The Biographical Dictionary of America/Aiken, William

AIKEN, William, governor of South Carolina, was born in Charleston, S. C, Aug. 4, 1806. He was graduated from the college of South Carolina in 1825, and engaged in the cultivation of rice. He was always prominent in public matters, though not a politician, and after serving a number of terms in both branches of the state legislature he was elected governor in 1844. In 1850 he was elected a representative and served in the 32d Congress and he was returned to the 33d and 34th Congresses. Throughout the civil war he was a loyal Unionist, though his friends were nearly all Secessionists. In 1866 he was elected to represent his district in the 40th Congress, while the state was under a provisional governor, and he was not seated. He died Sept. 7, 1887.