Richard Hutson, member of the Continental Congress. 1885. The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Print and Photographs: Print Collection, The New York Public Library.
(1748–1795) Richard Hutson was born to Mary Woodward Hutson and Rev. William Hutson. Hutson graduated from Princeton University (then known as the College of New Jersey), studied law afterward, and gained admittance to the South Carolina bar. Hutson played an influential role in Charleston’s political circles during the dawning of the new nation. He rejoiced in the resistance to the Stamp Act, and remained throughout the war one of the uncompromising Revolutionists. He served in the militia during the British attack on Charleston. When Charleston fell to the British Lord Cornwallis ordered the arrest of the City’s leading political figures, including Hutson, to St. Augustine where they remained imprisoned until July 1781. Upon his return to the City, Hutson resumed his duties on the Legislative Council and subsequently served as Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina. He was elected to the Assembly and, in turn, to the legislative council. He was delegate to the Continental Congress and signed the Articles of Confederation. He also served five terms in the South Carolina House of Representatives between 1776 and 1788.
