The humble Petition of Robert Thorpe
Sheweth That the late Lords Proprietors of Carolina by Grant under their Com
mon Seal bearing date the 25'" day of October 1726 Did give and convey
unto Isaac Lowndes his heirs and Assign^s one Barrony or Tract of Land to
contain 12000 Acres Subject to one penny Sterling quit rent which Grant
did likewise authorize and require the Surveyor General of the Province of
South Carolina immediately within 20 days after Notice given him thereof
to allott and Sett out the said Tract or Barrony of Land in any Place
within the said Province of South Carolina.
That the said Isaac Lowndes by deed bearing dates the 26'" day of August

69
1729 for himself, his heirs and Assigns Did declare and agree that his name
was made use of in the said Grant from the Lords Proprietors only as
Trustee to and for the use and behoof of Thomas Lowndes of the City of
Westminster Gentleman his heirs and Assigns and to and for no other Pur
pose whatsoever.
That the said Isaac Lowndes and Thos :. Lowndes in Consideration of the
sura of £450 Lawfull money of Great Brittain to the said Tho' Lowndes in
hand paid by your Petitioner and also in Consideration of 5 Shillings of
Like Lawfull money to the said Isaac Lowndes well and truly paid by your
Petitioner Did by deeds Indented bearing Date the 10'" Day of Sep' 1731,
Grant, Bargain, sell and Confirm unto your Petitioner his Heirs and Assigns
a Tract of Land to Contain 9000 Acres English Measure being part of the
said Barrony so granted as aforesaid to Isaac Lowndes in trust for the said
Thomas Lownds.
That your Petitioner having thus purchased the aforesaid tract of 9000
Acres Did apply to James St John Esq' your Majestys Surveyor General
of the Province of South Carolina to allott and sett out the said Barrony so
granted as Aforesaid who readily performed the same that your Petitioner
did thereupon take possession of his part thereof
That your Petitioner nevertheless finding Doubts arise concerning the
Legallity of such Survey it being made without a Warrant had from your
Majestys Gov' empowering the Surveyor General so to doe. And finding
also the said Governor Deny granting Warrants to survey Lands claimed
under Patents or Grants from the Late Lords Proprietors without knowing
your Majestys Pleasure concerning such Grants notwithstanding that in an
act passed in the 2 year of your Majestys reign entitled an Act for estab
lishing an Agreement with seven of the Lords Proprietors of Carolina for
the Surrender of their Title and Interest in that Province to his Majesty.
There is an Exception in these words Except all such Tracts of Land,
Tenements and Hereditaments as have been at any time before the first
Day of January 1727 granted and conveyed or comprized in any Grants
Deeds, Instruments or Conveyances under the Common Seal of the said
Lords Proprietors either in England or in the province aforesaid.
He therefore most humbly prays your Majesty
That as he is Seized of the said "Tract of Land by a Title derived from
the Late Lords Proprietors long before the timb of the Surrender of their
Respective Interest to your Majestf7 and that for the Valuable Considera
tion of £450 lawfull money of Great Brittain Your Majesty to prevent his
being molested in the quiet possession of the same would be graciously
pleased to direct your Governor of the said Province that your Petitioner
may not any wise be molested in his possession of the said Lands conveyed
to him as aforesaid before the Surrender to your Majesty and also expressly
excepted by the aforesaid Act of Parliament out of the said Surrender.
And your Petitioner as in duty Bound shall ever pray
Robert Thorpe.

