Arnoldus Vanderhorst
1856 portrait by Henry Breintnall Bounetheau
38th Governor of South Carolina
In office December 17, 1794 – December 8, 1796
Lieutenant	Lewis Morris
Preceded by	William Moultrie
Succeeded by	Charles Pinckney
Mayor ofCharleston, South Carolina
In office 1790 – 1792
Preceded by	Thomas Jones
Succeeded by	John Huger
In office 1785 – 1786
Preceded by	Richard Hutson
Succeeded by	John Faucheraud Grimke
Member of theSouth Carolina Senate fromChrist Church Parish
In office August 31, 1779 – January 1, 1787
Member of the South Carolina General Assembly fromSt. Phillip's and St. Michael's Parish
In office March 25, 1776 – October 17, 1778
Personal details
Born	(1748-03-21)March 21, 1748 Christ Church Parish,Mount Pleasant,Province of South Carolina
Died	January 29, 1815(1815-01-29) (aged 66) Kiawah Island, South Carolina
Resting place	St. Michael's Churchyard,Charleston, South Carolina
Profession	planter

Arnoldus Vanderhorst (/vænˈdrɑːs/; March 21, 1748 – January 29, 1815) was an American military officer and planter. He was ageneral of the South Carolinamilitia during theAmerican Revolutionary War and served as thegovernor of South Carolina from 1794 to 1796.

Born in Christ Church Parish, Vanderhorst took up planting at hisplantation on the eastern half ofKiawah Island in theLowcountry. He participated in theRevolutionary War as an officer under the command ofFrancis Marion. During the war, he also served in theSouth Carolina House of Representatives from 1776 to 1780 and in theSouth Carolina Senate from 1780 to 1786. After his service in the state Senate, Vanderhorst was electedmayor of Charleston for two terms. He was elected mayor ofCharleston, South Carolina, on September 12, 1785.^[1]

In 1794, he was elected by theGeneral Assembly as aFederalist to beGovernor of South Carolina. During his administration, Vanderhorst pressed the legislature for the revision of the criminal code because the sentences were so harsh that jurors would grant acquittal. In addition, he advocated for a prison system similar to that of the state ofPennsylvania instead of the state jails that "were of medievalbarbarity."

He also proposed the need for a state penitentiary. Later the state penitentiary named Central Correction Institution that was open until 1994.

After leaving the governorship in 1796, he returned to hisplantation on Kiawah Island where slaves he owned cultivatedsea island cotton. Vanderhorst died on January 29, 1815, and he was buried at the St. Michael's churchyard inCharleston.

Papers of the Vanderhorst family are held at theSouth Carolina Historical Society^[2] andBristol Archives.^[3]

• Arnoldus Vander Horst House
• Vanderhorst Row

• Wallace, David Duncan (1951).South Carolina: A Short History. University of North Carolina Press. pp. 347, 415.

• SCIway Biography of Arnoldus Vanderhorst
• NGA Biography of Arnoldus Vanderhorst

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• 1748 births
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• 18th-century owners of plantations in the United States
• 18th-century owners of plantations in the Thirteen Colonies
• 18th-century mayors of places in South Carolina
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• South Carolina Federalists
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• Members of the South Carolina House of Representatives
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