Thomas Heyward Jr (July 28, 1746 – March 6, 1809) was a planter, lawyer, judge, politician, and soldier. One of the Founding Fathers who attended the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia, he was among the last to sign the Declaration of Independence on August 2, 1776. On February 3, 1779, as captain of artillery in the Charlestown Division Militia, he would be wounded in the arm at the Battle of Beaufort (also Battle of Port Royal). He, along with over 5,000 American troops, would be taken prisoner when Charleston, South Carolina was surrendered to the British on April 12, 1780. He and three other signers of the Declaration would be imprisoned at Augustine, Florida until exchanged in 1781. After the war, he would return to Charleston where he served as a criminal judge.
Even if granting leeway for the historical period, one must wonder the level of Heyward’s hypocrisy by adding his name to a document that proclaimed all men are created equal, while his family was the largest slaveholder in America; hundreds of slaves worked on sixteen plantations spread over approximately 26,000 acres. Heyward’s imprisonment and the confiscation of some of his slaves, reported to be a 130, led to his being widely proclaimed a martyr to the revolution after the war. A new nation that just won its fight for liberty, and largely still immune to the horrors of slavery which continued to imprison a quarter of its population, was not ready to look in the mirror and see what was truly in their hearts.
Early Life
According to Richard Ellis, direct descendant of William, brother to Thomas Heyward Jr., “The Heywards were originally from Little Eaton, England, and decided to come to the colonies in 1662. The original family members in the colonies were Daniel and Thomas Heyward.” Thomas Heyward, great-grandfather of Heyward Jr., died soon after marriage and his only son, Thomas Heyward, Heyward Jr.’s grandfather, was sent to England to live with his uncle. There, the grandfather Thomas Heyward married and had children, before returning to America in 1700 and settling in the Charleston area on the peninsula. He participated in the Yemassee Native American War in 1715, and for that, was granted 500 acres; the beginnings of the Heyward’s vast land holdings.
The first home was a modest log cabin. It was replaced by a wooden structure called the ‘Old House’ in what is present day Jasper County, South Carolina. This in turn was replaced with an elegant manor house. The mansion at White Hall Plantation, the location present day Euhaw Creek, Grahamville, St. Luke’s Parish, Jasper County, was within a stone’s throw of ‘Old House.’ It was built between 1771 and 1775, and stood three stories high. It was constructed on a ‘tabby’ foundation which consisted of oyster shells, bricks and mortar. The foundations of White Hall are all that remain. Part of the property burned in 1870 after having survived Sherman’s March during the Civil War. The remainder of the house collapsed before 1964, leaving only the foundations standing.
Heyward Jr’s grandfather died in 1736 leaving three sons; Daniel, Thomas, and the youngest John – all three would live to adulthood. Thomas Heyward, Jr., born in 1746 at his family’s plantation in St. Luke’s Parish (now part of Jasper County), was the eldest son of wealthy rice planter Daniel Heyward (1720-1777) and Mary Miles (1727-1761). He would have four brothers and a sister; all living to adulthood with Benjamin, the youngest, dying at age twenty. Thomas added the junior to his name to distinguish himself from his uncle, Thomas Heyward. Both Heyward’s grandfather and father were studious businessmen and farmers. Over the years, the family’s landholdings and wealth expanded exponentially.
From early on, the child Heyward received the finest tutoring money could buy. As a young man, he continued his education in law, entering the office of a Mr. Parsons. To complete his legal preparations, as was common among the wealthy, Heyward shipped off to London. He was admitted to the Middle Temple in 1765 where he became a member of the Honorable Society. In May 1770, Heyward was called to the bar by the Inns of Court. After completing his education, he spent a great deal of time traveling throughout England and Europe before returning to his father’s plantation.