( 11 ).
[Endorsement.]— Letter from M' Tho: Lowndes in relation to M'
Thorpe's Grant of Land in South Carolina.
Reed May 21"') ,„pQ
Read D° 22: j- 1^3^

70
My Lords In obedience to your Lordships' commands of the 11*" Instant,
directing me to lay a State of a Transaction relating to 9000 Acres of Land,
sold by me to M' Thorpe, I most humbly beg leave to acquaint your Lord
ships that about eighteen months ago I sold to that Gentleman and M'
De la Fontaine One Barony in South Carolina to contain Twelve Thousand
Acres of Land Viz' 9000 to M' Thorpe and Three to M' De la Fontaine
for which they paid me the money contracted for. The words in the con
veyances were these Land not yet admeasured taken vp or run out in the
province of South Carolina. A little after the writings were perfected,
M' Thorpe went to South Carolina and there finding that an Agent for me
had by my direction (many months before my Agreement with him) run
out a Barony upon Port Royal River, M' Thorpe liking the situation ap
plied to him, and falsely aver'd that the Barony so run out, was the Identi
cal Barony he and M' De la Fontaine had bought of me. By which means
(and a present as I am informed) he prevailed upon my agent not to return
into the Surveyor's Office the Field Survey he had made : M' Thorpe also
got M' St John his Majesties Surveyour General to survey the same Tract
for him, and to return and certify the Plan. As soon as I was informed
of this proceeding, I wrote to M' De la Fontaine about it, who I always
found ready to make me any reasonable Satisfaction, so far as he was con
cerned, and only deferred it, till M' Thorpe returned. Upon his arrival I
expostulated civilly with him, and let him know the injury he had done me,
I having a grant for 1 2000 Acres which must now be taken up in a more
remote part of the Country. I found him not inclined to do me any sort
of justice, but instead of that affirmed many absurd untruths. Upon the
coming over lately of some Persons of Credit from South Carolina M'
Thorpe believing that I should by them disprove what he had advanced
made application to the Lords of his Maj''^' Privy Council to procure aii
Order, under the Sanction of which he hop'd (as I humbly presume) to
keep in possession of the Land he had unfairly entred upon and baffle any
Remedy at law I might endeavor to get.
'Tho' this is the true State of the Law yet I proposed for Peace Sake to
leave the matter in Dispute to Arbitration, as the enclosed copy of an ex
tract of my Letter to M' De la Fontaine will shew your Lordships.
If your Lord""" write to M' De la Fontaine to lay before your Lord""." a
Copy of such part of M' Thorpe's first Letter from Carolina as relates to
the running out of the Barony (which I am sure he is too fair a man to
refuse doing, he having formerly communicated it to me) your Lord"" will
clearly see how uncandidly Mr. Thorpe has dealt with me. I am very
much concerned that M' Thorpe's conduct should occasion my giving your
Lord''* this Trouble. I am with the greatest respect
My Lords Your Lordships Most obedient and
Most humble Servant
19 May 1733 Tnos: Lowndes.
[MiniUe, probably by the Secretary.]
Several Particulars wherein Messrs Thorpe's and De la Fontaines Grant
purchased from 'Thomas Lowndes differ from other Grants of Land made
by the late Lords Proprietors. There was no non-user in any respect in
curred upon this Grant.

71
, There is a Warrant in the Body of those Grants that were Lowndes's
to the Survey' Gen' to run out the Land by a time therein limitted, so that
Thorpe had no occasion to apply to the Governour for his Warrant.
Lowndes's Grants were likewise given in by name in writing to the
Lords of his Majesties most honourable Privy Council at the time of the
'Treaty for purchasing Carolina, that they might most evidently be known
not to be within the Intention of the Crowns Purchase. The Grant pur
chased by Thorpe is more advantagious than the Reciprocal Grants of the
late Lords Propt'" to themselves, except in respect of the Descent of Elec
tion which as Lowndes has been informed is peculiar to such Reciprocal
Grants. The words in Thorpe's Grant amount to a Warranty, which for me was
not used in th'e Common- Grants and the Crown with respect to the Pur
chase of Carolina (tis humbly presumed) stands in the Place of the late
Lords Proprietors.
The condition upon Non-performance of which Lowndes's Grant sold to
Thorpe was to be void was punctually observed viz' It was enrolled in
the Court of Common Pleas within the time limited by the Grant, as the
InroUment makes appear.
N. B. Lowndes's Grant sold to Thorpe is entered in the Plantation
Office and so is the Purchase Deed.

