Thomas Bee (1739–1812) was nominated judge of the United States district court for South Carolina by GW 11 June 1790 and was confirmed by the Senate three days later. A wealthy aristocratic lawyer, he had played a prominent political role in the Revolution in South Carolina, serving as a member of the council of safety 1775–76, a state judge 1776–78, speaker of the state House of Representatives 1777–79, lieutenant governor 1779–80, and a member of the Continental Congress 1780–82. In 1790 he held 165 slaves on his lands in St. Paul’s Parish and 19 more in Charleston, where he had a town house (GADSDEN description begins Richard Walsh, ed. The Writings of Christopher Gadsden, 1746–1805. Columbia, S.C., 1966. description ends , 154; S.C. Hist. and Geneal. Mag., 37 [1936], 87–88; HEADS OF FAMILIES, S.C. description begins Heads of Families at the First Census of the United States Taken in the Year 1790: South Carolina. 1908. Reprint. Salt Lake City, 1978. description ends , 37, 39).

O’Brian Smith (c.1756–1811) came to South Carolina from Ireland about 1784. He later served in the state legislature and from 1805 to 1807 was a member of the United States Congress. His plantation was in St. Bartholomew’s Parish, Charleston District, where in 1790 he owned 146 slaves, and he also had a town house in Charleston, where he kept 8 slaves (HEADS OF FAMILIES, S.C. description begins Heads of Families at the First Census of the United States Taken in the Year 1790: South Carolina. 1908. Reprint. Salt Lake City, 1978. description ends , 34, 43).