Richard SPENCER, Congress, MD (1796-1868)

SPENCER, Richard, a Representative from Maryland; born at “Spencer Hall,” Talbot County, Md., October 29, 1796; attended the common schools; studied law in Baltimore and was admitted to the Talbot County bar in 1819; moved to his farm, “Solitude,” near St. Michaels, Md., in 1822 and engaged in agricultural pursuits; member of the State house of delegates 1823-1825; engaged in literary pursuits and in 1828 he contributed to the establishment of the Eastern Shore Whig and controlled that paper until 1834; elected as a Jacksonian to the Twenty-first Congress (March 4, 1829-March 3, 1831); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1830 to the Twenty-second Congress; again a member of the State house of delegates in 1833 and 1834; was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1835; moved to Georgia in 1837 and engaged in cotton planting; moved to Alabama in 1852 and settled at “Cottage Hill,” near Mobile, where he died September 3, 1868; interment probably on his estate, “Cottage Hill.”

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present