( 12 )
[Endorsement.] — Letter from Mr. Thos: Lowndes in relation to the
Grants of land in South Carolina. Chiswick 4'" June 1733.
Sir, Being requested (as you know) by one of the Lords Commissioners
for Trade, to set in a fuller light (than in my last) the Difference that there
is between the Common Grants for Land in Carolina to Private Grantees,
and the Grants made by the Lords Prop' to themselves, I beg leave to ob
serve that Carolina having never made but very inconsiderable (if any)
Profit by the Quit Rents (after paying the Expence of Govern""') it was
usual for the Lords Proprie" fi'om time to time to make reciprocal Grants
to themselves at a Pepper-Corn Rent which were sold or disposed of to be
run out at the pleasure of the Purchaser or other lawfull owner. These
Grants tho' not run out or taken up in the life-time of the Grantee were
descendable to the Purchaser or owner or their Representatives.
The Common Grants to Private Grantees, tho' they were to Heirs of
Executors Adm" and assigns were never deemed to convey any Property
unless taken up or run out in the life time of the Grantee and were no more
than Warrants of Election which were wholly extinguished by the Death of
the Grantee. There was many times equitable Circumstances which in
duced the Proprietors not to take Advantage of such Extinguishm', As the
Eminent Services of the Grantee, a Suddain Indian War, being taken Pri-.
soner in goin<r over to take Possession and dying in the Ennemies hands
and many other Accidents. The Lord Carteret as I have been informed
some short time ago, sold to several Considerable Merchants and others his
Baronys, it would Sure be very unreasonable that in case Lord Carteret
the Grantee should dye before the laying out their Baronys that the 1 ur-

72
chasers should lose their right to run them out. This is very likely the case
of some others who claim under Reciprocal Grants. But the Common'
Grantees were not Purchasers, only paid a Rent after the Land was run
out. The legal Reason for this Distinction (as I have been told) and for which
I referr myself to M' Vane arose from this. The Lords Proprietors were
seized in fee as Tenants in Common and each of them had full Possession
of One undivided Eighth Part and such Reciprocal Grants were only small
separate parts of what before was contained in such Undivided Shares or
Parts. But the Common Grantees (unless they run out their Lands) ha"d
no Seizin and therefore their Lands could not descend.
If any doubt should remain with that learned Gent I believe I can pro
duce to him an Instance from the Legislature which will put the Right of
such as claim under Reciprocal Grants to Proprietors beyond all possibility
of Dispute.
So that I beg leave to add that the most evident and essential Difference
between the Grants made to Me and the Common Grants is, that mine
were not void being run out in the life time of the Grantee, all Grants being
void if not run out before the Death of the Grantees except such as derive
their Right of Claim from any Reciprocal Grant to the late Lords Pro
prietors. Did I not know the Lords of Trade to be persons of great Honour
I should not express myself with such Frankness. For I have a Barony
undisposed of, and I am in a declining way tho' in Equity I may be justly
deemed a Purchaser. I am Sir
Your most obedient and
Most humble Servant
Tho : Lowndes.
P. S. As to the No. of Baronys not disposed of by the Proprietors and
included in the Crowns Purchase if I remember right they are particularly
specified in the Act of Parliament.

( 13 )
E.VDonsEMENT.— L' from M' Tho : Lowndes to Sir Orlando Bridgeman
relating to a Misconstruction of Col : Johnson's Instruction for granting
of Land. Reed. 12: ] . i-as
T-> in. r June 1 io6.
Read 22: j Jdne 12'" 1733.
Sir, I take the Liberty to acquaint your Honour and the rest of the
Lords Comm" for Trade and Plantations that there is a most scandalous,
unreasonable Interpretation put upon an Article in the Governour of South
Carolina's Instructions, and the Province will be involved in great Difficul-
tys if a Remedy be not speedily applyed. The abuse is committed under
the name of Family Warrants. Many hundred Thousand Acres of the
Choisest Land, upon the best Rivers are run out under the pretence of
complying with an Order which was wisely intende<l for the Good of the
Province and which without abandoning all common understanding, and

