Andrew Pickens (1739-1817) was a militia leader in the
Revolution and a
U. S. Congressman from
South Carolina.
He was born in
Bucks County, Pennsylvania on
September 13,
1739, the son of immigrants from
Ulster,
Ireland.
In
1752 his family moved to the Waxhaws on the South Carolina frontier.
He sold his farm there in
1764 and bought land in
Abbeville County, South Carolina near the
Georgia border.
He married Rebecca Calhoun in 1765.
They had 12 children, including Andrew Pickens (1779-1838) who later became governor.
He served in the militia campaign against the
Cherokee Indians in
1760-
1761.
When the revolution started, he sided with the rebel militia, and was made a Captain.
He rose to the rank of Brigadier General during the war.
On
February 14,
1779 he was part of the rebel militia victory at the
Battle of Kettle Creek[?] in Georgia.
Andrew was captured and later paroled at the Fall of Charleston[?] in 1780.
When the British didn't honor the terms of his parole, he returned to militia service.
He saw action at the Battle of Cowpens[?], Siege of Augusta[?], Siege of Ninety-Six[?], and the Battle of Eutaw Springs[?].
- South Carolina House of Representatives (1781-1794 and 1800-1812)
- Georgia-South Carolina Boundary Commission (1787)
- State Constituional Conbention (1790)
- Third U. S. Congress (1793-1795)
- Unsuccessful candidate for U.S. Senate (1797)
He died near
Pendleton, South Carolina on
August 11,
1817.
- His Congressional Biography (http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=P000320)
Further Reading:
- The Fighting Elder: Andrew Pickens, 1739-1817; by Alice Waring; 1962; University of South Carolina Press.