William Lowndes Award

During the “Era of Good Feelings”, only one political party seemed to exist; therefore, in preparation for the 1824 Presidential Election, each state legislature nominated a favorite son candidate. The South Carolina Legislature nominated William Lowndes of the Horse Shoe Plantation, Colleton District. As chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, Congressman Lowndes was able to propose means by which the national debt was extinguished within fourteen years. His untimely death in 1822 caused the state to then give their presidential support to John C. Calhoun who was elected Vice President of the U.S.