73
Common Honesty could never have been wrested as it has been. It is the
latter Part of the 42 Article, that they force to give a Sanction to their
Proceedings. I believe the Lords of 'Trade have not yet been informed of
this unprecedented Transaction.
I also beg leave to observe to you and the rest of their Lordships that
there is (I humbly conceive) a thing in my power to lay before your Board,
and which if not timely discovered and prevented will occasion a great deal
of trouble to the Lords of Trade, and be of very ill consequence to the
Publick, and their Lordships Correspondents (I believe) can't inform them
of this Particular till it is too late. I will undertake candidly to shew their
Lordships the whole Affair. But then I hope I may be allowed to depend
upon having (as a reward for the Service) their Lordships Favour and
Protection in any Application I shall hereafter make to them, where I have
Justice, Equity or Reason on my Side.
Your Honour can't have forgot that when the Lords of Trade through
misrepresentations to them had settled the Quitt Rent in South Carolina at
2 shili p Hundred Acres Proclamation Money, I gave you some Information
(to be depended on) that the Land would bear a much higher Rent, upon
which their Lordships altered their Resolution and settled the Quitt Rent
as it now stands.
You'll please to indulge me by letting M' Docminique know that he
misunderstood what I said at your Board the other day, when (amongst
other things) I asked him " whether I had expressed myself clearly enough."
For that Question had no reference to the Affair which M' Thorpe gavo
their Lordships the trouble of (and where in he now wants to equivocate
and explain) but to a Letter relating to Patents which M' Docminique
desired me a few days before to write to the Board ; and designing next
week to go to France, I thought it but a decent peice of Respect to ask if
that Letter wanted Explanation. Your Goodness I hope will pardon this
tedious Letter, and allow me the Honour of subscribing myself with the
greatest Respect Sir, Your most obedient and
Most humble Servant
'Tho: Lowndes.
P. S. I have an utter aversion to the giving Gentlemen of Rank any
trouble and if their Lordships referr me to JM' Wheelock or M' Burnish to
explain my self They will have Patience with my weak state of Health,
and I know M' Sec'^ Popple has such a vast Load of Business that he
can't allow me time to be understood.
Sir Orlando Bridgeman One of the Lords of Trade.

( 14 )
Endorsement.] — Letter from Tho: Lowndes Dated the 2£''* June
1733.

^®'=;? I June 22"^ 1733
Read )

74
My Lords, The Province of Georgia is in imminent danger of being ruined, at
least the Settlement will be vastly discouraged, and the intent of the Publick
frustrated, and yonr Lordp' must have almost endless applications if what I
have to propose be not taken immediately under consideration.
I intend to set out for France on Wednesday next, the constant acute
Pain I am in renders me unfit for the Honour of having a long Audience at
your Lordp" Board : if the Terms proposed in my last (which I hope are
not reckoned immodest) are granted me I will honestly communicate in
writing what this matter (which your Lordp' will find to be of great impor
tance) is.
I am with the greatest respect My Lords Your Lordships
Most obedient and
Most humble Servant
22 June 1733. Tho: Lowndes.

( 15 )
[Endorsement;] — L' from Tho: Lowndes dated 25'" June 1733 relat
ing to the manner of granting Lands in South Carolina.
Reed June 26'") ,„ „„
Read July 4'" | ^^^"^
My Lords, In consequence of a Letter from my self of the 1 2'" Instant to Sir
Orlando Bridgeman, One of your Lordship's Board, and also of One other
like Letter to your Board of 22 Do. I humbly beg leave to observe to your
Lordships that the late Lords Proprietors of Carolina did in June 1717
grant to Sir Robert Montgomery (in trust for another Person) all the Tract
of Land between the Rivers Alatamaha and'Savannah, with all Islands &c.
which grant, tho' really void, is now revived and stands fully confirmed and
established by 15'" Page of the Printed Copy of an Act passed in South
Carolina 1730 entituled an Act for Remission of Arrears of Quitt Rent
&c. The Territory mentioned in Montgomery's Grant is now by his Majestys
•Letters Patents created into the Province of Georgia.
I am by good Hands informed that the person who pretends to claim under
this Grant, intends in a short time to take Possession of it. And if once
Possession is got, which in all probability may be done, before the Act is
repealed (a Person being now arrived from Carolina to support it, and the
Agent praying to shew Cause before the Lords of the Council for its Con
firmation) the Claimant must certainly have in view the maintaining his
'Title by a Subscription, in the year 1720, of a large sum of money made by
many Persons of the best Rank and Quality. Great part of which money
was said to be expended in buyhig Arms, Cloaths, Tools, Utensils &c. for
settling and cultivating some Islands or part of the Territory mentioned in
the above named Grant which 'Territory or Islands are part of Georgia.
Your Lordships in your Report for repealing this Bill having not objected
to the Confirmation of Blontgomery's Grant is construed as a tacit acknow
ledgment of its validity.

