The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1897-02-10
From the Boston Education Magazine.
MISSED A CROWN.
An Interesting Chapter OF
South Carolina History.

nent man OF whom 1t. may De salo
"He missed crown . An accoon'
of him and his family forms chapter
of interest in the annals of the his
toric Palmetto State
The Middietons are not only one
of the most distinguished, but also
one OF he oldest of the Carolina fam
lilies AN account of them and theil
estates reads almost like the history
of some noble family of England
Before the English had been perma.
nelly settled in the colony dozen
years. we fnd Edward Middleton a
member of the council under the
Lords Proprietors. He. was born in
England and inherited large prop
erty. His son, Arthur Middleton,
headed the Revolution which threw
off the rule of the Lords Proprietors
and placed the province directly
under the protection of the English
crown. He was afterwards governor
Of the province Henry Middleton,
son of Arthur, was president of the
Continental Congress in l775.
The most famous of the Middletons
was Arthur, who was a signer of the
Declaration of independence. He
was the son of Henry Gust mention.
ed), and was born at the family seat
in 1743. He received his education
in England. In 1779 he took the
field in defense of Charleston, and
the following year he was made a
prisoner, but was. afterwards ex-
changed. At one time during the
Revolution he declined the governor
ship of his state.s He did in 1881
HE home. the Middleton Place
(which was in the low country Of
South Carolina) has been destroyed,
but the following "pen picture" of
the grounds, published in 1888, will
give the reader an idea of what fine
place it must have been
..The old gates with their massive
pillars stand intact, but of the home
stead itself only the cbimneys and
parts Of tie walls remain At Mid
dleton Place, an Englishman would
feel at home even to day Many of
the old terraces and hedges remain
as they were century ago, and the
ample grounds which are tolerably
well kept, have decidedly English
air. This place is still in possession
of the Middleton family"
During the present century this
family has furnished one governor to
South Carolina that was Henry
Middleton, son of the "signer ;" he
filed the Office 1902, after which
ne served in Congress. and was also,
for several years, minister to Russia
When a young man, he travelled a
good deal in Europe. and for some
time during the French Revolution
was in France. His death occurred
in 1916. =
Governor Middleton and the late
Gov. Benjamin F. Perry. were both
members of the Union party during
the stirring times of Notification.
and Governor Perry, in his delightful
"Reminiscences" (Which can we'll be
read with pleasure and profit by
many others besides South Carroll
nians), has given as pleasant
sketch of Governor Middleton, with
whom he was well acquainted
Among other things he says:
"Governor Middleton told me that
he was personally acquainted with
almost every distinguished man in
Europe He saw Bonaparte in every
station which he had filed, from that
of General of the Interior to bis seat
on the throne of France. He was on
terms of intimacy with him whilst he
was General of the Interior, and was
in the habit of visiting his family.
At one period of their acquaintance
be received encouragement to ad
dress his step daughter. Little did
I then think said Governor Middle
ton. sthat she would ever be a
queen :"
Am l not right in saying that Gov
ernor Middleton missed a crown !?
Who can doubt that, had he married
Napoleon's step-daughter, he would
afterwards have been made king of
some European country by the great
warrior, and he would undoubtedly
have made wise anu just ruler We
may suppose, however. that as gov
ernor of an American state he was
probably happier than he would have
been as king of some European coun-
try.
A band of highway robbers has