34.4348° N, 81.0284° W

CHARLESTON

Most Famous People Born in Charleston, United States

Notable people
749
Peak decade
1940s
Median birth year
1920
Most distinctive
Baseball 4.5×

Charleston's profile is frozen in antebellum amber: an outsized Lawyer and Judge class built by the planter bar that dominated South Carolina politics from secession through Reconstruction, with an Officer bench propped up by the Citadel and the Confederate officer corps. The smaller, stranger note is the Novelist thread — Charleston Renaissance writers like DuBose Heyward, whose Porgy became the seed for American opera.

Through the Decades

One face per decade — the most globally famous figure born in Charleston during each.

Notable Births by Decade

Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1940s with 63 notable births.

What Charleston Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Politician is Charleston's biggest profession — 22% of all notables (166).

Charleston over-indexes on baseball4.5× the global rate.

Charleston under-produces writer — only 0.6× the global rate.

  1. Politician166
  2. Football58
  3. Lawyer52
  4. Actor48
  5. Baseball38
  6. Basket27
  7. Painter19
  8. Music18
  1. Baseball384.5×
  2. Lawyer524.0×
  3. Judge123.4×
  4. Novelist103.4×
  5. Officer153.0×
  6. Basket272.9×
  7. Politician1661.9×
  8. Music181.7×
  1. Writer150.6×

Profession Mix Over Time

Each band shows a profession family's share of Charleston's notable births by decade. Hover the chart for the breakdown at any decade.

1700175018001850190019502000
  • Politics & Law
  • Sports
  • Film & TV
  • Music
  • Writing
  • Science
  • Other
Politician166
Sort By

Showing 166 of 749 notable people

0003 POLITICIAN

James F. Byrnes

1882 - 1972

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0010 POLITICIAN

Tim Scott

Born 1965

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0016 POLITICIAN

John Rutledge

1739 - 1800

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0022 POLITICIAN

Edward Rutledge

1749 - 1800

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0023 POLITICIAN

Charles Pinckney (governor)

1757 - 1824

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0024 POLITICIAN

Angelina Grimké

1805 - 1879

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0028 POLITICIAN

Joe Wilson (American politician)

Born 1947

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0029 POLITICIAN

Mo Brooks

Born 1954

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0032 POLITICIAN

Thomas Pinckney

1750 - 1828

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0038 POLITICIAN

Daniel Webster (Florida politician)

Born 1949

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0041 POLITICIAN

John Laurens

1754 - 1782

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0043 POLITICIAN

Dale Bumpers

1925 - 2016

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0045 POLITICIAN

Fritz Hollings

1922 - 2019

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0056 POLITICIAN

Tom Rice

Born 1957

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0060 POLITICIAN

Jim Justice

Born 1951

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0061 POLITICIAN

Henry Middleton

1717 - 1784

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0063 POLITICIAN

Arthur Middleton

1742 - 1787

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0067 POLITICIAN

William Moultrie

1730 - 1805

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0077 POLITICIAN

Ralph Izard

1741 - 1804

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0088 POLITICIAN

Stephen A. Hurlbut

1815 - 1882

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0096 POLITICIAN

Burnet R. Maybank

1899 - 1954

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0097 POLITICIAN

James Hamilton Jr.

1786 - 1857

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0099 POLITICIAN

Charles Bent

1799 - 1847

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0106 POLITICIAN

George Trenholm

1807 - 1876

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0112 POLITICIAN

Eric Massa

Born 1959

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0115 POLITICIAN

Arthur Ravenel Jr.

Born 1927

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0117 POLITICIAN

Lewis Charles Levin

1808 - 1860

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0118 POLITICIAN

Floride Calhoun

1792 - 1866

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0123 POLITICIAN

Gaston Caperton

Born 1940

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0124 POLITICIAN

Thomas Drayton

1809 - 1891

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0125 POLITICIAN

James Skivring Smith

1825 - 1892

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0131 POLITICIAN

John Drayton

1766 - 1822

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0133 POLITICIAN

Chip Cravaack

Born 1959

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0138 POLITICIAN

Jacob Read

1752 - 1816

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0143 POLITICIAN

William Aiken Jr.

