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The Political Graveyard: A Database of American History
DeSaussure-Rhett family of Charleston, South Carolina

Note: This is just one of 1,325 family groupings listed on The Political Graveyard web site. These families each have three or more politician members, all linked together by blood, marriage or adoption.

This specific family group is a subset of the much larger Four Thousand Related Politicians group. An individual may be listed with more than one subset.

These groupings — even the names of the groupings, and the areas of main activity — are the result of a computer algorithm working with the data I have, not the choices of any historian or genealogist.

  Daniel DeSaussure (1736-1798) — also known as John Daniel Hector DeSaussure — of Charleston, Charleston District (now Charleston County), S.C. Born in Prince William Parish County (now part of Beaufort County), S.C., April 10, 1736. Merchant; importer; banker; member of South Carolina state senate from St. Philip & St. Michael, 1785-90; delegate to South Carolina convention to ratify U.S. constitution, 1788. Episcopalian. French Huguenot ancestry. Died in Charleston, Charleston District (now Charleston County), S.C., July 2, 1798 (age 62 years, 83 days). Burial location unknown.
  Relatives: Son of Henry DeSaussure and Madeleine DeSaussure; married to Mary McPherson; father of Henry William de Saussure; grandfather of William Ford DeSaussure and Andrew William Burnet; great-grandfather of Wilmot Gibbes de Saussure and Robert Barnwell Rhett Jr.; third great-grandfather of Burnet Rhett Maybank; fourth great-grandfather of Burnet Rhett Maybank Jr..
  Political family: DeSaussure-Rhett family of Charleston, South Carolina (subset of the Four Thousand Related Politicians).
  Henry William de Saussure (1763-1839) — also known as Henry W. de Saussure — of Charleston, Charleston County, S.C.; Columbia, Richland County, S.C. Born in Jasper County, S.C., August 16, 1763. Lawyer; delegate to South Carolina state constitutional convention, 1790; member of South Carolina state house of representatives, 1790-94, 1796-98, 1806-08; intendant of Charleston, South Carolina, 1797-99. Congregationalist. Died in Columbia, Richland District (now Richland County), S.C., March 26, 1839 (age 75 years, 222 days). Interment at First Presbyterian Churchyard, Columbia, S.C.
  Relatives: Son of Daniel DeSaussure and Mary (McPherson) de Saussure; married 1785 to Elizabeth Ford; father of William Ford DeSaussure; uncle of Andrew William Burnet; grandfather of Wilmot Gibbes de Saussure; granduncle of Robert Barnwell Rhett Jr.; second great-granduncle of Burnet Rhett Maybank; third great-granduncle of Burnet Rhett Maybank Jr..
  Political family: DeSaussure-Rhett family of Charleston, South Carolina (subset of the Four Thousand Related Politicians).
  See also Wikipedia article — Find-A-Grave memorial
  William Ford DeSaussure (1792-1870) — also known as William F. DeSaussure — of Columbia, Richland District (now Richland County), S.C. Born in Charleston, Charleston County, S.C., February 22, 1792. Democrat. Member of South Carolina state house of representatives from Richland, 1837-40, 1842-48; U.S. Senator from South Carolina, 1852-53; delegate to South Carolina secession convention from Richland, 1860-62. Slaveowner. Died in Columbia, Richland County, S.C., March 13, 1870 (age 78 years, 19 days). Interment at Presbyterian Churchyard, Columbia, S.C.
  Relatives: Son of Henry William de Saussure and Elizabeth (Ford) de Saussure; uncle of Wilmot Gibbes de Saussure; grandson of Daniel DeSaussure; first cousin of Andrew William Burnet; first cousin once removed of Robert Barnwell Rhett Jr.; first cousin thrice removed of Burnet Rhett Maybank; first cousin four times removed of Burnet Rhett Maybank Jr..
  Political family: DeSaussure-Rhett family of Charleston, South Carolina (subset of the Four Thousand Related Politicians).
  See also congressional biography — Govtrack.us page — Wikipedia article
Robert Barnwell Rhett Robert Barnwell Rhett (1800-1876) — also known as Robert Rhett; Robert Barnwell Smith — of Charleston, Charleston District (now Charleston County), S.C. Born in Beaufort, Beaufort County, S.C., December 21, 1800. Democrat. South Carolina state attorney general, 1832; U.S. Representative from South Carolina, 1837-49 (7th District 1837-39, 6th District 1839-41, 7th District 1841-49); U.S. Senator from South Carolina, 1850-52; delegate to South Carolina secession convention from St. Philips' & St. Michael's, 1860-62; Delegate from South Carolina to the Confederate Provisional Congress, 1861-62. Slaveowner. Died in St. James Parish, La., September 14, 1876 (age 75 years, 268 days). Interment at Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, S.C.
  Relatives: Son of James Hervey Smith and Marianna Barnwell (Gough) Smith; married, February 21, 1827, to Elizabeth Washington Burnet (sister of Andrew William Burnet); father of Robert Barnwell Rhett Jr.; great-grandfather of Burnet Rhett Maybank; second great-grandfather of Burnet Rhett Maybank Jr..
  Political family: DeSaussure-Rhett family of Charleston, South Carolina (subset of the Four Thousand Related Politicians).
