“P” is for Pinckney, Thomas (1750-1828)

“P” is for Pinckney, Thomas (1750-1828). Governor, diplomat, congressman, soldier. Born in Charleston, Pinckney was educated in England at Oxford and the Inns of Court. With the outbreak of war in 1775, he became a captain in the First South Carolina Continental regiment. At the Battle of Camden he was wounded and captured, ending his active service in the war. From 1776 to 1791 he represented St. Phillip’s and St. Michael’s in the state House of Representatives. In 1787 he was elected governor. In 1792 he was appointed as U.S. minister to Great Britain and in 1794 as envoy extraordinary to Spain. The treaty he negotiated with Spain paved the way for American settlement of the Southeast and for future territorial acquisitions from France and Spain. In 1796 Thomas Pinckney was the Federalist Party’s candidate for Vice President.