James Louis Petigru

Portrait of James L. Petigru 

James Louis Petigru is an American lawyer and politician, who also served as a State Legislator. He was born in Abbeville in May 10th, 1789. He graduated college at what is now University of South Carolina in 1809. He was a teacher of law at Beaufort College.  His family consisted of William Petigru (a farmer), Louis Gilbert(Wife and Huguenot who was educated), His wife is Jane Amelia Postell( married in 1816), and his children are  Alfred, Caroline, Daniel, and Susan. 

Marker of James L. Petigru

Petigru had a thing for law; he wanted to change it to be fair and he believed in meditation and arbitration to avoid bad decisions from judges he considered inept. In life, he was a fair gentleman and wanted things to be calm. He had many achievements, but he faced many trials in order to be a successful lawyer. He became the South Carolina Attorney General in 1822. He was also elected to fill a spot in the House of Representatives in 1830, after losing in the Senate. His loss was in 1859, by the codification of laws and his own code was rejected in 1865, but was the basis for codification of 1872. 

Book of James L. Petigru

He wrote a book including Life, Letters, and Speeches, by James Louis Petigru and Gaillard Hunt. 

Gravesite of James L. Petigru

One quote that is interesting is "South Carolina is too small for a Republic and too large for an insane asylum." ; Petigru said this after South Carolina seceded in 1860 and is still used today to describe its' politics. This reflects his ideas in South Carolina politics and its' reevaluation. 

The gravesite is a bit worn, but it is readable. I like it because it interested me in Petigru and because of the quote, it made me laugh. Petigru was interesting because of the amount of ways that he helped with the laws. 

He died in Charleston, March 9th, 1863; Could not find cause of death. He is buried at St. Michael's Church.

Sculpture of James L. Petigru