75
In the year 1725 there was a Treaty set on Foot betwixt the late Lords
Proprietors and the Persons claiming under the Grant to Sir Robert Mont
gomery, from which (if once Possession is got) many Arguments for pre
tended Equity may be drawn. The Papers relating to that 'Treaty are
my Property, and in my Possession and ready to be produced.
The Grant from the late Lords Prop'' is very loosely and improperly
worded and affords many advantages to the views the Persons claiming
under it may have, if (as the Act of Carolina now stands) the Grant be
entred upon.
The various involved and complicated Transactions that have been car
ried on either really or pretendedly under this Grant to Montgomery may
I humbly presume (if care is not taken) occasion your Lordships innumera
ble applications.
I hope I have made out, what I undertook, and it would be impious in
me to doubt the performance of what I was promised on 22°* Instant in the
name of your Lordp' Board, and which I humbly insisted on in my letter
of 12'" Ins' as a Reward for this Service viz' Your Lords"' Favour and
Protection in any Application I shall hereafter make to your Lordp' where
I have Justice, Equity or Reason- on my side ; and I hope not to live to put
any Disingenuous Interpretation upon these Words. And I beg your
Lordp' will please to order a Proper Minute upon this Occasion.
The Earl of Westmorland to whose Goodness I have great Obligations,
will now see I have done what I took the Liberty to inform his Lord" I
could do in my letter to his Lord* of 4'" May 1732 And I delayed giving
your Lordp' this Information till I saw the Kings Officers who wrote over
against this Act to miss the Point ; and that the Intent of the Publick as
to the Settlement of Georgia was just going to be frustrated.
When the Limits in North America betwixt Great Britain and Spain are
to be adjusted, I have something (I presume) of consequence to lay before
your Lordp' Board. I am My Lords
25'" June 1733. Your Lordships most obedient
and most humble Servant
Tho: Lowndes.
P. S. The Grant to Montgomery is entred at large in one of the late
Lords Prop" Books which (I believe) was delivered in to the Plantation
Office upon the Crowns Purchase and there is in another of their Books a
Mem* of this Grant given in by the late Prop" to the Lords of the Council
at the time of the said Purchase which for your Lordp' Perusal M' Whee
lock permitted me to look out. Azilia and the Golden Islands are all iu
the same Grant to Montgomery.
( 16 )
[Endorsement.] — Letter of Mr. Tho: Lowndes in relation to Col.
Horsey's Grant of Land in South Corolina.
My Lords, Being at present a little at ease from two violent Distempers, with
which I was tortured when I drew up my late Petition to your Lordships,
and reflecting calmly upon every step that was taken in his Majesties Pur
chase of the Carolina Charter, 1 do from the Circumstances of things aver,
II

76
that Col. Horsey's Warrant for the 48000 Acres of Land could not possibly
be signed till Feb'' 172|- after the Treaty with the Crown was set on
Foot. And the late Lords Pi'oprietors who are men of Quality and Persons
of great Justice and Honour, will to be sure give your Lordships a satisfac
tory reason, why Col. Horsey's Warrant was antedated, for that Transaction
I was in no wise privy to. I am with the greatest Respect
My Lords Your Lordships
Most obedient and
25 FeV. 173|. Most humble Servant
Tho : Lowndes.
Tricks will be plaid with the
Proprr'' Minute Book if care
be not taken. Lords Com" for Trade.
Note. — Mr. Lowndes had submitted on the 23d of February, three days
previous, a lengthy memorial to the Lords Commissioners for Trade, Ob
jecting to Horsey's pretensions to a claim of 48,000 acres.

