Wade Hampton II

Wade Hampton II (April 21, 1791 – February 10, 1858) was a United States Army officer, planter and politician who served in the War of 1812. He was a member of the Hampton family, whose influence was strong in South Carolina politics and social circles for nearly 100 years.

Early life and education Hampton was born in Columbia, South Carolina, the son of General Wade Hampton I (1752–1835) and Harriet Flud. He was educated privately in his early years.

Slave owner He served in the military during the War of 1812, becoming a lieutenant of dragoons in 1813. He served as acting inspector general and aide to General Andrew Jackson at New Orleans in 1815.

As an adult, Hampton attended mostly to his extensive holdings, as his numerous plantations and houses in two states, overseers and managers, and thousands of slaves, all required extended management. He had several plantations in Issaquena County, Mississippi, where he held a total of 335 slaves by 1860, as well as properties in South Carolina and his summer home in the western mountains of North Carolina.

Marriage and family Hampton married Ann Fitzsimmons on March 6, 1817, from a wealthy family in Charleston, South Carolina. They had several children, as listed: As rumors of Hammond's behavior spread, he was socially ostracized and his political career was derailed for a decade. They publicly disrupted Republican meetings, intimidated and attacked black voters and suppressed their voting during this campaign, and again in the gubernatorial campaign of 1878. Historian George C. Rable said these groups acted as "the military arm of the Democratic Party."

Legacy and honors The Hampton family summer retreat, High Hampton, which they had built in the western mountains of North Carolina, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, as are their mansion in Columbia, South Carolina, the Hampton-Preston House; and the ruins of their plantation house Millwoods in Richland County, South Carolina. (The latter was burned during the Civil War.)

Hampton was interred in the churchyard at Trinity Episcopal Church in Columbia.