Marriage
Heyward was married twice, in 1772 at age 26 and in 1786, at age 40; each wife was named Elizabeth. His first wife, born in 1753, was the daughter of Colonel John and Sarah Gibbes Mathews and the sister of South Carolina Governor John Mathews. She died in childbirth in 1782 in Philadelphia, where she had gone to be with Heyward upon his release as a prisoner of war. She is buried there in St. Peter’s Episcopal Church yard. They had six children, but only one son, Daniel, survived childhood. His second wife, Suzanna Elizabeth Savage, was the daughter of Colonel Thomas and Mary Elliott Savage of Charleston. They had three children who lived to adulthood: Thomas, William and Elizabeth.
Politics
Like many of his wealthy, planter contemporaries, Heyward found himself firmly in agreement with the Whigs. They were tired of England’s bankers setting prices for American grain and produce, draconian control of credit, while the British government pandered to mother England’s manufacturers by limiting colonial industrialization. Freedom and liberty became a catchall that tied in economic concerns for the wealthy, while drawing in the masses to support rebellion.
Thomas Heyward, Jr. was among the earliest in South Carolina to oppose the British government, beginning with the Stamp Act of 1765. He was elected to the South Carolina Provincial Congress, which became the ruling body of government at the outset of the rebellion. As such, his family’s influence earned him a position to the thirteen-member Council of Safety (Committee of Safety). This functioned as the executive branch of the Provincial Congress when it was not in session. It was also the military arm of the provincial government that began to prepare for open hostilities.
Heyward’s colleagues took note of one who openly expressed his disaffection towards British acts that each day moved the country closer to war. In 1775, John Rutledge, one of South Carolina’s four delegates to the Second Continental Congress, was called home to assist in defending the state against a threatened invasion, Thomas Heyward Jr. was elected in his place. John Rutledge is not to be confused with Edward Rutledge, brother of John Rutledge, who remained a delegate from South Carolina.
Declaration of Independence
Heyward was regarded as a strong statesman, of whom Dr. Benjamin Rush, a delegate from Pennsylvania described as “a firm Republican of good education and most amicable manners. He possessed an elegant political genius, which he sometimes exercised with success upon the various events of the war.” He was present in Congress during the spring and summer of 1776 when the Declaration of Independence was hammered out. As such, he became one of the four signers of the Declaration from South Carolina, and the last to affix his signature on August 2, 1776 [fifty of the fifty-six delegates were present in Philadelphia to sign the document that day. The last official signature would take place six months later; Thomas McKean of Delaware – however some copies do not show his name.]
Captain of Artillery
Heyward would return to Charleston, South Carolina in 1778. He took up residence in the city and filled the role as criminal judge. He was also commissioned a captain of artillery for the Charleston District Militia and when not taken up with civic duties, trained with his company. Originally a single company, the Charles Town Battalion of Artillery was organized into three companies when war broke out. Captain Heyward commanded one of the companies. Another was led by fellow signer of the Declaration, Capt. Edward Rutledge. And the third was commanded by Captain Anthony Toomer. Rules for the regiment designated proper uniform: a blue regimental coat with red lapels and cuffs and white cotton or linen breeches. Captains were to have one epaulet on the right shoulder.
Battle of Beaufort and Siege of Charleston
At the close of 1778, the British launched their southern campaign. Savannah fell on December 29, 1778 to Lt. Colonel Archibald Campbell and 3,100 regular troops that included the 71st Highlanders, at a 1,000 strong, the largest regiment in the British arsenal. General Augustine Prevost marched a force including detached units of the 16th and 60th Foot up from St. Augustine, Florida. In January, 1779, Campbell took his 71st Highlanders to Augusta to begin recruiting backcountry Loyalists. In early February, Prevost sent Major Valentine Gardiner of the 16th Foot with three companies from the 16th and 60th Foot to capture Beaufort, Port Royal Island, on the mouth of the Broad River, South Carolina, about 60 miles south of Charleston.
