Daniel Henry Chamberlain | |
---|---|
76th Governor of South Carolina | |
In office December 1, 1874 – December 14, 1876 |
|
Lieutenant | Richard Howell Gleaves |
Preceded by | Franklin J. Moses, Jr. |
Succeeded by | Wade Hampton III |
Attorney General of South Carolina | |
In office July 6, 1868 – December 7, 1872 |
|
Governor | Robert K. Scott |
Preceded by | I. W. Hayne |
Succeeded by | Samuel W. Melton |
Personal details | |
Born |
|
Died | April 13, 1907 Charlottesville, Virginia |
(aged 71)
Cause of death | Cancer |
Resting place | Pine Grove Cemetery in West Brookfield, Massachusetts |
Political party | Republican |
Alma mater |
Yale University Harvard Law School |
Military service | |
Allegiance | United States of America |
Service/branch | United States Army |
Years of service | 1863–1865 |
Rank | Second Lieutenant |
Unit | Fifth Massachusetts Cavalry |
Battles/wars | American Civil War |
West Brookfield
Worcester County
Daniel Henry Chamberlain (June 23, 1835 – April 13, 1907) was a planter, lawyer, author and the 76th Governor of South Carolina from 1874 until 1877. The federal government withdrew troops from the state and ended Reconstruction that year. Chamberlain was the last Republican in that office until James B. Edwards was elected in 1974.
Chamberlain was born in West Brookfield in Worcester County in central Massachusetts, the ninth of ten children born to Eli Chamberlain and Achsah Forbes. In 1862, he graduated with honors from Yale University, where he was a member of the Skull and Bones society.
He attended Harvard Law School, leaving in 1863 to serve as a second lieutenant in the United States Army with the Fifth Massachusetts Cavalry, a regiment of black troops. In 1866, Chamberlain moved to South Carolina to tend to the affairs of a deceased classmate.
In 1868, Chamberlain entered politics as a delegate to the South Carolina state constitutional convention from Berkeley County. He served as state attorney general from 1868–1872 in the administration of Governor Robert K. Scott. After he failed to win the Republican nomination for governor in 1872, Chamberlain practiced law in Charleston. His partner later recalled that he worked hard for little compensation; whatever his ethics in office, he certainly had not amassed a fortune. In 1873, he was elected to the board of trustees of the University of South Carolina as the first black students were admitted and faculty hired for the institution.