Thomas Bothwell Jeter

Thomas Bothwell Jeter
79th Governor of South Carolina
In office September 1, 1880 – November 30, 1880
Lieutenant	None
Preceded by	William Dunlap Simpson
Succeeded by	Johnson Hagood
President Pro Tempore of the South Carolina Senate
In office November 28, 1877 – September 1, 1880
Governor	Wade Hampton III William Dunlap Simpson
Preceded by	Stephen Atkins Swails
Succeeded by	Isaac Donnom Witherspoon
Member of the South Carolina Senate from Union County
In office November 30, 1880 – November 28, 1882
Preceded by	Himself
Succeeded by	William Munro
In office November 26, 1872 – September 1, 1880
Preceded by	Hiram W. Duncan
Succeeded by	Himself
Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from Union District
In office November 24, 1856 – November 22, 1958
Personal details
Born	(1827-10-13)October 13, 1827 Santuc, South Carolina
Died	May 20, 1883(1883-05-20) (aged 55)
Political party	Democratic
Military service
Allegiance	Confederate States of America
Service/branch	Confederate States Army
Rank	captain
Battles/wars	American Civil War

Thomas Bothwell Jeter (October 13, 1827 – May 20, 1883) was the 79th Governor of South Carolina from September 1, 1880 to November 30, 1880.

Born in Santuc, South Carolina, five miles north of Carlisle in Union County, Jeter attended and graduated from South Carolina College in 1846. He was admitted to the bar 1848 and practiced law in the Upstate while concurrently holding the position of president of the Spartanburg and Union Railroad. Additionally during antebellum, he was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1856. With the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, Jeter volunteered for service in the Confederate Army and was made a captain of infantry.

After the war, Jeter resumed his law practice, but was elected to the South Carolina Senate in 1872 after becoming disenchanted by Radical Republican rule of the state during Reconstruction. He continued to serve in the Senate and became the President Pro Tempore in November 1877 because of the mass resignations of Republicans after their party's defeat in the gubernatorial election of 1876, thereby giving control of the Senate to the Democrats. Wade Hampton won re-election in 1878 for another two-year term, but did not finish the term because he resigned in 1879 after being elected to the U.S. Senate.

Lieutenant Governor William Dunlap Simpson succeeded Hampton and Jeter as the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, became the Lieutenant Governor. When Simpson resigned on September 1, 1880, upon appointment to be the Chief Justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court, Jeter became the 79th governor of South Carolina and served for three months.

In 1882, Jeter was appointed to the South Carolina Railroad Commission and served until his death on May 20, 1883. He was buried at Forestlawn Cemetery in Union.

External links

• SCIway Biography of Thomas Bothwell Jeter
• NGA Biography of Thomas Bothwell Jeter

v t e Governors of South Carolina J. Rutledge Lowndes J. Rutledge Mathews Guerard Moultrie T. Pinckney C. Pinckney Moultrie Vanderhorst C. Pinckney E. Rutledge Drayton J. Richardson P. Hamilton C. Pinckney Drayton Middleton Alston D. Williams A. Pickens Geddes Bennett Wilson Manning I Taylor Miller J. Hamilton Hayne McDuffie Butler Noble Henagan Richardson II Hammond Aiken Johnson Seabrook Means J. Manning Adams Allston Gist F. Pickens Bonham Magrath Perry Orr Scott Moses Chamberlain Hampton Simpson Jeter Hagood Thompson Sheppard Richardson III Tillman Evans Ellerbe McSweeney Heyward Ansel Blease Smith Manning III Cooper Harvey McLeod Richards Blackwood Johnston Maybank Harley Jefferies Johnston R. Williams Thurmond Byrnes Timmerman Hollings Russell McNair West Edwards Riley Campbell Beasley Hodges Sanford Haley