Alfred Proctor Aldrich (June 14, 1814 – February 12, 1897) was a South Carolina state legislator, South Carolina state judge, pronounced advocate for secession from the Union, member of the state constitutional convention of 1865, a delegate to the 1874 taxpayers' convention, and a practicing Confederate during military reconstruction in the state (refusing to call freedmen for jury duty, very mad the U.S. Army prohibited corporal punishment of convicts, etc.) [1]
Raised and educated in Charleston, he passed the bar at age 18. [2] He served as a regimental staff officer in the Seminole War. [2] He served 12 years in the South Carolina state legislature and was Speaker of the Confederate South Carolina House of Representatives during the American Civil War. He served for a time in the war under Maxcy Gregg but broke his shoulder in a rail accident and retired with a disability. He served as a chief of staff or aide-de-camp to Governor Milledge Bonham during the war. [2] He was removed from the bench in 1867 by U.S. military governor Edward Canby. [1] Aldrich then worked as a lawyer in Augusta, Georgia. [1] He was re-elected to the South Carolina bench in 1878. [1]
His son Robert Aldrich also became a South Carolina legislator. Their cousin James Aldrich was also a South Carolina legislator and judge. Their cousin T. Bailey Aldrich was a noted poet and editor. [2] Alfred P. Aldrich's wife and daughter both wrote notable accounts representing the experiences of white female Confederates during the American Civil War. [3] [4] [5]
Alfred Proctor Aldrich (June 14, 1814 – February 12, 1897) was a South Carolina state legislator, South Carolina state judge, pronounced advocate for secession from the Union, member of the state constitutional convention of 1865, a delegate to the 1874 taxpayers' convention, and a practicing Confederate during military reconstruction in the state (refusing to call freedmen for jury duty, very mad the U.S. Army prohibited corporal punishment of convicts, etc.) [1]
Raised and educated in Charleston, he passed the bar at age 18. [2] He served as a regimental staff officer in the Seminole War. [2] He served 12 years in the South Carolina state legislature and was Speaker of the Confederate South Carolina House of Representatives during the American Civil War. He served for a time in the war under Maxcy Gregg but broke his shoulder in a rail accident and retired with a disability. He served as a chief of staff or aide-de-camp to Governor Milledge Bonham during the war. [2] He was removed from the bench in 1867 by U.S. military governor Edward Canby. [1] Aldrich then worked as a lawyer in Augusta, Georgia. [1] He was re-elected to the South Carolina bench in 1878. [1]
His son Robert Aldrich also became a South Carolina legislator. Their cousin James Aldrich was also a South Carolina legislator and judge. Their cousin T. Bailey Aldrich was a noted poet and editor. [2] Alfred P. Aldrich's wife and daughter both wrote notable accounts representing the experiences of white female Confederates during the American Civil War. [3] [4] [5]