South Carolina Governors – Wade Hampton III, 1877-1879

South Carolina SC History SC Governors Governor Wade Hampton III

Biographical Overview Born: March 28, 1818 in Charleston, South Carolina Died: April 11, 1902 in Columbia, South Carolina Buried: Trinity Episcopal Cathedral churchyard in Columbia, SC Religion: Episcopalian Political Party: Democrat	Wade Hampton III
Education South Carolina College (now the University of South Carolina) - Graduated 1836
Occupations Planter Lieutenant General, Confederate States Army

Major Events and Accomplishments, 1st Term, 1877–1878

• 1876 – Although Daniel Henry Chamberlain was initially declared winner of the 1876 election, a second count of the votes including previously ignored ballots from Laurens and Edgefield counties revealed that Hampton had received the most votes. Read more about the most corrupt election in SC history.
  
• 1876-1877 – Hampton and Chamberlain both claimed to be governor until Chamberlain left the state in the 1877 withdrawal of federal troops. The troops had been called in to maintain order while the election fall-out was settled.
  
• 1878 – The General Assembly passed a law ending public executions.
  

Major Events and Accomplishments, 2nd Term, 1878–1879

• 1879 – Governor Hampton resigned to become a US Senator
  

Other Government Positions

• South Carolina House of Representatives, 1852-1858
  
• South Carolina Senate, 1858-1861
  
• US Senate, 1879-1891
  

Other Accomplishments, Honors, Distinctions

• Hampton was one of only two Southern cavalry officers to achieve the rank of Lieutenant General in the Confederate States Army
  
• Hampton was defeated in the 1865 gubernatorial election by James Lawrence Orr
  
• 1879 – Hampton was seriously injured in a hunting accident
  
• Hampton County was named for Hampton
  
• Statues of Governor Hampton have been erected at both the South Carolina Capitol and the US Capitol
  
• The Wade Hampton building at the University of South Carolina was named for Hampton
  

Web Resources

• Biographical information - US Congress
  
• Portrait - SC General Assembly
  
• Listing of records available at SC Archives and History Center
  
• Millwood Plantation - Hampton's home

Election Results

• Wade Hampton won his first term as governor in the most fraudulent election in South Carolina's history.