American General Benjamin Lincoln, alerted to the British movement from Savannah towards Port Royal Island, dispatched Brigadier General Moultrie to Port Royal where he teamed up with militia from the Beaufort region and the Charlestown Militia, that included two if the Charleston Artillery companies under Captains Thomas Heyward Jr. and Captain Edward Rutledge. This would be the only battle in the war in which two signers of the Declaration would participate. The British and American force faced each other on an open field of battle on February, 3, 1779. Heyward manned a six-pound cannon which General William Moultrie commented in his after-action report as being ‘most gallant’. The artillery continued to fire until ammunition ran low. As the artillery was being withdrawn, the British began their retreat. The 45-minute battle was considered an American victory as the Americans were left in sole possession of the field. During this battle, Heyward received a wound to his arm. One lieutenant artilleryman was killed.
Heyward’s next major action occurred in April and May 1780 when British forces under Commander-in-Chief of American Forces, General Sir Henry Clinton and Admiral Marriot Arbuthnot besieged Charleston. Heyward was given charge of the cannon in the hornwork, a key fortification in the American defenses. He and the twenty-six men under his command would have been under constant fire as the British artillerists directed many of their mortar shells against the hornwork. On April 12, 1780, hopelessly surrounded and with supplies running low, Major General Benjamin Lincoln capitulated in what would prove to be the largest army surrendered in the war, over 5,000 American soldiers; Captain Heyward and Capt. Edward Rutledge among the prisoners.
Capture and Prison
Following the fall of Charleston, most of the rank and file were imprisoned on prison ships anchored in the bay. Officers were allowed to remain freely in Charleston on parole; meaning they would give their word that they would not take up arms against the British until exchanged. On August 27, 1780, Heyward was removed from his home, presently 87 Church Street, and detained at the Old Exchange Building. Heyward and twenty-eight other officers and political leaders were moved to one of the prison ships in the harbor. On September 4th, they were all transported to St. Augustine, Florida. There Heyward would be imprisoned with three other signers of the Declaration: Edward Rutledge, Arthur Middleton, and Josiah Smith.
Heyward was exchanged in 1781 and went to Philadelphia. He returned to Charleston in 1782 just a few months before the British evacuated the city on December 14, 1782. During this time, the British had confiscated all of Heyward’s slaves. He was later able to reclaim some of his bondsmen; however, 130 had been transported to sugar plantations in Jamaica, valued at $50,000. After peace was declared, Heyward continued as an officer in the Charles Town Battalion of Artillery and was promoted to major in 1783. After the war, it was decided that every December 14th, the anniversary of the British evacuation of Charleston, the battalion was to meet to celebrate the occasion.
After the War
With peace, Heyward would reside mainly in Charleston, serving the state of South Carolina as a criminal judge. He remained as such from 1784 until 1798 when he retired from the bench permanently to his plantation in Jasper County. The Heyward family sold the townhouse in Charleston in 1794 to Judge John Grimke, another Revolutionary War veteran and the father of noted abolitionists, Sarah and Angelina Grimke. Heyward would reside at his manor, White Hall, seeing to his plantation’s needs until his death.
Thomas Heyward, Jr., died on April 17, 1809, at age 63, and was buried next to his father in the family cemetery at Old House, his father’s property near White Hall on the same marshy creek. This cemetery is now a state-designated historic site on S.C. Route 336 in Jasper County, the entrance to which is identified by a roadside historical marker. The state of South Carolina has also marked his grave with a memorial stone and a bust of Heyward.
US Congressman Rep. Thomas Miller; Heyward’s African American Grandson Wiped Away Some of His Grandfather’s Stain of Slavery
“I shall not be muffled here. I am in part the representative … of those whose rights are denied, of those who are slandered by the press … and I deem it my supreme duty to raise my voice, though feebly, in their defense.”
