Robert Witherspoon

Robert Witherspoon (January 29, 1767 – October 11, 1837) was an American politician and planter who served as a U.S. Representative from South Carolina in the early nineteenth century. He was born near Kingstree in the Province of South Carolina, then a British colony, the son of a Scots-Irish immigrant father, Robert Witherspoon (1728–1778), and Elizabeth Heathly Witherspoon (1740–1820), who was born in South Carolina. His father had emigrated from County Down, Ireland, and settled in the backcountry of South Carolina, where the family became part of the growing Scots-Irish community that helped shape the region’s political and economic life. Robert Witherspoon attended local schools, receiving the education typical of a prosperous rural family of the period.

Witherspoon’s early adulthood coincided with the formative years of the new American republic, and he established himself as a substantial planter in what later became Sumter County, South Carolina. Over time he acquired large slaveholding and planting interests, reflecting both his personal wealth and the plantation-based economy of the state’s interior. His status as a landowner and member of a prominent family provided a foundation for his entry into public life and the political affairs of South Carolina.

Witherspoon began his political career in the South Carolina House of Representatives. He first served as a member of that body from 1792 to 1794, representing his district in the state’s lower house during the early years of statehood under the federal Constitution. After a brief interval out of office, he returned to the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1802 to 1804 and again from 1806 to 1808. During these nonconsecutive terms, he participated in state legislative deliberations at a time when South Carolina was grappling with issues of internal development, representation, and the evolving relationship between state and federal authority.

In addition to his legislative service, Witherspoon held a key financial office in state government. He was elected State treasurer in 1800 and served one term. In that capacity he was responsible for overseeing the fiscal affairs of South Carolina, a position that underscored the confidence placed in him by his contemporaries and further elevated his standing in public life. His combined experience as a legislator and state treasurer helped prepare him for service at the national level.

Witherspoon was elected as a Democratic-Republican to the Eleventh Congress and served as a U.S. Representative from South Carolina from March 4, 1809, to March 3, 1811. In Congress he aligned with the Democratic-Republican Party, which at the time generally favored limited federal government, agrarian interests, and a strict construction of the Constitution. His term in the House of Representatives coincided with rising tensions between the United States and Great Britain in the years leading up to the War of 1812. After serving this single term, he declined to be a candidate for reelection and returned to his planting interests and local affairs in South Carolina.

In his later years, Witherspoon remained an influential figure in his community and continued to be identified with the planter class of the state’s interior. Despite his background as a Democratic-Republican and his status as a large slaveholder, he opposed the nullification act in 1832, placing himself at odds with many South Carolina leaders who supported the doctrine of nullification in the confrontation with the federal government over tariff policy. His stance during the Nullification Crisis reflected a commitment to the Union that distinguished him from some of his contemporaries in the state.

Robert Witherspoon died near Mayesville, South Carolina, on October 11, 1837. He was interred in the Salem Brick Church Cemetery, a burial place associated with the longstanding Scots-Irish Presbyterian community in the region. His family line continued to play a role in public life; he was the great-great-grandfather of Robert Witherspoon Hemphill, who later served in the United States Congress, extending the family’s political legacy into subsequent generations.