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 (politician)
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, 1858
Personal details
Born	(1827-10-13)October 13, 1827 Santuc, South Carolina, US
Died	May 20, 1883(1883-05-20) (aged 55)
Political party	Democratic
Relatives	Thomas Bothwell Butler (nephew)
Military service
Allegiance	Confederate States of America
Branch/service	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. His home in Union, South Carolina is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Born in Santuc, South Carolina, 5 mi (8.0 km) 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. He 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. The Republicans thereby gave 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, as Jeter 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.

The Gov. Thomas B. Jeter House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.^[1]

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