MIDDLETON, Edward, colonist, born in Twickenham, England; died in Charleston, South Carolina, about 1685. He inherited large property in England, but removed from London to Barbadoes, and thence with his brother Arthur in 1.678 to Carolina, soon after the founding of that colony, where they received large grants of land in Berkeley county. Edward took an active part in the affairs of the province and was a member of the grand council under the lords-proprietors, 1678-'80, which office was also held by his brother Arthur in 1683. In 1683-'4 he was one of the assistant judges of the province. He evinced decided republican tendencies and opposed the governors in favor of popular rights and privileges. His country-place, known as the " Oaks," on Goose creek, is still remarkable for a fine avenue of live-oaks that are said to have been planted by him.--His son. Arthur, governor of South Carolina. born in South Carolina in 1681" died there, 7 September, 1737, was educated in England. In 1704 he was a member of the commons house, voted for the establishment of the Church of England in the colony, and was one of the commissioners that were appointed to carry out the act. In 1711 he was appointed naval officer for South Carolina, and from 1711 till 1717 was a member of the council of the province and afterward speaker of the commons. In 1715 he was sent as commissioner to Virginia to solicit the aid of that province in the Yemassee war, and later was sent to England to seek relief from the crown. He was active in the movement for the transfer of the colony from the government of the lords to that of the crown, and in 1719 headed, as president of the popular convention, the revolution that threw off the proprietary government. In 1721 he was made president of council, and front 1725 till 1731 he was governor of the colony, and thereafter remained president of the council until his death. He was a bold supporter of the royal authority, and " equally Careful to promote loyalty to the king as the freedom and safety of his fellow-subjects." His administration was marked by war and by negotiations with the Spanish in Florida and the French in Louisiana.--Arthur's youngest son, Thomas, soldier, born in 1719; died in Beaufort, South Carolina, 17 December, 1766, was a member of the commons house for St. James parish until his marriage, when he removed to Granville county, in 1752 he sat as member from St. Bartholomew's, and afterward until his death for St. Helena or Prince Williams. In 1750 he was a captain in the Berkeley county regiment. He passed the years 1753 and 1754 travelling in Europe. In 1759 he commanded the gentlemen volunteers in an expedition into the mountains of the Cherokee country. In 1760 he was made colonel of the regiment of South Carolina provincials, in which William Moultrie, Francis Marion, Isaac Huger, and other Revolutionary officers began their military career. He commanded this regiment in the campaign against the Cherokees and in the battle of Etchoee. A controversy as to rank between Colonel Grant, of the English army, who commanded the regulars, and himself, intensified by the subsequent events of the campaign, led to a personal encounter and duel. Colonel Middleton's conduct in this matter was highly approved by public opinion, and his popularity rose to a great height.--His only son, William, was a member of the legislature for St. Helena.--The eldest son of Arthur, William, politician, born in South Carolina in 1710 ; was a member of the commons and in 1742 speaker of that body. In 1742 he was appointed to the council. In 1750 he was an incorporator of the Charleston library society. In 1754 he resigned his seat in council and removed to his estates in Suffolk, England. In 1756 he was appointed agent for the colony, which office he declined. In 1774 he headed the Carolinians in England who petitioned parliament against the Boston port bill, and was an active sympathizer and abettor of the American movement.--William's eldest son, Sir William Middleton, bart., continued the family in England.--His youngest son, John, returned to Carolina and fought through the Revolutionary war on the American side as an officer in Lee's legion.--The second son of Arthur, Henry, born in South Carolina in 1717: died in Charleston, 13 June, 1784, was early elected to the commons, and was speaker of that body in 1745-'7, and represented St. George's in 1754-'5. In the latter year he was a commissioner of Indian affairs and was appointed to the council, of which body he was a member until 1770, when he resigned. In 1774 ha was sent as a delegate to the Continental congress, and in October was made president of that body. In 1775-'6 he was also president of the Provincial congress of South Carolina, received the public thanks of that body, and was re-elected by it a delegate to the Continental congress. He was a member of the council of safety, and by his position, wealth, and powerful family connection did much to turn the balance in Carolina in favor of the American party. In 1776 he was prevented by ill health from returning to congress, where his place was filled by his eldest son, Arthur. He was a large and successful planter, owning about 50,000 acres and 800 slaves, and he was constant in his efforts to improve the agriculture and commerce of the colony.