  See also congressional biography — Govtrack.us page — Wikipedia article — Find-A-Grave memorial
  Books about Robert Barnwell Rhett: William C. Davis, Rhett: The Turbulent Life and Times of a Fire-Eater
  Image source: Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, February 9, 1861
  Andrew William Burnet (1811-1896) — of Charleston, Charleston District (now Charleston County), S.C. Born in Colleton District (now Colleton County), S.C., June 12, 1811. Delegate to South Carolina secession convention from St. Philips' & St. Michael's, 1860-62. Died December 6, 1896 (age 85 years, 177 days). Interment at Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, S.C.
  Relatives: Son of Andrew William Burnet (1763-1814) and Elizabeth Washington (de Saussure) Burnet; brother of Elizabeth Washington Burnet (who married Robert Barnwell Rhett); married to Anne Burgh Smith; nephew of Henry William de Saussure; uncle of Robert Barnwell Rhett Jr.; grandson of Daniel DeSaussure; great-granduncle of Burnet Rhett Maybank; second great-granduncle of Burnet Rhett Maybank Jr.; first cousin of William Ford DeSaussure; first cousin once removed of Wilmot Gibbes de Saussure.
  Political family: DeSaussure-Rhett family of Charleston, South Carolina (subset of the Four Thousand Related Politicians).
  See also Find-A-Grave memorial
  Wilmot Gibbes de Saussure (1822-1886) — also known as Wilmot G. de Saussure — Born in Charleston, Charleston County, S.C., July 23, 1822. Lawyer; member of South Carolina state house of representatives, 1848-49, 1854-57, 1860-63; Adjutant General of South Carolina, 1862. French Huguenot ancestry. Member, Society of the Cincinnati; Freemasons; Odd Fellows. Died in Ocala, Marion County, Fla., February 1, 1886 (age 63 years, 193 days). Interment at Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, S.C.
  Relatives: Son of Henry A. de Saussure and Susan (Boone) de Saussure; married to Martha Gourdin; nephew of William Ford DeSaussure; grandson of Henry William de Saussure; great-grandson of Daniel DeSaussure; first cousin once removed of Andrew William Burnet; second cousin of Robert Barnwell Rhett Jr.; second cousin twice removed of Burnet Rhett Maybank; second cousin thrice removed of Burnet Rhett Maybank Jr..
  Political family: DeSaussure-Rhett family of Charleston, South Carolina (subset of the Four Thousand Related Politicians).
  See also Find-A-Grave memorial
  Robert Barnwell Rhett Jr. (1828-1905) — of Charleston, Charleston County, S.C. Born in Charleston, Charleston County, S.C., February 25, 1828. Member of South Carolina state house of representatives from Charleston County, 1876-78. Died in Huntsville, Madison County, Ala., January 29, 1905 (age 76 years, 339 days). Interment at Maple Hill Cemetery, Huntsville, Ala.
  Relatives: Son of Robert Barnwell Rhett and Elizabeth Washington (Burnett) Rhett; married to Josephine Horton and Harriet Moore; nephew of Andrew William Burnet; grandnephew of Henry William de Saussure; granduncle of Burnet Rhett Maybank; great-grandson of Daniel DeSaussure; great-granduncle of Burnet Rhett Maybank Jr.; first cousin once removed of William Ford DeSaussure; second cousin of Wilmot Gibbes de Saussure.
  Political families: DeSaussure-Rhett family of Charleston, South Carolina; Maybank-Myers-Rhett family of Charleston, South Carolina (subsets of the Four Thousand Related Politicians).
  See also Find-A-Grave memorial
  Burnet Rhett Maybank (1899-1954) — also known as Burnet R. Maybank — of Charleston, Charleston County, S.C. Born in Charleston, Charleston County, S.C., March 7, 1899. Democrat. Served in the U.S. Navy during World War I; cotton exporter; mayor of Charleston, S.C., 1931-38; delegate to Democratic National Convention from South Carolina, 1936, 1940, 1944 (speaker), 1952 (member, Credentials Committee); Governor of South Carolina, 1939-41; member of Democratic National Committee from South Carolina, 1940; U.S. Senator from South Carolina, 1941-54; died in office 1954. Episcopalian. Died, of a heart attack, in Flat Rock, Henderson County, N.C., September 1, 1954 (age 55 years, 178 days). Interment at Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, S.C.
  Relatives: Son of Joseph Maybank and Harriet Lowndes (Rhett) Maybank; married 1923 to Elizabeth DeRosset Myers (daughter of Francis Kerchner Myers); married 1948 to Mary Cecil; father of Burnet Rhett Maybank Jr.; grandnephew of Robert Barnwell Rhett Jr.; great-grandson of Robert Barnwell Rhett, William Aiken Jr. and John Edward Frampton; great-grandnephew of Andrew William Burnet; second great-grandson of Thomas Lowndes; second great-grandnephew of Henry William de Saussure and William Jones Lowndes; third great-grandson of Rawlins Lowndes and Daniel DeSaussure; first cousin thrice removed of William Ford DeSaussure; second cousin twice removed of Wilmot Gibbes de Saussure; third cousin twice removed of Charles Pinckney Brown.
  Political families: DeSaussure-Rhett family of Charleston, South Carolina; Maybank-Myers-Rhett family of Charleston, South Carolina (subsets of the Four Thousand Related Politicians).
  See also congressional biography — Govtrack.us page — National Governors Association biography — Wikipedia article — Find-A-Grave memorial

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