Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Wragg, William

WRAGG, William, lawyer, b. in South Carolina in 1714; d. at sea in September, 1777. He was of Huguenot descent, and was educated in England, where he studied law. After returning to South Carolina, he served for many years in the assembly and in the council. In 1759 he declined the appointment of chief justice of the colony, that he might give evidence to those whose political course he opposed without being charged with acting in hope of official distinction. His sense of duty prevented his espousing the cause of independence, and, on refusing to take the oath prescribed by the Provincial congress, he was banished. He sailed for England in the summer of 1777, but was shipwrecked off the coast of Holland. He possessed a fortune, and was much esteemed. A monument was erected to his memory in Westminster Abbey. He published “Reasons for not concurring in the Non-Importation Resolution” (1769).