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/index.php/node/6405.