Ralph Izard

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American politician (1741/42-1804)

title: "Ralph Izard" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1740s-births", "1804-deaths", "continental-congressmen-from-south-carolina", "united-states-senators-from-south-carolina", "presidents-pro-tempore-of-the-united-states-senate", "18th-century-owners-of-plantations-in-the-united-states", "people-of-south-carolina-in-the-american-revolution", "huguenot-participants-in-the-american-revolution", "alumni-of-trinity-hall,-cambridge", "year-of-birth-uncertain", "united-states-senators-who-owned-slaves", "izard-family", "18th-century-united-states-senators", "members-of-the-american-philosophical-society", "owners-of-plantations-in-colonial-south-carolina"] description: "American politician (1741/42-1804)" topic_path: "science/biology" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Izard" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American politician (1741/42-1804) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
name	Ralph Izard
image	Ralph Izard2.jpg
caption	Ralph Izard, 1793, by John Trumbull
office	President pro tempore of the United States Senate
term_start	May 31, 1794
term_end	November 9, 1794
predecessor	John Langdon
successor	Henry Tazewell
order2	United States Senator
from South Carolina
term_start2	March 4, 1789
term_end2	March 4, 1795
predecessor2	Position established
successor2	Jacob Read
office3	Delegate from South Carolina to the Congress of the Confederation
term3	November 4, 1782 – November 1, 1783
birth_date	January 23, 1741 / 1742
birth_place	near Charleston, South Carolina
death_date	May 30,
death_place	near Charleston, South Carolina
party	Pro-Administration
spouse	Alice De Lancey Izard
children	Henry Izard
Ralph Izard
George Izard
Charlotte Izard
alma_mater	Trinity Hall, Cambridge
profession	Planter
signature	Ralph Izard Signature.svg
::

Ralph Izard (January 23, 1741/1742May 30, 1804) was an American politician who served as president pro tempore of the United States Senate in 1794.

Early life

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Coat_of_Arms_of_Ralph_Izard.svg" caption="Coat of Arms of Ralph Izard"] ::

Izard was born at "The Elms" near Charleston, South Carolina. He was the son of Henry Izard and Margaret Johnson.

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. Izard returned to America in 1764, but did not remain in South Carolina for long. He was elected the American Society (later the American Philosophical Society) in 1768.

Career

He resided in London in 1771 and moved to Paris 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. In August 1789, after the Senate rejected Benjamin Fishbourn for collector of Savannah, Georgia, President George Washington entered the Senate chamber and demanded to know why his nominee was rejected in unusual display of emotion. "The president showed [a] great want of temper... when one of his nominations was rejected," Izard wrote.

Later life

Izard was one of the founders of the College of Charleston. Izard retired from public life to the care of his estates in 1795. Within two years of his retirement, he was stricken with an untreatable illness that paralyzed him on one side of his body.

Death and legacy

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Mrs.Ralph_Izard(Alice_De_Lancey,_1746-47–1832)_MET_DP162167.jpg" caption="[[Alice De Lancey Izard]], portrait by [[Thomas Gainsborough"] ::

In 1767, Izard married Alice De Lancey, 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:

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.

Izard was a slaveholder.

Descendants

A great-grandson of Ralph Izard was Charles Manigault Morris who was also a great-grandson of Lewis Morris. A cousin of Charles Manigault Morris was General Arthur Middleton Manigault who was descended from Mary Izard-cousin of Ralph Izard.

A cousin Sarah Izard married South Carolina Loyalist Governor Lord William Campbell. A cousin twice removed was Elizabeth {Eliza} Izard who was a daughter-in-law of Congressman of South Carolina Thomas Pinckney. One niece Elizabeth Izard married Alexander Wright (1751–?), a son of Loyalist Governor of Georgia James Wright (governor).

File:Mr and Mrs Ralph Izard by John Singleton Copley 1775.jpeg|Ralph and Alice Izard by John Singleton Copley File:George Izard.jpg|Governor George Izard File:CharlesManigaultMorrisCSN.jpg|First Lieutenant Charles Manigault Morris, CSN File:Arthur Manigault.jpg|General Arthur M. Manigault, CSA File:Edward Greene Malbone - Eliza Izard (Mrs. Thomas Pinckney, Jr.) - Google Art Project.jpg|Miniature of Elizabeth (Eliza) Izard [wife of Thomas Pinckey 1780-1842 son of General Thomas Pinckney) by Edward Greene Malbone

References

"Bioguide Search".
{{acad
"APS Member History".
"Mrs. Ralph Izard (Alice DeLancey) {{!}} Gibbes Museum".
"Founders Online: Alice DeLancey Izard to George Washington, 25 June 1798".
"Ralph Izard (1688-1743) - American Aristocracy".
"IZARD, Ralph (c 1741-1804)". [[Biographical Directory of the United States Congress]].
"More than 1,700 congressmen once enslaved Black people. This is who they were, and how they shaped the nation.". Washington Post.
(2022-01-27). "Congress slaveowners". The Washington Post.

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