Ralph Izard

Izard was born at "The Elms" near Charleston, South Carolina. He was the son of Henry Izard and Margaret Johnson. His great-grandfather was Ralph Izard[1] (1660–1710), who was born in Dorchester, England and settled in South Carolina. His maternal grandfather was Province of South Carolina Governor Robert Johnson. Izard's parents died when he was a small child, and only one of his siblings survived to adulthood.

He spent most of his childhood and youth studying in England: he attended a school in Hackney, London, and matriculated as a fellow-commoner at Trinity Hall, Cambridge.[2] Izard returned to America in 1764, but did not remain in South Carolina for long.[3]

He resided in London in 1771 and moved to Paris, France, in 1776. He was appointed commissioner to the Court of Tuscany by the Continental Congress in 1776, but was recalled in 1779. He returned to America in 1780 and pledged his large estate in South Carolina for the payment of war ships to be used in the American Revolutionary War. He was a member of the Continental Congress in 1782 and 1783. In 1788, he was elected to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1789, to March 4, 1795, serving as President pro tempore of the Senate during the Third Congress.[3]

Alice De Lancey Izard, portrait by Thomas Gainsborough

In 1767, Izard married Alice DeLancey, who was a niece of James DeLancey and a descendant of Stephanus Van Cortlandt and Gertrude Schuyler. After Izard moved to America in 1780 to focus on his work towards the American Revolution, his family stayed in France until 1783 when they joined him in South Carolina. Izard and his wife had fourteen children together, but only seven survived past early childhood, including:[4]

• Ralph Izard, was a naval hero of Tripoli. The World War II USS Izard was named after him. In 1808, Izard married Eliza Pinckney, daughter of Major General Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, a signer of the Constitution, and a granddaughter of Colonel Charles Pinckney, chief justice of South Carolina. Ralph's wife was also a niece of Arthur Middleton.
• Major General George Izard, was a governor of Arkansas.
• Anne Izard, who married William Allan Deas {1764-1863} with whom they had a son, the painter, Charles Deas. William's brother was Col. James Sutherland Deas {1784-1864} who was the father of CS General Zachariah Cantey Deas
• Charlotte Izard, who married William Loughton Smith, a son of S.C. Assemblyman Benjamin Smith; William L. Smith was also a brother-in-law of South Carolina Congressman Isaac Motte.

Izard died near Charleston on May 30, 1804, at the age of sixty-two. He is interred in the churchyard of St. James Goose Creek Episcopal Church, near Charleston.[3]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ralph Izard.

• United States Congress. "Ralph Izard (id: I000053)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.