Governor Andrew Gordon MacGrath

The last South Carolina to be elected by the state legislature, ANDREW GORDON MAGRATH was born in Charleston, South Carolina. After graduating from South Carolina College, he attended Harvard University Law School and was admitted to the South Carolina Bar in 1835, going on to engage in the private practice of law. He was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives twice, after which he was appointed United States Judge for South Carolina by President Franklin Pierce. He was a member of the South Carolina Secession Convention of 1860 and served as Secretary of State during the administration of Governor Francis Pickens. He was Confederate States Judge for South Carolina until 1864, when he was elected governor. He served as chief executive during the final days of the Civil War when Federal troops under William T. Sherman crossed South Carolina on their march to the sea. MacGrath was deposed by Federal authorities on May 28, 1865 and imprisoned for seven months, returning to the practice of law after his release.