Colonel Charles Pinckney

Charles Pinckney
Member of the
South Carolina General Assembly
In office
1754–1772
ConstituencyChrist Church Parish
(1754-1760)
St. Philip's Parish
(1760-1761)
St. Michael's Parish
(1761-1768)
St. Philip's Parish
(1768-1772)[1]
Personal details
Born(1732-03-07)March 7, 1732
Charles Town, Province of South Carolina, British America
DiedSeptember 22, 1782(1782-09-22) (aged 50)
Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, U.S.

Charles Pinckney (March 7, 1732 - September 22, 1782), also known as Colonel Charles Pinckney, was a South Carolina lawyer and planter based in Charleston, South Carolina. Commissioned as a colonel for the Charles Towne Militia in the colonial era, he was widely known as "Colonel Pinckney". He had a rice and indigo plantation known as Snee Farm along the Wando River, about nine miles from Charleston, and a townhouse on Queen Street in the city.

Captured by the British in 1780 in the fall of Charleston, Pinckney was among more than 160 men who signed loyalty oaths to protect their properties, which the British would otherwise have confiscated and possibly destroyed. After the war, to penalize his Loyalist oath, the state legislature assessed a fine against Pinckney based on the value of his property.

His son and namesake Charles Pinckney inherited the plantation and slaves and became a prominent politician after the American Revolution. After participating in the constitutional convention, he was elected to three non-consecutive terms as governor of the state, and as a US Senator and US Representative.