( 17 )
[Endorsement.] — Lt' from M' Tho : Lowndes of 26 Feb. 173f to the
Sec'y containing nothing of Office or publick business only general Reflec
tions on the Secretary.
Reed Feb 26: ),„„.,
Read 28: K'^^^
Sir, In return for a gross incivility you was guilty of some time ago to
wards me, I intend in a few days to print in the Grub Street Journal some
letters of yours to me, wrote in your private Capacity ; and being a letter
in your debt was the reason I wrote my last to you in that style and
manner. But really I must Congratulate the Publick that a Person so engaged in
Business as you are have been able to improve the Orthography of our
language without putting the State to the Expence of an Academy.
I am Sir
Your most humble Serv'
Feb. 26'" 173|. Tho: Lowndes.

( 18 )
[Endorsement.]— L'' from M' Tho: Lowndes dated Oct. 22"'' 1734
relating to his Grant of Land in South Carolina and to that part of it sold
to M' Rutherford. •
S" } Oct' 22: 1734.
22"* Oct' 1734.
My Lords, I must be allowed the Liberty to observe to your Lord'' that about

77
four years ago I sold a Barony of Land in South Carolina the Grant of
which except the Trustees name was just the same with that purchased by
M' Rutherford (which has long lain in your Lord"' Office) and I took bonds
payable at a future Day for the Purchase Money. Some time after the
Bonds were become due I put them in Suit, and the Security, one M' Cotton
of Cutler's Hall an Attorney of much fame by direction as he said of Wright
the Purchaser brought a Bill in the Exchequer at Westm' Praying that the
Bonds might be delivered up cancelled, for that the Grant for the purchase
of which They were given was void for uncertainty there being no Bounds,
Metes or Limits described in it.
I by order of Court set forth the Grant in hsec Verba and pleaded the
Saving Clause in the Act of Parliament for the Crown's Purchase of
Carolina and my answer was not only allowed to be sufficient and good, but
after several Hearings before the Lord Chief Baron & the Three other
Barons the Purchaser's Bill was dismissed with full Costs ; which together
with the Purchase Money was levyed upon the Securitys, Goods &c. in
Hertfordshire and Middlesex. Your Lordships Solicitor may give you full
Information of the whole proceedings, for we fought all the weapons through.
'The Records of the Council Office of the 19"" March 172| will shew
(when the Treaty was negociating) that his Majesty bought Carolina with
the Incumbrance of my Grant, expressly and by name. And the saving
Clause was accordingly drawn by the Grant now before your Board. If
after all this my Right is to be questioned, I know not what can be called
Property. M' Ward and M' Pigott have drawn all the deeds for the Land I have
sold and they aver my 'Title to be without Exception. For his Majesty
(with all submission I write it) is bound in Law by the Proprietor's Warranty
which is peculiar to my Grant alone. And I was a Purchaser for a
Valuable Consideration.
I therefore beg leave humbly to insist on your Lordships performing
your Agreement with me as to directing the Surveyor Gen' to run out the
Barony sold to M' Rutherford agreeable to my memorial. 'The Surveyor
Gen' is an Offtcer under your Lordship's Directions by his Instructions.
I most solemnly Conjure your Lordships not to let your Prejudice to my
person affect my cause when you sit in Judgement. The complaint I
exhibited against your Secretary M' Popple was well grounded, for I was
basely cheated by his mediation and I lost more than Sixty Pounds. _
I do with truth assure your Lordships did I not abhorr disserving my
native Country I can shew a neighboring nation how to deprive Great
Britain of a valuable Branch of 'Trade without infringing any Treaty, and
if your Lordships will signify that you think this a vain Bragg (so that my
honour as an Englishman may be fully justifyed) I will immediately and
publickly set down in writing how in that particular Our commerce may be
prejudiced; and I know my Lords how to be very welcome to a '""-=—
State whose Language, Manners and Customs ('tis well known) I
stranger to. I am my Lords
Your Lordships
Most oppressed humble Ser'
Tho : Lowndes

