Francis Wilkinson Pickens

Who was Francis Wilkinson Pickens?

Francis Wilkinson Pickens was Governor of South Carolina when that state became the first to secede from the U.S.A.

A cousin of Senator John C. Calhoun, Pickens was born into the culture of States Rights, and became an ardent supporter of nullification when he served in the South Carolina house of representatives, before being elected to Congress and then the state senate.

As state governor during the Fort Sumter crisis, he sanctioned the firing on the ship bringing supplies to the beleaguered Union garrison, and to the bombardment of the fort. After the war, it was Pickens who introduced the motion to repeal South Carolina’s Ordinance of Secession, a short speech received in silence, in notable contrast with the rejoicing that had first greeted the Ordinance.