Thomas Pinckney Thomas Pinckney ( October 23 , 1750 – November 2 , 1828 ) was an early American statesman , diplomat and veteran of both the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 . Early life in the military . Pinckney was born in Charleston , South Carolina , where his father , Charles Pinckney , was a prominent colonial official . When Pinckney was 3 , his father brought the family to Great Britain on colonial business , and after his father ' s death in 1758 , Pinckney continued his education in Great Britain ( at Westminster School and Christ Church , Oxford ) and France . He returned to South Carolina in 1774 and became an ardent Patriot in the American Revolution . In 1775 he was commissioned as captain in the 1st South Carolina Regiment of the Continental Army . After seeing much action , he became an aide - de - camp to General Horatio Gates , and was captured by the British at the disastrous Battle of Camden in 1780 . After recovering from his wounds , he was released in a prisoner exchange . In 1781 he fought under Lafayette in Virginia . Postbellum and politics . After the war , Pinckney spent some years running his plantations before he returned to politics . Pinckney was the 36th Governor of South Carolina from 1787 to 1789 , most notably presiding over the state convention that ratified the new U . S . Constitution , and then served in the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1791 . He was appointed by President George Washington to be the U . S . minister ( ambassador ) to Great Britain in 1792 . While there , he was unable to get British concessions on issues such as impressment or the Northwest frontier forts , so that Washington sent John Jay as a special envoy to negotiate the controversial Jay Treaty . For part of his tenure ( 1794 – 1795 ) as ambassador in Britain , Pinckney also served as Envoy Extraordinary to Spain . He arranged the Treaty of San Lorenzo , also known as Pinckney ' s Treaty , with Spain in 1795 . Pinckney ' s diplomatic success with Spain made him popular at home , and on his return the Federalist party made him a candidate in the 1796 presidential election ( as the intended running - mate of John Adams ) . While Adams won the presidential election , complicated scheming to ensure that Pinckney would have more presidential votes than Adams ended up making their opponent Thomas Jefferson vice - president and Pinckney finish in third place in the presidential race . ( At the time , there were no distinct electoral votes for President and Vice - President . ) Pinckney was elected to the United States House of Representatives from South Carolina to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of William L . Smith , and he served from November 1797 to March 1801 . While in Congress , Pinckney served as one of the managers appointed by the House in 1798 to conduct the impeachment proceedings against William Blount . Pinckney served as a major general in the United States Army during the War of 1812 . His last public role before his death in Charleston was as president general of the Society of the Cincinnati ( 1825 – 1828 ) . Death and legacy . Pinckney died in Charleston , South Carolina and is interred in St . Philip ’ s Churchyard . Pinckneyville , Georgia was named after Thomas Pinckney after he traveled through the area . That town no longer exists , as its residents left to found the nearby Norcross . Pinckneyville is the name of a Middle School in Norcross . Family . His father , Charles Pinckney , was Chief Justice of South Carolina and his mother , Eliza Lucas , was prominent for introducing the cultivation of Indigo to the colonies . His brother Charles Cotesworth Pinckney and his cousin Charles Pinckney were signers of the United States Constitution . He was married twice , first to Elizabeth Motte and second to her sister , Frances , the widow of John Middleton , a cousin of Arthur Middleton . Both Elizabeth and Frances were daughters of Rebecca Brewton Motte . From at least 1801 through 1825 , He made his home with Frances Pinckney at 14 George St . , Charleston , South Carolina in what is now known as the Middleton - Pinckney House . His elder son , Thomas , Jr . , was married to Elizabeth Izard , a cousin twice removed of South Carolina Congressman Ralph Izard . His younger son , the younger Charles Cotesworth Pinckney , married Phoebe Elliott , a daughter of a South Carolina State Representative , William Elliott , and Phoebe Waight .