daughter with her named Henrietta Aiken Rhett (1836–1918). Following the Dred Scott decision, Aiken began traveling to more temperate Northern locations in the summer with some of his slaves, and became an early patron of the University of Minnesota, loaning it some $28,000 (approximately $750,000 in 2016 terms). Throughout the American civil war he was a loyal Unionist, though his friends were nearly all Secessionists. He was a successful businessman and planter and lived in Charleston, South Carolina. Aiken's first cousin, D. Wyatt Aiken served as a Confederate States Army officer and five-term U.S. Congressman. Aiken died at Flat Rock, NC, September 6, 1887, and was interred in Magnolia Cemetery at Charleston, South Carolina. His house, the Aiken-Rhett House, is part of the Historic Charleston foundation. References Attribution External links SCIway Biography of William Aiken Jr. NGA Biography of William Aiken Jr. 1806 births 1887 deaths 19th-century American politicians American planters American slave owners Burials at Magnolia Cemetery (Charleston, South Carolina) Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from South Carolina Democratic Party governors of South Carolina Democratic Party members of the South Carolina House of Representatives Politicians from Charleston, South Carolina Democratic Party South Carolina state senators University of South Carolina alumni University of South Carolina trustees