John Drayton II (June 22, 1766 – November 27, 1822) was

Governor of South Carolina The governor of South Carolina is the head of government of South Carolina. The governor is the ''ex officio'' commander-in-chief of the National Guard when not called into federal service. The governor's responsibilities include making year ...

and a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...

of the

United States District Court for the District of South Carolina The United States District Court for the District of South Carolina (in case citations, D.S.C.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of South Carolina. Court is held in the cities of Aiken, Anderson, Beaufort, Charle ...

Education and career

Born on June 22, 1766, in Charleston,

Province of South Carolina The Province of South Carolina, originally known as Clarendon Province, was a province of the Kingdom of Great Britain that existed in North America from 1712 to 1776. It was one of the five Southern colonies and one of the Thirteen Colonies i ...

British America British America collectively refers to various British colonization of the Americas, colonies of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and its predecessors states in the Americas prior to the conclusion of the American Revolutionary War in 1 ...

, to

William Henry Drayton William Henry Drayton (September 1742 – September 3, 1779) was an American Founding Father, planter, and lawyer from Charleston, South Carolina. He served as a delegate for South Carolina to the Continental Congress in 1778-79 and signed ...

and Dorothy Golightly, Drayton

read law Reading law was the primary method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship un ...

in 1788 at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

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. He engaged in private practice in Charleston,

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

in 1788, from 1789 to 1794, from 1796 to 1798, and from 1811 to 1812. He was a warden (assistant to the intendant) for Charleston starting in 1788. He was a rice planter in Georgetown County, South Carolina from 1794 to 1822. He was a member of the

South Carolina House of Representatives The South Carolina House of Representatives is the lower house of the South Carolina General Assembly. It consists of 124 representatives elected to two-year terms at the same time as U.S. congressional elections. Unlike many legislatures, seatin ...

from 1792 to 1796. He was

Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina The lieutenant governor of South Carolina is the second-in-command to the governor of South Carolina. Beyond the responsibility to act or serve as governor in the event of the office's vacancy, the duties of the lieutenant governor are chiefly ce ...

from 1798 to 1800. He was

from 1801 to 1803, and from 1809 to 1810. He was the

Intendant An intendant (; ; ) was, and sometimes still is, a public official, especially in France, Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. The intendancy system was a centralizing administrative system developed in France. In the War of the Spanish Success ...

(

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

) of Charleston from 1803 to 1805. He was a member of the

South Carolina Senate The South Carolina State Senate is the upper house of the South Carolina General Assembly, the lower house being the South Carolina House of Representatives. It consists of 46 senators elected from single member districts for four-year terms at ...

from 1805 to 1808. He was a member of the

Democratic-Republican Party The Democratic-Republican Party (also referred to by historians as the Republican Party or the Jeffersonian Republican Party), was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early 1790s. It championed li ...

Federal judicial service

Drayton was nominated by President

James Madison James Madison (June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison was popularly acclaimed as the ...

on May 4, 1812, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge Thomas Bee. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

on May 7, 1812, and received his commission the same day. His service terminated on November 27, 1822, due to his death in Charleston.

Notable case

Drayton issued perhaps the earliest judicial decision holding that, under the laws of the United States, slaves captured in time of war on enemy ships could not be claimed as

property Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, re ...

Personal life

Drayton married Mary Tidyman, daughter of Dr. Phillip Tidyman, on November 6, 1794.

Books

* ''Carolinian Florist'' * ''A View of South Carolina, as Respects Her Natural and Civil Concerns'' * ''Memoirs of the American Revolution from its Commencement to the Year 1776''

References

Further sources

* * *

External links

SCIway Biography of John Drayton

NGA Biography of John Drayton
{{DEFAULTSORT:Drayton, John 1766 births 1822 deaths 18th-century American lawyers 18th-century American planters 19th-century American planters 19th-century American judges 19th-century mayors of places in South Carolina Princeton University alumni University of South Carolina alumni Members of the South Carolina House of Representatives Lieutenant governors of South Carolina Governors of South Carolina University of South Carolina trustees South Carolina state senators Writers from South Carolina Drayton family Mayors of Charleston, South Carolina Judges of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina United States federal judges appointed by James Madison South Carolina Democratic-Republicans Democratic-Republican Party state governors of the United States United States federal judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law 18th-century members of the South Carolina General Assembly 19th-century South Carolina politicians