John MATHEWS, Congress, SC (1744-1802)

MATHEWS, John, a Delegate from South Carolina; born in Charleston, S.C., in 1744; commissioned ensign on September 20, 1760, and lieutenant November 16, 1760, in the South Carolina Provincial Regiment in the Cherokee expedition; passed the Middle Temple, London, England, as a barrister in 1764; returned to South Carolina and was elected to the commons house of assembly in 1772; appointed by the convention of 1774 a member of the “general committee of ninety-nine“; member of the First and Second Provincial Congresses of South Carolina in 1775 and 1776; associate judge of the circuit court of the State in 1776; during the Revolutionary War served as a captain in the Colleton County regiment; member of the State house of representatives 1776-1780 and served as speaker in 1777 and 1778; Member of the Continental Congress 1778-1781; Governor of South Carolina in 1782 and 1783; elected judge of the court of chancery in March 1784; again elected to the State house of representatives in November 1784; elected judge of the court of equity in 1791 and served until 1797, when he resigned; died in Charleston, S.C., November 17, 1802.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present