Born in 1801 at Brookgreen Plantation, in All Saints Parish near Georgetown, Robert F.W. Allston (1801-1864) attended prep school and West Point Military Academy, from which he graduated in 1821. He served in the U.S. Army until he resigned his commission in 1823 to engage in rice and indigo cultivation on his plantation on the Pee Dee River. Allston was one of the most successful planters in South Carolina, and eventually owned a 1,500 acre plantation, after re-claiming lands under water by a system of canals and embankments. From 1828 until 1833, Allston served in the state House of Representatives and then in the Senate. During the Nullification Crisis in 1832-33, he was an advocate of the states' rights point of view. From 1850 until his election as governor in 1856, Allston served as President pro tem of the Senate. As governor, Allston was concerned with improving the public education system of South Carolina. He attempted to gain greater state and local tax support for the schools. Allston died in 1864 at Chicora Wood, his plantation near Georgetown.
Courtesy of the South Caroliniana Library.
