*** John Rutledge was the son of Doctor John Rutledge, who came to America, from Ireland, in 1735. He studied law at the Temple in London, and returned to Charleston in 1761. He espoused the republican cause at an early period of the dispute, and was a member of the first Continental Congress m 1774. When the temporary Constitution of South Carolina was adopted in the spring of 1776, he was appointed president and commander-in-chicf of the colony. When the new and permanent Constitution was established two years later, he refused his assent, because he thought it too democratic. His prejudices yielded, however, and in 1779 he was chosen governor under it, with the temporary power of a dictator. He took the field at the head of the militia, and with great skill and energy managed the affairs of the state until the fall of Charleston in May, 1780. After the war, he was made judge of the Court of Chancery, and in 1789 a judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was appointed chief justice of South Carolina in 1791, and in 1796 was elevated to the seat of chief justice of the United States. He died in July, 1800.
**** Henry Laurens was elected vice-president, William Henry Drayton, chief justice; * Alexander Moultrie, attorney general; John Huger, secretary; Hugh Rutledge, judge of the admiralty; and James Parsons, William H. Drayton, John Edwards, Charles Pinckney, Thomas Ferguson, and Rawlins Lowndes, members of the Privy Council.
* In April, about a month after his appointment, Chief-justice Drayton delivered an able charge to the Grand Jury on the subject of independence. Its effects were powerful, salutary, and extensive. In South Carolina its arguments convinced the dubious, and its boldness, both of reason and expression, strengthened the feeble and upheld the wavering. It was published in all of the Whig papers of the Northern colonies; was commented upon by the London press, and received the warmest expressions of approbation from the friends of the colonists every where.
Defenses of Charleston Harbor.—Arrival of Generals Armstrong and Lee.—Arrival of the British.
After passing a few necessary laws, the Assembly adjourned,April 11, 1776the Council of Safety and General Committee were dissolved, and a constitutional government began.
The president and privy council were vested with executive power to administer the government during the recess of the Legislature.
Under the efficient direction of President Rutledge, Charleston and vicinity were well prepared for defense in the spring of 1776.
