Rhett, Robert Barnwell

Life Span
to
    Full name
    Robert Barnwell Rhett
    Place of Birth
    Birth Date Certainty
    Exact
    Death Date Certainty
    Exact
    Gender
    Male
    Race
    White
    Sectional choice
    South
    Origins
    Slave State
    No. of Spouses
    2
    No. of Children
    12
    Family
    James Smith (father), Marianna Gough (mother), Elizabeth Washington Burnet (first wife, 1827), Catharine Herbert Dent (second wife, 1854)
    Education
    Other
    Other Education
    Beaufort College
    Occupation
    Politician
    Attorney or Judge
    Farmer or Planter
    Relation to Slavery
    Slaveholder
    Political Parties
    Democratic
    Other Affiliations
    Fire-Eaters (Secessionists)
    Government
    US Senate
    US House of Representatives
    State legislature
    Other state government

    Robert Barnwell Rhett (Congressional Biographical Directory)

    Reference
    RHETT, Robert Barnwell, a Representative and a Senator from South Carolina; born Robert Barnwell Smith in Beaufort, S.C., December 21, 1800; completed preparatory studies; studied law; admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Beaufort in 1824; elected to the State house of representatives for St. Bartholomew’s Parish in 1826, 1828, 1830, and 1832; elected attorney general of South Carolina in 1832; elected as a Democrat to the Twenty-fifth and to the five succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1837-March 3, 1849); changed his name to Robert Barnwell Rhett in 1838; member of the Nashville convention in 1850; elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of John C. Calhoun and served from December 18, 1850, until his resignation effective May 7, 1852; delegate to the South Carolina secession convention in 1860; delegate to the Confederate Provisional Congress in 1861; chairman of the committee which reported the constitution of the Confederate States; moved to St. James Parish, La., in 1867; died in St. James Parish, La., on September 14, 1876; interment in Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, S.C.
    "Rhett, Robert Barnwell," Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774 to Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=R000184.
    Chicago Style Entry Link
    Walther, Eric H. The Fire-Eaters. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1992. view record
    How to Cite This Page: "Rhett, Robert Barnwell," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/node/6477.