Butler, Pierce | South Carolina Public Radio

"B" is for Butler, Pierce (1744-1822). Soldier, planter, statesman. A native of Ireland, Butler was a major in the British army. In 1766, his regiment was transferred to South Carolina. He sold his commission in 1773, married a Middleton heiress, and remained in South Carolina. He supported the patriot cause and served in uniform throughout the Revolutionary War. In 1787 the General Assembly elected Butler to the constitutional convention where he championed a strong central government and South Carolina’s interests. In 1789, he became the state’s first U.S. Senator. He resigned from the Senate in 1804 and concentrated on his numerous landholdings. By 1809, he was one of the South’s wealthiest planters—with plantations in Georgia and South Carolina. At his death, Pierce Butler’s estate was valued at more than $1 million.