1806 - 1887

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0158 POLITICIAN

Daniel Elliott Huger

1779 - 1854

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0160 POLITICIAN

John Mathews (lawyer)

1744 - 1802

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0167 POLITICIAN

Richard Hutson

1748 - 1795

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0168 POLITICIAN

André Bauer

Born 1969

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0174 POLITICIAN

Henry L. Pinckney

1794 - 1863

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0178 POLITICIAN

Francis Lewis Cardozo

1836 - 1903

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0180 POLITICIAN

Hugh Smith Thompson

1836 - 1904

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0184 POLITICIAN

Alonzo J. Ransier

1834 - 1882

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0186 POLITICIAN

Arthur P. Hayne

1788 - 1867

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0189 POLITICIAN

Miles Benjamin McSweeney

1855 - 1921

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0191 POLITICIAN

Hamilton P. Bee

1822 - 1897

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0195 POLITICIAN

Harvey Gantt

Born 1943

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0201 POLITICIAN

Martin Frederick Ansel

1850 - 1945

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0202 POLITICIAN

Alfred L. Bulwinkle

1883 - 1950

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0203 POLITICIAN

Thomas Caute Reynolds

1821 - 1887

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0207 POLITICIAN

John Geddes (politician)

1777 - 1828

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0208 POLITICIAN

Jamie Whitten

1910 - 1995

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0209 POLITICIAN

Thomas Bennett Jr.

1781 - 1865

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0214 POLITICIAN

Richard Beresford

1755 - 1803

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0221 POLITICIAN

Isaac E. Holmes

1796 - 1867

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0232 POLITICIAN

Thomas F. Hartnett

Born 1941

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0234 POLITICIAN

Francis Kinloch (Congressman)

1755 - 1826

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0243 POLITICIAN

Benjamin Guerard

1739 - 1788

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0244 POLITICIAN

Thomas Larkin Thompson

1838 - 1898

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0245 POLITICIAN

William Waters Boyce

1818 - 1890

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0250 POLITICIAN

Karla Drenner

Born 1961

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0251 POLITICIAN

Edmund William McGregor Mackey

1846 - 1884

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0262 POLITICIAN

John E. Moore

Born 1943

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0269 POLITICIAN

Glenn F. McConnell

Born 1947

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0271 POLITICIAN

Theodore Gaillard Hunt

1805 - 1893

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0275 POLITICIAN

Wilson Godfrey Harvey

1866 - 1932

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0277 POLITICIAN

John M. Slack Jr.

1915 - 1980

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0278 POLITICIAN

Brad Dye

1933 - 2018

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0285 POLITICIAN

Joseph P. Riley Jr.

Born 1943

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0288 POLITICIAN

Henry M. Hyams

1806 - 1875

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0296 POLITICIAN

John Parker (Continental Congress)

1759 - 1832

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0299 POLITICIAN

Benjamin Huger (congressman)

1768 - 1823

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0305 POLITICIAN

John Rutledge Jr.

1766 - 1819

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0310 POLITICIAN

John Linscom Boss Jr.

1780 - 1819

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0323 POLITICIAN

Nicholas Eveleigh

1748 - 1791

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0324 POLITICIAN

Adam Brown Littlepage

1859 - 1921

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0328 POLITICIAN

John G. Hutchinson

Born 1935

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0331 POLITICIAN

Rich T. Buckler

1865 - 1950

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0334 POLITICIAN

Theodore A. Peyser

1873 - 1937

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0339 POLITICIAN

William Davidson (congressman)

1778 - 1857

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0344 POLITICIAN

Charles I. du Pont

1797 - 1869

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0348 POLITICIAN

William Valk

1806 - 1879

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0354 POLITICIAN

Isaac Motte

1738 - 1795

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0359 POLITICIAN

Mitch Carmichael

Born 1960

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0371 POLITICIAN

William Mayrant

1765 - 1832

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0373 POLITICIAN

William Bull (governor)

1683 - 1755

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0376 POLITICIAN

Barnard E. Bee Sr.

1787 - 1853

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0378 POLITICIAN

Ruth Samuelson

1959 - 2017

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0380 POLITICIAN

Burnet R. Maybank Jr.

1924 - 2016

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0388 POLITICIAN

John Kean (South Carolina politician)

1756 - 1795

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0392 POLITICIAN

Francois P. Giraud

1818 - 1877

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0412 POLITICIAN

Eric Nelson (West Virginia politician)

Born 1960

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0413 POLITICIAN

Herbert Fielding

1923 - 2015

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0415 POLITICIAN

Bill Crosby (politician)

Born 1937

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0420 POLITICIAN

Mark Hunt (politician)

Born 1960

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0422 POLITICIAN

Thomas Ravenel

Born 1962

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0423 POLITICIAN

John Moultrie (politician)

1729 - 1798

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0426 POLITICIAN

Sarah Davis (Texas politician)

Born 1976

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0427 POLITICIAN

Christine Johnson (Utah politician)

Born 1968

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0436 POLITICIAN

Chauncey H. Browning Jr.

