PINCKNEY, THOMAS, a Representative from South Carolina; born in Charleston, S.C., October 23, 1750;
attended Westminster School, Oxford, England, and was graduated from Oxford University, England;
also attended the French Military College, Caen, France, for one year; studied law at the Inner
Temple, London; was admitted to the bar in 1774 and commenced practice in Charleston, S.C.;
captain of Engineers, First Regiment, Continental Army, in 1775; major in the Florida campaign in
1778; served under Gen. Benjamin Lincoln in 1778 and 1779 and with Count d'Estaing in 1779;
served in the defense of Charleston; Governor of South Carolina 1787-1789; presided over the State
ratification convention in 1788; member of the State house of representatives in 1791; United States
Minister to Great Britain from January 12, 1792, to July 28, 1796; also Envoy Extraordinary to Spain
from November 24, 1794, to November 1795 and negotiated the treaty settling the boundary between
the United States and East and West Florida and between the United States and Louisiana; elected as
a Federalist to the Fifth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of William L. Smith;
reelected to the Sixth Congress and served from November 23, 1797, to March 3, 1801; one of the
managers appointed by the House of Representatives in 1798 to conduct the impeachment proceedings
against William Blount, a Senator from Tennessee; resumed the practice of law and also engaged in
agricultural pursuits; appointed major general in the War of 1812 and served throughout the war;
president general of the Society of the Cincinnati 1825-1828; died in Charleston, S.C., November 2,
1828; interment in St. Philip's Churchyard.
