Born in South Carolina, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney was educated in England and served in the First and Second Provincial Congresses. A commander in the Revolution, he later served in the SC General Assembly, signed the US Constitution, and was a delegate to the SC Constitutional Convention of 1790 in Columbia. He spent part of his life on this island, which he inherited in 1769. A leader in S.C.'s educational, political, cultural and religious affairs, he was made ambassador to France in 1796. Appointed by President Adams in 1797 to a committee negotiating maritime problems with France, he became known for his refusal of bribery in the “XYZ” affair.