1934 - 2010

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0446 POLITICIAN

Moses Cohen Mordecai

1804 - 1888

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0451 POLITICIAN

Mike Phillips (Montana politician)

Born 1958

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0457 POLITICIAN

Isaac Holmes

1758 - 1812

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0463 POLITICIAN

Charlotte Pritt

Born 1949

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0464 POLITICIAN

Chip Limehouse

Born 1962

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0465 POLITICIAN

Chris Walters

Born 1986

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0466 POLITICIAN

John Hopper

1923 - 1996

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0468 POLITICIAN

Mary Margaret Oliver

Born 1948

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0477 POLITICIAN

Ray Canterbury

Born 1969

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0484 POLITICIAN

John P. Grace

1874 - 1940

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0486 POLITICIAN

Bill Workman

1940 - 2019

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0492 POLITICIAN

Wendell Gilliard

Born 1954

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0493 POLITICIAN

William Ashmead Courtenay

1831 - 1908

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0494 POLITICIAN

Elias Horry

1773 - 1834

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0500 POLITICIAN

Tim Armstead

Born 1965

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0504 POLITICIAN

Carolyn Tomei

Born 1936

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0509 POLITICIAN

Charles Macbeth

1805 - 1881

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0517 POLITICIAN

Danny Wells (politician)

Born 1940

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0519 POLITICIAN

Bob Ashley

Born 1953

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0520 POLITICIAN

Ernest T. Eaton

1877 - 1957

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0528 POLITICIAN

David Walker (West Virginia politician)

Born 1952

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0529 POLITICIAN

Betty Ireland

Born 1946

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0546 POLITICIAN

Nancy Jacobs

Born 1951

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0548 POLITICIAN

Gary Stubblefield

Born 1951

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0549 POLITICIAN

Corey Palumbo

Born 1972

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0553 POLITICIAN

Malcolm Graham (politician)

Born 1963

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0556 POLITICIAN

Steve Harrison (politician)

Born 1966

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0563 POLITICIAN

William Dennison Porter

1810 - 1883

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0577 POLITICIAN

John F. Ficken

1843 - 1925

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0578 POLITICIAN

Walter Hundley

Born 1953

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0582 POLITICIAN

John A. Cade

1929 - 1996

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0589 POLITICIAN

David Mack (politician)

Born 1953

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0593 POLITICIAN

Alonzo Gesner

1842 - 1912

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0596 POLITICIAN

Gabriel Manigault (merchant)

1704 - 1781

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0627 POLITICIAN

Brooks McCabe

Born 1949

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0631 POLITICIAN

Chrissy Adams

1967 - 2016

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0638 POLITICIAN

Charles Cotesworth Pinckney (Vizegouverneur) – W

1789 - 1865

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0653 POLITICIAN

Don Bowen

Born 1945

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0654 POLITICIAN

Fred Ogilvie

1887 - 1946

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0656 POLITICIAN

Cornelius C. White

1870 - 1940

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0658 POLITICIAN

Doug Skaff

Born 1976

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0661 POLITICIAN

Jacob Æmilius Irving

1797 - 1856

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0662 POLITICIAN

George Bradley (Minnesota politician)

1833 - 1879

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0665 POLITICIAN

James Ladson

1753 - 1812

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0672 POLITICIAN

Virgil Fludd

Born 1958

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0674 POLITICIAN

Roger Hanshaw

Born 1980

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0678 POLITICIAN

Moore Capito

Born 1982

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0682 POLITICIAN

Seth Whipper

Born 1949

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0688 POLITICIAN

J. Palmer Gaillard Jr.

1920 - 2006

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0689 POLITICIAN

Randy White (West Virginia politician)

Born 1955

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0691 POLITICIAN

Thomas Reynolds II

Born 1954

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0697 POLITICIAN

Linda Whittington

Born 1950

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0698 POLITICIAN

Thomas Young Simons

1828 - 1878

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0703 POLITICIAN

Jack Buckalew

1932 - 2016

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0708 POLITICIAN

James Adger Smyth

1837 - 1920

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0709 POLITICIAN

Mike Woodard (politician)

Born 1959

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0714 POLITICIAN

Mike Pushkin

-

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0726 POLITICIAN

Chip Campsen

Born 1959

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0728 POLITICIAN

John Schnierle

1808 - 1861

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0729 POLITICIAN

William W. Sale

Born 1819

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0730 POLITICIAN

Henrietta Cotton Wilson

1847 - 1915

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0733 POLITICIAN

George D. Bryan

1845 - 1919

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0736 POLITICIAN

Richard A. Pettigrew

Born 1930

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0740 POLITICIAN

Belle Goshorn MacCorkle

1841 - 1923

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0742 POLITICIAN

Leonard Krawcheck

Born 1941

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0743 POLITICIAN

J. Sidi Limehouse III

Born 1938

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