HENRY WILLIAM DESAUSSURE

Elected intendant September 11, 1797, succeeding John Edwards. Re-elected September 10, 1798. Succeeded by Thomas Roper, September 1799.
Born 1763, died March 26, 1839, buried in Columbia.
Son of Daniel DeSaussure and Mary McPherson, married Elizabeth Ford 1785; member of the Independent (Congregational) Church.
As a teenager, served in the defense of Charleston. Arrested by the British after the city fell in May 1780, confined to the schooner Pack Horse before being exiled to Philadelphia. Studied law there, admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar in 1784 and South Carolina Bar in 1785. Practiced law in Charleston with his brother-in-law Timothy Ford until 1812, when he moved to Columbia.
1790 delegate to the state consitutional convention, represented St. Philip's and St. Michael's parishes during four non-consecutive General Assemblies, 1791-1801. Director of the United States Mint for four months in 1795. Represented St. Paul's Parish in two General Assemblies, 1806-1808.
Elected judge of the Court of Equity 1808, then served as chancellor of the Court of Appeals in Equity from 1824-1837.

Bailey, N. Louise. Biographical Directory of the South Carolina House of Representatives. Volume 4, 1791-1815. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1984.
Charleston City Gazette, September 11,1798.
Gannon, Kevin M. "DeSaussure, Henry William." Walter Edgar, ed. The South Carolina Encyclopedia. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2006.
South-Carolina State Gazette, September 12, 1797; September 10, 1799.