SOUTH CAROLINA SECEDES
Charleston, South Carolina (JFK+50) On December 20, 1860, the state of South Carolina ratified an Ordinance of Secession here in Charleston and formally seceeded from the United States of America.
Upon hearing the news of his state's leaving the Union, South Carolina Attorney General James L. Petigru* said...
"South Carolina is too small for a republic and too large for an insane asylum."
Mr. Petigru was the only unionist left in a state that was no longer a part of the union. According to the University of South Carolina School of Law, he was recognized as "one of the state's great lawyers" and, despite his stand against secession "never lost the respect and admiration of his fellow South Carolinians..."
Stephen Hurlbut wrote President Lincoln in March 1861...
"At this day, Fort Sumter is the only spot where the United States have jurisdiction and James L. Petigru the only citizen loyal to the Union..."
Here is the last verse of a poem written in 1865 titled simply 'Petigru':
"Thus he died: unnerved, unshaken
By opinion's subtle art;
Now the stricken city weepeth
And the nation holds his heart.
'Tis for this we render honor
That he ranks among the few,
Who, amid a reign of Error
Dared sublimely to be true."
*James L. Petigru (1789-1863) was born in the Abbeville District and graduated from South Carolina College. He was admitted to the bar in 1812 and came to the Holy City to practice law in 1819. Although a slaveholder, Mr. Petigru recognized the humanity of slaves and defended the right of freedmen in court.
Mr. Pettigru's home on Broad Street was burned in the fire of 1861 and his residence on Sullivan's Island was confiscated by the Confederate army to build a fort. JLP then moved to Summerville and died in 1863.
SOURCES
"Charleston's Last Union Soul," by Greg Hambrick, Charleston City Paper, April 6, 2011. www.charlestoncitypaper.com
Charleston Mercury, December 21, 1860.
"Memory Hold the Door, James Louis Petigru," University of South Carolina School of Law, www.law.sc.edu
Charleston, South Carolina (JFK+50) On December 20, 1860, the state of South Carolina ratified an Ordinance of Secession here in Charleston and formally seceeded from the United States of America.
Upon hearing the news of his state's leaving the Union, South Carolina Attorney General James L. Petigru* said...
"South Carolina is too small for a republic and too large for an insane asylum."
Mr. Petigru was the only unionist left in a state that was no longer a part of the union. According to the University of South Carolina School of Law, he was recognized as "one of the state's great lawyers" and, despite his stand against secession "never lost the respect and admiration of his fellow South Carolinians..."
Stephen Hurlbut wrote President Lincoln in March 1861...
"At this day, Fort Sumter is the only spot where the United States have jurisdiction and James L. Petigru the only citizen loyal to the Union..."
Here is the last verse of a poem written in 1865 titled simply 'Petigru':
"Thus he died: unnerved, unshaken
By opinion's subtle art;
Now the stricken city weepeth
And the nation holds his heart.
'Tis for this we render honor
That he ranks among the few,
Who, amid a reign of Error
Dared sublimely to be true."
Mr. Pettigru's home on Broad Street was burned in the fire of 1861 and his residence on Sullivan's Island was confiscated by the Confederate army to build a fort. JLP then moved to Summerville and died in 1863.
SOURCES
"Charleston's Last Union Soul," by Greg Hambrick, Charleston City Paper, April 6, 2011. www.charlestoncitypaper.com
"Memory Hold the Door, James Louis Petigru," University of South Carolina School of Law, www.law.sc.edu
Bust of James Louis Petigru
City Council Chamber
Charleston, SC
Photo by John White (2015)
