Today in Darlington County History – 20 December 1860. “An Ordinance to dissolve the Union between the State of South Carolina and other States” is signed at the conclusion of the Convention of the People in Charleston, SC.
After Abraham Lincoln was elected President in early November 1860, the South Carolina State Legislature called for elections to a state convention to be held on December 17th. On December 20th, all 169 delegates to the convention voted for secession against Republican Presidential leadership on matters of race, economics, and politics. This document states that South Carolina has repealed the Constitution and its amendments and disassociated itself from the United States of America.
The convention would also draft the “Declaration of Immediate Causes” explaining exactly why the state seceded, and “The Address to the People of South Carolina . . .” outlining the erosion of the Union and calling for a confederacy of southern states.
South Carolina Ordinance of Secession
Transcription:
The State of South Carolina
At a Convention of the People of the State of South Carolina, begun and holden at Columbia on the Seventeenth day of December in the year or our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty and thence continued by adjournment to Charleston, and there by divers adjournments to the Twentieth day of December in the same year –
An Ordinance To dissolve the Union between the State of South Carolina and other States united with her under the compact entitled “The Constitution of the United States of America.”
We, the People of the State of South Carolina, in Convention assembled do declare and ordain, and it is hereby declared and ordained, That the Ordinance adopted by us in Convention, on the twenty-third day of May in the year of our Lord One Thousand Seven hundred and eighty-eight, whereby the Constitution of the United State of America was ratified, and also all Acts and parts of Acts of the General Assembly of this State, ratifying amendment of the said Constitution, are here by repealed; and that the union now subsisting between South Carolina and other States, under the name of “The United States of America,” is hereby dissolved.
Done at Charleston, the twentieth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty
[signed] D.F. Jamison Delegate from Barnwell and
President of the Convention
[signatures of delegates to the convention]
Attest: Benj. J. Arthur, Clerk of the Convention
The following delegates were from Darlington County:
Col. E.W. (Edgar Welles) Charles
- Prioprietor of the Darlington Hotel and store.
- Served as a State Representative
Julius Alfred Dargan
- Lawyer and practiced with his brother G.W. Dargan
- Served as a State Representative from 1850-1852
- President of St. John’s Academy in 1860
Rev. J.M. (John Morgan) Timmons
- A founding Officer in the Darlington Agricultural Society
- Member of the Board of Commissioners of Free Schools in Darlington County
- The town of Timmonsville is named for him
Isaac DeLesseline Wilson
- A founding Officer in the Darlington Agricultural Society
Rev. J. M. Timmons
Isaac DeLesseline Wilson
Julius A. Dargan
For more in depth resources covering the people, places and events that make up our rich Darlington County History – visit the Darlington County Historical Commission at 204 Hewitt Street, Darlington, SC 29532.
Darlington County Historical Commission, 204 Hewitt Street, Darlington, SC 29532
Share this:
Don’t miss the chance to participate in some really fun and educational events.
2 Responses
Rev. J M Timmons is my 7th great grandfather. I never knew this about him. This is an excellent article.
Correction, he was my fifth great grandfather.