Rep. Thomas Miller, US Congress, African American speaking on the House floor, c. 1890’s
One of Heyward’s grandsons would become a South Carolina Representative to the US Congress; Rep. Thomas Miller (1852-1938). Miller’s grandfather, Thomas Heyward Jr., was a true ‘man of his times’. Heyward often adhered to the practice of large slaveholding masters, such as Thomas Jefferson, who impregnated their slaves. One such female slave who fell prey to Heyward would give birth to a ‘fair skinned mulatto.’ That child would become the mother of United States Representative Thomas Miller, born as a slave in 1852, whose father, so too, was a wealthy white planter.
The child Miller was taken from the mother by the wealthy white father’s family and given to be raised by another couple, Richard and Mary Ferrebee Miller, former slaves who had been freed by 1850. Miller would grow up to become a successful lawyer and one of a generation of 19th century Republican African American lawmakers from the post-Reconstruction era to serve in Congress in the Civil War’s aftermath; one of only five African Americans elected to Congress from the south in the 1890’s. As the systematic disfranchisement of the Jim Crow era suppressed black voting, no African-Americans were elected from the South until 1972, well after passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In the face of the growing KKK and racial violence, Miller stood firm on the House floor; a champion for minority rights, until the South Carolina Supreme Court invalidated his election ballots. His successful law practice continued his efforts for humanity until his death in 1938. Truly a great man of his time!
Porgy and Bess
In 1970, when the US Supreme Court ordered that public schools must be integrated, a group associated with the White Citizen’s Council opened a school named Thomas Heyward Academy in Ridgeland, South Carolina; projecting Thomas Heyward Jr. as the poster child for White Nationals. But in an interesting twist of fate some 45 years earlier, DuBose Heyward (1885-1940), great-great grandson of Thomas Heyward Jr., would break the bonds of white bigotry and write a novel, Porgy, published in 1925, portraying black life in the deep south; infused with human understanding in a sympathetic but non-patronizing light at a time that such an approach was unheard of.
Born of an old, influential white family in Charleston, South Carolina, DuBose drew his inspiration for Porgy through news stories and from observations of African American culture. The novel tells the story of Porgy, a crippled street beggar living in the black tenements of Charleston, S. Carolina in the 1920’s. The main character Porgy was drawn from ‘Goat Cart Sam’ Small – a disabled street beggar in Charleston.
The novel became a best seller. His wife Dorothy, a playwright of some renown, adapted Porgy as a 1927 play of the same name. The production would be the first African American play on Broadway that featured predominately African American actors in its cast; only three were white. The show was an instant success, touring northern America and Europe for several years. The couple provided the libretto for successful composer and performer George Gershwin to adapt the work as his 1935 opera Porgy and Bess. It was later adapted as a film in 1959 of the same name.
NEW YORK MET PERFORMANCE OF “BESS, YOU IS MY WOMAN NOW” FROM PORGY AND BESS
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RESOURCE
Benson, John Lossing. Biographical Sketches of the Signers of the Declaration of American Independence: The Declaration Historically Considered; and a Sketch of the Leading Events Connected with the Adoption of the Articles of Confederation and of the Federal Constitution. 1848: G. F. Coolidge and Brother, New York, NY.
Chaplin, Kelly. “Ghosts of Thomas Heyward’s Past.” May 2, 2012. Jasper Sun Times.
Fradin, Dennis Brindell. The Signers, The 56 Stories Behind the Declaration of Independence. 2002: Walker Publishing Company, New York, NY.
Glass, Andrew. “Final member of a generation of Southern black lawmakers dies, April 8, 1938” April 8, 2018: Politico.
Goodrich, Rev. Charles A. Lives of the Signers to the Declaration of Independence. 1856: William Reed & Co., New York, NY.
Gordon, John W. South Carolina and the American Revolution A Battlefield History. 2006: Univ. of South Carolina Press, Columbia, S. Carolina.
“More than a Signer: The Military Career of Thomas Heyward, Jr.” Charleston Museum.
“Porgy (The Novel)” Wikipedia.
“Port Royal Island.” The American Revolution in South Carolina.
“Thomas Heyward Jr.” The American Revolution in South Carolina.
“Thomas Heyward Jr.” The Charleston Museum.