Wyatt Aiken


Wyatt Aiken was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for South Carolina's 3rd congressional district. He served for six terms from 1903 to 1917.

Early life and family

Wyatt Aiken was born near Macon, Georgia on December 14, 1863. He was the son of David Wyatt Aiken, who was the 3rd district's representative from 1877 to 1887. He was reared in Cokesbury, Abbeville County. After attending the Cokesbury public schools and of Washington, D.C., he served as the official court reporter for the second South Carolina judicial circuit and, later, for the eighth circuit.

During the Spanish American War

During the Spanish–American War, he volunteered as a private in Company A, First South Carolina Regiment of Infantry. He was appointed battalion adjutant by Governor Ellerbe and acted as regimental quartermaster during the greater portion of his service. On November 10, 1898, he was mustered out in Columbia, South Carolina.

Political career

Aiken was elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-eighth and to the six succeeding Congresses. He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1916 and again in 1918.

Death and legacy

Following his retirement, he lived in Abbeville, South Carolina. Aiken died on February 6, 1923.