Spaight, Richard Dobbs, Jr.

1796–17 Nov. 1850

See also: Richard Dobbs Spaight, Jr. [2], Research Branch, NC Office of Archives and History

[3]Richard Dobbs Spaight, Jr., congressman and governor, was the son of Richard Dobbs, Sr. [4], and Mary Jones Leech Spaight, of New Bern. He attended the New Bern Academy [5] under the Reverend Thomas F. Irving [6]and was graduated with high honors in 1813 from The University of North Carolina [7]. Admitted to the bar in 1818, he began to practice law in New Bern and represented Craven County [8] in the House of Commons in 1819 and in the senate in 1820–22. He served in the U.S. Congress in 1823–25 but was defeated for reelection. Returning to the state senate, he served for eleven years until he became governor (1835–36). At the state constitutional convention of 1835 [9] he was chairman of the rules committee.

Nominated on the Democratic ticket for a second gubernatorial term, he lost to the Whig [10]candidate, Edward Bishop Dudley [11], in the first direct vote of the populace for governor under the new state constitution. He may not have been reelected as a result of his opposition to internal improvements [12] because of competition among various projects.

Retiring from politics, Spaight returned to New Bern, where he engaged chiefly in agricultural pursuits and the management of his extensive properties. In 1842 he was named a councillor of state but declined to accept. He carried on a leisurely law practice, largely for charity. According to Stephen F. Miller [13] in Recollections of New Bern Fifty Years Ago [14], Spaight attended courts in Craven and Jones [15]counties, but "I never heard of his appearing in a case. He was very rich and very diffident and was not destitute of fair abilities. . . . His object in associating with the lawyers from county to county was no doubt to enjoy their society, and to improve his mind by legal discussions which constantly took place in his presence."

Spaight never married. He was an active Mason [16] and a member of Christ Episcopal Church [17]. He was buried in the family cemetery at Cleremont plantation.