Even though he was eventually voted out of office due to his desire to keep the country whole before the Civil War, James L. Petigru used his personal connections to continue to be an important figure in South Carolina. Petigru’s intelligence and ambition helped him become an influential figure, even though he strongly disagreed with states seceding from the Union.
Petigru was born near Abbeville, South Carolina, in 1789 as William Pettigrew and Louise Gibert’s eldest child. He was a cheerful and witty child when he went to Moses Waddell’s Willington Academy. He then graduated from South Carolina College (later renamed University of South Carolina) in 1809.
After graduation, Petigru taught at Waddell’s Academy, Columbia Academy, and Eutaw Academy, where he befriended Daniel Elliott Huger, who soon became his trusted mentor. Huger helped Petigru secure a job as a professor at Beaufort College starting in 1810.
In 1811, Petigru started studying law with Beaufort attorney William Robertson. He was admitted to the bar in December 1812. Now that he was a lawyer, Huger again helped Petigru pave his path for success in the legal and political world.
Huger introduced Petigru to respected attorneys and aided in Petigru’s selection as the state prosecutor for the Beaufort District. He served as the solicitor for the Beaufort District starting in 1816, the same year he married Jane Postell.
In 1819, Petigru relocated to Charleston where he became a law partners with James Hamilton. While he was a lawyer, Petigru often defended legally disadvantaged people, including freed slaves and impoverished or unmarried women who, at that time, had few legal rights.
In 1822, Petigru became South Carolina’s Attorney General. While holding that title, he did not enforce a state law that mandated the jailing of free African Americans who arrived on ships in the Charleston Harbor. In 1830, Petigru resigned as attorney general after being elected to the South Carolina state House of Representatives.
Petigru strongly believed in the checks and balances provided by the U.S. Constitution. He also believed that the federal government should have power over state laws.
While he was in state congress he became a “Unionist,” believing that government officials should prioritize allegiance to the federal government over the state. Petigru was voted out as a lawmaker due to the majority of South Carolinians being “nullifiers,” who thought that allegiance to the state was more important than the federal government.
But even though he was basically barred from politics due to his Unionist beliefs, he remained a prominent lawyer in South Carolina, who other lawyers would seek out for advice. Once things became heated in 1860, Petigru became known for his avid stance against states seceding from the Union.
According to the Beaufort District Collection, while people celebrated in the streets of Charleston after South Carolina seceded from the Union, Petigru told a passerby, “They have this day set a blazing torch to the temple of constitutional liberty. They have gone mad. South Carolina is too small for a republic, but too large for an insane asylum.”
In 1859, Petigru was appointed by the state legislature to codify the state’s civil law. But, since his code had changes in it that benefitted free slaves, it was not officially adopted until 1872 after it was rewritten to alter what he said.
Petigru also went to court to block the Confederacy’s confiscation of property that owners had left. But despite opposing the war, Petigru publicly mourned the battles in the state that killed young soldiers.
Petgiru passed away in Charleston, South Carolina in the midst of the Civil War, on March 9, 1963.
