Thomas Spalding (1774-1851) - Find a Grave Memorial

US Congressman. He attended schools in Georgia, Florida and Massachusetts. He then studied law and won admission to the bar in 1790. He owned plantations where he grew cotton and is credited as the first Georgia farmer to grow sugar cane. Spalding served in the Georgia House of Representatives in 1794 and was a member of the state Constitutional Convention in 1798. In 1803 he served in the Georgia Senate. In 1804 he appeared to be an unsuccessful candidate for the US House of Representatives, but in 1805 he successfully contested the election of Cowles Mead and assumed the seat, serving from 1805 to 1806. Spalding was a founder of the Bank of Darien and served as its President. In 1826 he was one of Georgia's Commissioners that determined the boundary with Florida. In addition, he was a US Commissioner appointed to settle claims with British subjects of Bermuda who had property seized or destroyed by the United States during the War of 1812. Spalding was President of the 1850 Milledgeville Convention, which resolved that Georgia would resist by force any federal laws that abolished or restricted slavery. He became ill while returning home from the convention and died at his son's house in Darien. Spalding built two homes of tabby, a mixture of oyster shells, lime, sand and water. South End House on Sapelo Island is used as a retreat for Georgia governors. Ashantilly Plantation is adjacent to the cemetery where he was buried. Spalding County, Georgia was named for him.

Bio by: Bill McKern