Richard Dobbs SPAIGHT, Congress, NC (1758-1802)
SPAIGHT, Richard Dobbs, (father of Richard Dobbs Spaight, Jr., and grandfather of Richard Spaight Donnell), a Delegate and a Representative from North Carolina; born in New Bern, N.C., March 25, 1758; received his early schooling in Ireland and attended the University of Glasgow in Scotland; returned home in 1778 and joined the Continental Army as aide-de-camp to General Caswell; member of the North Carolina House of Commons 1779-1783; Member of the Continental Congress 1783-1785; delegate to the Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia in 1787 and to the state ratification convention in 1788; governor of North Carolina 1792-1795; elected as a Republican to the Fifth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Nathan Bryan; reelected as a Republican to the Sixth Congress and served from December 10, 1798, to March 3, 1801; member of the state senate in 1801 and 1802; was wounded in a duel with John Stanly, his successor in Congress, from the effects of which he died on September 6, 1802, in New Bern, N.C.; interment in the family sepulcher at âClermont,â near New Bern, N.C.
Bibliography
Wheeler, John Hill. Sketch of the Life of Richard Dobbs Spaight of North Carolina. Baltimore: William K. Boyle, Printer, 1880.Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present
