Henry L. Pinckney

Henry L. Pinckney
29th Mayor of Charleston, South Carolina
In office
September 4, 1837 – September 7, 1840
Preceded byRobert Young Hayne
Succeeded byJacob F. Mintzing
In office
September 5, 1831 – September 2, 1833
as Intendant
Preceded byJames R. Pringle
Succeeded byEdward W. North
In office
September 7, 1829 – September 6, 1830
as Intendant
Preceded byJohn Gadsden
Succeeded byJames R. Pringle
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from South Carolina's 1st district
In office
March 4, 1833 – March 3, 1837
Preceded byWilliam Drayton
Succeeded byHugh S. Legaré
18th Speaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives
In office
November 22, 1830 – March 4, 1833
GovernorJames Hamilton Jr.
Robert Young Hayne
Preceded byBenjamin Faneuil Dunkin
Succeeded byPatrick Noble
Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from St. Philip's and St. Michael's Parish
In office
November 22, 1830 – March 4, 1833
In office
November 25, 1816 – January 30, 1828
Personal details
Born
Henry Laurens Pinckney

(1794-09-24)September 24, 1794
Charleston, South Carolina, United States
DiedFebruary 3, 1863(1863-02-03) (aged 68)
Charleston, South Carolina, Confederate States
Political partyNullifier
SpouseHarriet Lee Post
Alma materSouth Carolina College
Professionjournalist, politician

Henry Laurens Pinckney (September 24, 1794 – February 3, 1863) was a U.S. Representative from South Carolina, and the son of Charles Pinckney and Mary Eleanor Laurens.

Born in Charleston, South Carolina, Pinckney attended private schools. He graduated from South Carolina College (now the University of South Carolina) at Columbia in 1812. He studied law and was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Charleston.

Pinckney served as a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives (1816–1832). He founded the Charleston Mercury in 1819 and was its sole editor for fifteen years. Between 1829 and 1840, he served six terms as intendant or mayor of Charleston.[1] In 1838, he won among a field of four candidates with the following votes: Pinckney (600), Col. James Lynah (575), Dr. Joseph Johnston (203), and Dr. J.W. Schmidt (141).[2]

Pinckney was elected as a Nullifier to the Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Congresses (March 4, 1833 – March 3, 1837). He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1836, having been labelled a "traitor" by ultra-conservative Southerners for compromising with New York's Martin van Buren on the 1836 "gag-rule" bill.[3]

Pinckney served as collector of the port of Charleston in 1841 and 1842 and as the tax collector of St. Philip's and St. Michael's parishes (1845–1863).

Pinckney married Harriet Lee Post, the daughter of Chaplain of the Senate Reuben Post and Harriet Moffitt, a granddaughter of Richard Henry Lee. He died in Charleston, South Carolina on February 3, 1863 (during the time when South Carolina had seceded and joined the Confederate States).

  1. ^ "Henry Laurens Pinckney." http://www.HalseyMap.com/Flash/mayors-detail.asp?polID=25
  2. ^ "Charleston". The Edgefield Advertiser. Edgefield, South Carolina. September 13, 1838. p. 3. Retrieved January 22, 2014.
  3. ^ William W. Freehling, "The Road to Disunion: Secessionists at Bay, 1776-1854", vol. 1 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1990), 327-331.