foreign am no

78

( 19 )
[Endorsement.] — ^The Provost Marshall's Petition for an allowance out
of the Quit Rents for the charge he has been at in building a Provincial
Gaol.

Reed
Read

I Oct. 31, 1735.

To the Queen's most Excellent Majesty in Council. The Humble Peti
tion of George Morley Esq Provost Marshall of His Majesty's Province
of South Carolina in America,
Most humbly Sheweth
'That your Peti' holds the said Office under an Assignment of his Majes
ty's Letters Patent bearing date the 11'" day of February in the Fourth
year of his Reign which he has since executed with great care. Diligence
and Fidelity.
That your Pet' has been at great expence in going over to Carolina to
put the said Office into Order and in accomplishing thereof he found very
great Difficultys, and there being no salary annexed to the Office nor any
Provincial Gaol for the confinement of prisoners your Pet' has been obliged
at his own loss and charges to hire a house and fit it up in a proper and
suitable manner.
That the Profits arising therefrom are very small though the Trust is
great. 'That the Interest and property of many of His Majesty's Subjects of the
said Province depends upon a due execution of the said Office and keeping
in safe Custody from time to time the Prisoners Committed to his Charge.
Your Petitioner therefore most humbly prays Your Majesty that you will
be graciously pleased to grant him such an allowance out of the Quit Rents
of that Province as may enable him to provide for the better Security of
the Prisoners and encourage his Diligence in the faithful Execution of his
office on which the good government of the Province does so immediately
depend. And your Petitioner as in Duty bound shall ever pray
Geo : Morley.
reed from M' Furie
( '^0 )
At the Court of Kensington 15 July 1736.
Present The Queen's most excellent Majesty and his Majesty's Lieutenant.
Her Majesty was pleased by her Order in Council of the 1 3'" of October
last to refer to the Consideration of a Committee of the Privy Council the
humble Petition of George Morley Esq' that they make the necessary Pro
visions for erecting a Common Goal & keeping the same in repair agreeable
to the Practice of other British Colonys.
( 21 )
Extract of a Letter from Colonel Bull dated Charlestown 23'* of January
174'f "I further beg leave to acquaint your Lordships the Office of Provost
Marshal became vacant by the death of M' Robzrt Hall who executed that

79
Trust under George Morley Esf Assignee of Thomas Lowndes the Patentee,
and thereupon I did pursuant to his Majestys Instructions fill up that Va
cancy by appointing if' WiUiam Williamson* to execute the Office of Pro
vost Marshal." ( 22 )
[Endorsement.] — Letter from M' Lowndes to y" Secretary dated y°
21" of February 1746-7 upon the subject of his Petition lately referred to
this Board, relating to a Grant of Land in South Carolina made to him the
25'" of October 1726.
Reed P'^eb-y 21" )
Read March 6'" |^'*T- 21" Feb"' 1746.
Sir, I can indeed do a very considerable service to our American Trade.
But why should I break my Brains, when I meet with such Treatment?
However I beg leave to acquaint the Right Hon"'' the Lords Commis
sioners for Trade and Plantations, that at the time of the Sale of the Caro
linas, I was owner of Five Baronys, One in the name of John Beresford,
sold to Admiral Anson and M' Wright, One in the name of Isaac Lowndes
sold to Messieurs Thorpe and De la Fontaine, One in the name, of Charles
Edwards run out by Col' Bull and niyself. One in the name of Wright
(mentioned in the Act of Parliament) sold to M' Commissioner Revel and
Partners, and One in my own name, the Grant for which is now in your
Qffice. If the Prayer of my Petition be granted, this will be the Consequence.
His Majesty will thereby extinguish a Grant and future Settlers will by
that means pay for Land which otherwise would be covered by my Grant,
and the amount of the Quit-Rent so payable will be of the same Value with
the present decrease of the Quit-Rents.
But, permit me to observe, that I have no Common merit with regard to
his Majestys Quit-Rents. For they would have been reduced to a Con
temptible Pittance, had it not been for the Regulation drawn up by me,
which was presented in form to the Lords of Trade, and in a Letter to the
Board, previous to giving in the Paper, I insisted that it was to be deemed
a publick Service, and as such it was received by the Board.
Ill-health and ill-fortune together shall not deprive me of the pleasure of
reflecting, that by that Performance, his Majesty's troops in North America
were kept from suffering very great distress, which could not otherwise
have been prevented, as our Law then was and still continues. I had at
that time very civil acknowledgments from some of the first persons in the
Kingdom, and sure no man did ever ask a more moderate Gratification,
than I have petitioned for. I am with great and real respect
Sir Your most obedient and
I herewith send a good draft Most humble Servant
of the island of Ratan which Tuo : Lowndes.
when their Lord"" have seen,
you'll please to return.
* Williamson, as late Provost Marshal, petitioned the Council of South Carolina March 8,
1742-3.