--Henry's eldest son, Arthur, signer of the Declaration of Independence, born in Middleton Place, on Ashley river, South Carolina, 26 June, 1742; died in Goose Creek, South Carolina, 1 January, 1787. He was educated at Harrow and Westminster schools and graduated at Cambridge. After travelling two years through Europe, he returned to South Carolina in 1763, and in 1764 married Mary, daughter of Walter Izard. The following year he was elected to the commons, and continued to represent one or other of the parishes of St. George's and St. Helena. He went to England in 1768, and, returning in 1771, became one of the leaders of the American party in South Carolina. In 1775 he was a member of the Provincial congress and of the council of safety. He succeeded his father as a delegate to the Continental congress in 1776, and signed the Declaration of Independence for South Carolina. In 1778 he was chosen governor of the state, but declined. He was active in the defence of Charleston in 1780. His homestead, being on the British line of march, was exposed to their depredations, and, although the buildings were spared, his valuable collection of paintings was wantonly mutilated. On the fall of the city he was carried as a political prisoner to St. Augustine and afterward confined in the "Jersey" prison-ship. Upon his exchange in 1780 he served in congress until the close of the war. After witnessing the distress that was occasioned by the oppressive measures of Lord Cornwallis, he submitted to congress a resolution : "That Lord Cornwallis should be regarded in the light of a barbarian, who had violated all the rules of modern warfare, and had been guilty of innumerable cases of wanton cruelty and oppression; and, further, that he, the said Lord Cornwallis, should not be comprehended in any exchange of prisoners which should take place between the British government and that of the United States." He served in the state senate and was instrumental in restoring order and peace after the Revolutionary struggles. Mr. Middleton was a stenographer and wrote down many of the debates in which he took part. His speeches were short and terse, and he wrote several effective political essays under the signature of "Andrew Marvell."--Arthur's eldest son, Henry, governor of South Carolina, born at Middleton Place in 1771; died in Charleston, South Carolina, 14 June, 1846, was a member of the legislature from 1801 till 1810, and governor of South Carolina from 1810 till 1812. He was afterward a representative in congress, serving from 4 December, 1815, till ;3 March, 1819, and minister to Russia from 6 April, 1820, till 3 August, 1830. He possessed attractive manners, maintained a generous hospitality at Middleton Place, and was a centre of social life in South Carolina. He left a large family. His sons, Arthur, John Izard, Edward, and Williams, all served either their state or in the United States in diplomatic, naval, or political life.--Another son of Arthur, John Izard, author, born at Middleton Place, South Carolina, in 1785; died in Paris, France, in November, 1849, was educated at the University of Cambridge, England, and resided in Italy and France. In 1810 he married the daughter of M. Falconer, a banker of Naples, and was received on intimate terms in the circles of Mme. de Stael and Mme. Recamier. His work on " Grecian Remains in Italy," etc., was the first contribution made by an American to the knowledge of classical antiquity (London, 1812).--Henry's son, Arthur, born in South Carolina, 20 October, 1795; died in Naples, Italy, 9 June, 1853. was graduated at Harvard in 1814. He was eight years secretary of legation in Spain, and married in Rome the Countess Bentivoglio.--Another son of Henry, Henry, author, born in Paris, France, 16 March, 1797; died in Washington, D. C., 15 March, 1876, was educated by private tutors at Middleton Place, South Carolina, and at the United States military academy. He was graduated in 1815 and assigned to the corps of engineers, serving in the construction of defences of the Savannah river, Georgia, until his resignation from the army on 15 July, 1816. In 1819 he entered the Hatchfield, Connecticut, law-school, and in 1820 went to Edinburgh to continue his studies. Here he formed a friendship with Dugald Stewart and Mrs. Grant, of Laggan. In 1822 he returned to the United States and was admitted to the bars of Charleston and Philadelphia, but did not practise his profession, his taste for philosophy dominating any active pursuit. He was interested in political economy and wrote much in favor of free-trade. In 1832-'3 he opposed nullification, publishing an essay on the " Prospects of Disunion." He was the author of " The Government and the Currency," of which Edgar A. Poe said : "Nothing so good on the same subject has yet appeared in America" (New York, 1850); "Economical Causes of Slavery in the United States and Obstacles to Abolition" (London, 1857); " The Government of India, as it has been, as it is, and as it ought to be" (1858) ; and " Universal Suffrage in the Various Conditions and Progress of Society."--Another son of Henry, John Izard, author, born at Middleton Place, 3 February, 1800; died in Summerville, South Carolina, 12 January, 1877, entered South Carolina college at an early age, but was graduated with the highest honor at Princeton in 1819. He became a large rice-planter in Prince George, South Carolina, representing that parish in the state legislature from 1832 till 1840. In 1848 he was speaker of the house. He was a member of the conventions of 1832 and 1850, and in ]860 with his brother Williams signed the South Carolina ordinance of secession. He was ruined by the civil war, and spent his last years in retirement.--Another son of Henry, Edward, naval officer, born in Charleston, South Carolina, 11 December, 1810; died in Washington, D. C., 27 April, 1883, was educated in Europe and appointed from South Carolina to the United States naval academy in 1828. He became passed midshipman in 1834, and served on the " Constitution," of the Mediterranean squadron, from 1835 till 1838, and in the Brazil squadron from 1839 till 1842. After being commissioned lieutenant, 2 March, 1841, he served on the store-ship " Lexington" in 1843-'4, in the home squadron, the navy-yard, Philadelphia, and the Mediterranean squadron. He was executive officer of the sloop " Decatur," of the Pacific squadron, in 1854-'6, operating against a combination of hostile Indians in Washington and Oregon territories. On 16 April, 1856, he was made commander and assigned the sloop " Decatur," and he commanded steam sloops in the Pacific squadron from 1861 till 1865. He became captain on 24 April, 1863, was on special duty its New York in 1866, held charge of the navy-yard, Mare island, California, in 1867-'8, and commanded the steam sloop " Pensacola," of the Pacific squadron, in the latter year. He was made commodore on 26 November, 1868, and had charge of the navy-yard, Pensacola, Florida, from 1 June, 1870, till 8 March, 1873. He was retired on 11 December, 1872, and made rear-admiral, 15 August, 1876.