Henry L. Pinckney

Who was Henry L. Pinckney?

Henry Laurens Pinckney was a U.S. Representative from South Carolina, and the son of Charles Pinckney.

Born in Charleston, South Carolina, Pinckney attended private schools. He was graduated from South Carolina College at Columbia in 1812. He studied law and was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Charleston.

Pinckney served as a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives. He founded the Charleston Mercury in 1819 and was its sole editor for fifteen years. Between 1829 and 1840, he served six terms as intendant or mayor of Charleston. In 1838, he won among a field of four candidates with the following votes: Pinckney, Col. James Lynah, Dr. Joseph Johnston, and Dr. J.W. Schmidt.

Pinckney was elected as a Nullifier to the Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Congresses. He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1836, having been labelled a "traitor" by ultra-conservative Southerners for compromising with New York's Martin van Buren on the 1836 "gag-rule" bill.