Pickens, Francis Wilkinson

Life Span
to
    Full name
    Francis Wilkinson Pickens
    Place of Birth
    Burial Place
    Birth Date Certainty
    Exact
    Death Date Certainty
    Exact
    Gender
    Male
    Race
    White
    Sectional choice
    South
    Origins
    Slave State
    No. of Spouses
    3
    No. of Children
    9
    Family
    Andrew Pickens (father), Susan Wilkinson (mother), Margaret Eliza Simkins (first wife, 1827), Marion Antoinette Dearing (second wife, 1845), Lucy Holcombe (third wife, 1858)
    Education
    University of South Carolina
    Other
    Other Education
    Franklin College, GA
    Occupation
    Politician
    Diplomat
    Attorney or Judge
    Farmer or Planter
    Political Parties
    Democratic
    Other Affiliations
    Fire-Eaters (Secessionists)
    Government
    Buchanan Administration (1857-61)
    Diplomat
    US House of Representatives
    Governor
    State legislature

    Francis Wilkinson Pickens (Congressional Biographical Directory)

    Reference
    PICKENS, Francis Wilkinson,  (grandson of Andrew Pickens), a Representative from South Carolina; born on a plantation on the Toogoodoo River, St. Paul’s Parish, Colleton District, S.C., April 7, 1805; completed preparatory studies; attended Franklin College, Athens, Ga., and was graduated from South Carolina College (now the University of South Carolina) at Columbia; studied law; was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Edgefield District in 1829; engaged in planting; member of the state house of representatives 1832-1833; elected as a Nullifier to the Twenty-third Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of George McDuffie; reelected as a Nullifier to the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Congresses and elected as a Democrat to the Twenty-sixth and Twenty-seventh Congresses and served from December 8, 1834, to March 3, 1843; chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs (Twenty-sixth Congress); member of the state senate 1844-1846; member of the Nashville southern convention in 1850; delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1856; unsuccessful candidate for the United States Senate in 1857 to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Andrew P. Butler; Minister to Russia 1858-1860; governor of South Carolina 1860-1862; died in Edgefield, Edgefield County, S.C., January 25, 1869; interment in Edgefield Cemetery.
    “Pickens, Francis Wilkinson,” Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774 to Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=P000321.
    How to Cite This Page: "Pickens, Francis Wilkinson," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/node/6405.