Charlestonian Cheves
Over the years, South Carolina has
birthed several well-known individuals.
These individuals range from TV personalities, to inventors, to
political legends. Perhaps, the most well-known
political powerhouse that comes from South Carolina is Andrew Jackson, 7th
president of the United States[i]. John C. Calhoun is also another name that
hails from South Carolina that some historians may call a political
architect. More importantly, a lesser
known, named political goliath in South Carolina is Langdon Cheves. Cheves made
significant impacts on the political history of South Carolina, and he is
buried right here, in Charleston.
Langdon Cheves |
Just after the United States
declared their independence in July of 1776, Langdon Cheves was born in
September of that same year in Abbeville at the Bull Town fort[ii]. After growing up in a newly founded country,
Langdon quickly became a self-made attorney not just because of a private
school education, but because of his intellect.
Miles Richards, on behalf of the South Carolina Encyclopedia, attributes
Cheves success to hours of self-teaching.
This veracity allowed Cheves to establish his own, successful law
firm. After passing the bar in 1797,
Langdon married his wife, Mary Elizabeth Dulles in 1806.
Being named the “Political Jesuit,”
Cheves rose through the ranks of the Jeffersonian party to be elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives from
1802-1809[iii]. From that moment, Langdon’s career became
successful through his rise to political power.
In 1809, he was appointed at the State Attorney General in South
Carolina. Cheves then achieved an effective
and powerful period in the United States House of Representatives in 1810. During the War of 1812, Langdon was appointed
to the Naval Affairs Committee which earned him a place in the passionate group
known as “ The War Hawks[iv],”
along with other extreme, right-winged members of Congress, including John C.
Calhoun, that wanted to go to war with Britain[v].
With his prosperous reputation in
Congress, Cheves was elected in 1814 as Speaker of the House, the most powerful
position in the House. This was just 4
years after being elected to congress.
The archives from the House of Representatives, paints Cheves as a
powerful leader in the House that brought about an offer from President James
Madison to serve as the Secretary of the Treasury position in the President’s
cabinet. After declining the offer, Cheves
retired from Congress, which lead to the appointment of the president of the
Second National Bank. His goal was to
restore financial order to the bank.
From 1819-1822, Langdon reformed the Bank’s declining monetary funds by
approving less loans, implicating higher interest rates, and reducing the
bank’s notes that were in circulation[vi].
Once the war of 1812 ended in 1814,
the Treaty of Ghent was signed between the two fighting nations. Editors at the History channel outlined that
this treaty contained plans to return conquered territory and commission
boundaries. Since international war
claims were unsettled, Cheves was appointed by President Monroe as the
Commissioner of War claims until all outstanding international claims were
adjusted. Once Langdon completed his
task set by President Monroe, he returned to Charleston as a “silent political
power broker[vii].” With a wide array of support, Cheves rallied
the South with support of succession from the Union. In 1850, he was a delegate to the convention
in Nashville to support the possession of slaves in the lead up before the
Civil War.
During the last few years of his
life, he remained an established attorney, and ran a plush plantation of rice
in both South Carolina and Georgia. For
causes unknown, he died in Columbia South Carolina in June of 1857, and he is
now buried in Magnolia Cemetery in Charleston[viii]. Langdon Cheves grave is an Obelisk. A lot can be learned from a highly successful
man such as Langdon Cheves. His tenacity
and vigor allowed him to rise to political power and achieve the highest
respects from politicians and colleagues.
Regardless of how one would view his beliefs, Charleston, South Carolina
now has a political legend buried here.
Just by taking a few moments to visit the gravesite and witnessing the
burial grounds, people far and wide can truly appreciate much of what
Charleston has to offer in regards to political legends.
[i] The White House. (n.d.). Andrew Jackson.
Retrieved from https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/andrew-jackson/
[ii] Richards, M. (2016, April 15). Cheves,
Langdon. Retrieved from
http://www.scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/cheves-langdon/
[iii] Schulman, M. (n.d.). Cheves, Langdon
biography. Retrieved from https://www.historycentral.com/Bio/nn/Cheves.html
[iv] Richards,
M. (2016, April 15). Cheves, Langdon. Retrieved from http://www.scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/cheves-langdon/
[v] Indiana University Library. (2012). War
Hawks. Retrieved from https://collections.libraries.indiana.edu/warof1812/exhibits/show/warof1812/before/war-hawks
[vi] Richards, M. (2016, April
15). Cheves, Langdon. Retrieved from http://www.scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/cheves-langdon/
[vii] Office of the Historian. (n.d.). CHEVES,
Langdon. Retrieved from https://history.house.gov/People/Detail/10892
[viii] Huff, A. (2004). Biographical
Information on Cheves. Retrieved from
http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=c000350