. 80

( 23 )
[Endorsement.] — Letter from James Glen Esq'. Gover"' of South
Carolina to the Board dated 27'" July 1752.
Rec* Oct 1752.
Read Nov. 8, 1752.
Abstract. — Acquainting their Lord''' of the death of James Wed-
derburn Esq' who enjoyed the Offices of Clerk of the Crown and Peace,,
and Clerk of the Common Pleas for 20 years & executed them with satis
faction. He held the Office of Clerk of the Common Pleas by Patent
under the Great Seal in Consequence of his Majesty's Royal Sign Manual
to the govei-nour for that purpose ; but enjoyed the Offices of Clerk of the
Crown and Peace as Assignee of 'Thomas Lowndes who had a Grant for the
same under the seal of the Lords Propri" to him, his heirs & Assigns, but
having surrendered the same into the hands of his Majesty, His Majesty
was graciously pleased to re-grant the said Offices to Thos : Lowndes & his
Assigns during the life time of him and of Hugh Watson of the Middle
Temple and the longest liver, who are both said to be dead ; the value of
Clerk of the Common Pleas cannot be certainly known as it depends en
tirely on the Fees of the Office which have amounted to between three and
four hundred pounds yearly for some time past, out of which the Clerk has
always paid an Assistant £lOO #* An. The Salary of the Clerk of the
Crown is £25 ¦#* An. paid out of his Majesty's Quit Rents & the Fees may
be about as much. Also the Appointment of David Grseme Esq' to supply
the Vacancy.

81

Extracts from the Parish Register of St. Mary's,
Cayou, St. Kitts.
Baptisms at Christ Church, Nichola Town, in the Island of St. Christopher.
1740. June 1. Mary, daugh' of Will"" & Mary Lowndes.
1744. Aug' 1. John Taylor, son of Will™ & Mary Lowndes.
Burials at Christ Church, Nichola Town.
1763. July 26. Ruth Lowndes, widow of Charles Lowndes.
Marriages at Christ Church, Nichola Town.
1739. Ap. 7. Married Will™ Lowndes & Mary d' of Nich' & Mary
Taylor.

I hereby certify that the above statement of Baptisms, Burial & Mar
riage are correct Extracts from the Register Book of Baptisms, Burials and
Marriages transcribed in 1787 by consent of the authorities in the Island,
from the Original Registry, " which was in many places torn & defaced,"
& certified by the then Rector, Joseph Barnes, to be a " faithful copy."
The Register Book does not date further back than April 8"* 1730.
St. Mary's Rectory, Ebenezer Elliott
Cayou, St. Kitts Rector of Christ Church Nichola Town
Jan^ 15'" 1870 & St. Mary, Cayou, St. Kitt's

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