D. Wyatt Aiken

David Wyatt Aiken ( born March 17, 1828 in Winnsboro, Fairfield County, South Carolina, † April 6, 1887 in Cokesbury, South Carolina ) was an American politician. Between 1877 and 1887 he represented the state of South Carolina in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Career

D. Wyatt Aiken was the father of Wyatt Aiken (1863-1923), who was sitting 1903-1917 for South Carolina in Congress. He was also a cousin of William Aiken (1806-1887), who served as governor of South Carolina and as congressman for that State. Aiken initially enjoyed a private education and later attended The Mount Zion Institute in Winnsboro. Subsequently, he studied until 1849 at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. The following two years he worked as a teacher. Since 1852 Aiken worked in agriculture.

During the Civil War he went into the Army of the Confederate States from simple soldiers on to the regimental commander with the rank of Colonel. He participated in several battles and was wounded several times. Due to his injuries he had to acknowledge the 1864 military service. He then began a career in politics as a member of the Democratic Party. Between 1864 and 1866, Aiken deputy in the House of Representatives from South Carolina. In 1869 he became secretary and treasurer of the Agricultural and Mechanical Society of South Carolina. Between 1873 and 1885 he was chairman of the board of state farms ( National Grange ). In 1876 Aiken as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in St. Louis in part, was nominated at the Samuel J. Tilden as a presidential candidate; this then was defeated in the elections only very scarce Rutherford B. Hayes.

In the congressional elections of 1876 Aiken was in the third constituency of South Carolina in the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington DC selected. There he entered on March 4, 1877, the successor of Solomon L. Hoge. After four elections he was able to complete in Congress until March 3, 1887 five contiguous legislatures. From 1883 to 1887, he was Chairman of the Education Committee. During his last years in Congress to Aikens health deteriorated. For this reason, he renounced in the elections of 1886, a further candidacy. He died just weeks after his resignation from the Congress on April 6, 1887. D. Wyatt Aiken was married to Mattie Gaillard since 1852.