William Lowndes (congressman)

William Jones Lowndes (February 11, 1782 – October 27, 1822) was an American lawyer, planter, and statesman from South Carolina. He represented the state in the U.S. Congress from 1811 to May 8, 1822, when he resigned.

He was the son of Rawlins Lowndes, an American Revolutionary War leader from South Carolina. He married Elizabeth Pinckney, daughter of Federalist leader Thomas Pinckney.

Politics

William J. Lowndes first served in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1804 to 1808.

He was for four years Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee in the US House. He worked to achieve a compromise on sectional issues like tariffs and slavery. He also assisted in the creation of the second national bank. U.S. President James Madison offered Lowndes the post of Secretary of the Treasury in 1816, but Lowndes declined and Madison appointed William Harris Crawford.

The South Carolina state legislature nominated Lowndes in 1821 as a Presidential candidate for the election of 1824.

William Lowndes resigned from the U.S. Congress in May 1822 and died of illness on October 27, 1822, while en route to England. He was buried at sea.

Legacy and honors

In March–April 1824, electors from South Carolina honored William Lowndes posthumously with a single vote at the Democratic-Republican Party Caucus, as the party's candidate for the Office of U.S. Vice President for the upcoming 1824 U.S. Presidential Election.

William Lowndes is credited with developing the Lowndes' Apportionment Method, a method of apportionment for Congressional seats that would give more power to smaller states. It was not adopted by Congress.^[1]

Lowndesville, South Carolina; and Lowndes counties in Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi are all named in his honor.^[2]

References

External links

• Genealogy of the Lowndes family in South Carolina
• Lowndesville Historical Marker
• Short bio
• United States Congress. "William Lowndes (id: L000483)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. 

Chairmen of the United States House Committee on Ways and Means
Fitzsimons W. Smith Harper Griswold Randolph Clay G. Campbell Eppes Bacon Cheves Eppes Lowndes S. Smith McLane Randolph McDuffie Verplanck Polk Cambreleng J. W. Jones Fillmore McKay Vinton Bayly Houston L. Campbell J. G. Jones Phelps Sherman Stevens Morrill Schenck Hooper Dawes Morrison Wood Tucker Kelley Morrison R. Mills McKinley Springer Wilson Dingley Payne Underwood Kitchin Fordney Green Hawley Collier Doughton Knutson Doughton Reed Cooper W. Mills Ullman Rostenkowski Gibbons Archer Thomas Rangel Levin Camp Ryan Johnson Brady