John Samuel Spencer (1739 - 1794)

Ancestors

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Samuel Spencer, superior court justice and university trustee, was born in East Haddam, Connecticut, in 1734, the son of Samuel and Jerusha Spencer. Descended from highly respected and wealthy New England families, Spencer attended the College of New Jersey, where he graduated in 1759. It remains unclear as to when or why he moved to North Carolina. He was living in Anson County by October 1765 when he was appointed county clerk.

From 1766 to 1768 he represented Anson County in the Colonial Assembly. During the War of Regulation he served as an officer in William Tryon’s army and participated in the campaign leading to the Battle of Alamance. However, his allegiance to the Crown waned in the early 1770’s and he served as Anson County’s representative to the first three provincial congresses of 1774-1776. In 1777 he was appointed one of the first three justices of the superior court, the forerunner to the North Carolina Supreme Court.

In 1787, Spencer and his fellow Superior Court judges John Williams and Samuel Ashe oversaw a landmark case in legal history. When Elizabeth Cornell Bayard attempted to overturn the confiscation and purchase of the properties of her father, a noted Loyalist, by Spyers Singleton, the court agreed with her that the confiscation acts of 1785 had violated the Fourteenth Article of the 1776 state constitution which ensured all citizens a trial by jury in cases that could result in a loss of property. The case, Bayard v. Singleton, set a precedent for judicial review. The North Carolina case preceded the more famous court case Marbury v. Madison, often credited with such establishment, by more than sixteen years. A staunch Anti-Federalist, Spencer was one of the leading members of his faction at the 1788 Constitutional convention at Hillsborough. He argued against a strong Federal government contending that the Constitution as drafted did not assure a bill of rights. At the Fayetteville convention the following year, Spencer was one of the minority members who voted against ratification of the United States Constitution.

After the Constitutional debates Spencer retired to his plantation along Smith’s Creek near Wadesboro. He became a founding trustee of the University of North Carolina in 1789. Married in 1776 to Phillipa Pegues, Spencer was the father of four children.

Aside from his participation in Bayard v. Singleton and the Constitutional debates, Spencer is perhaps best known for the odd nature of his death. In mid-March 1793, he was sitting on the porch of his home enjoying an afternoon nap. He wore a red cap, and as he slept his head began to bob, angering a nearby turkey gobbler who took the movement as a challenge. The turkey’s attack left Spencer with numerous cuts and scratches, from which he developed an infection that killed him on March 20, 1793.

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Written by North Carolina History Project

Born in East Haddam, Virginia in 1738, Samuel Spencer played important roles in several chapters of the history of North Carolina. He served as the de facto executive of North Carolina after the American Revolution broke out. Shortly thereafter, he was elected a superior court judge in North Carolina, remaining on the bench until his death. He is, however, best known as the leader of the antifederalist faction at the Hillsborough Convention of 1788.

After his childhood in Virginia, Spencer attended the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University). He earned his bachelor’s degree in 1759. In 1760, he moved to Anson County, North Carolina, in the south central region of the state, where he practiced law. His career in politics began with his election to the North Carolina General Assembly in 1769.

Having attended the first North Carolina Provisional Convention in New Bern in 1774, Spencer took a seat in the North Carolina Provincial Congress in 1775. There he was elected colonel of the North Carolina Provincial Council of Safety, which was the executive branch of the provincial government of North Carolina from September 9, 1775 until November 12, 1776. This position made him the first de facto executive of the state of North Carolina and the predecessor of Richard Caswell, the first governor of the state of North Carolina.

In 1777, after the disbandment of the provincial government, Spencer joined the bench, becoming a North Carolina superior court judge. In 1788, Spencer was elected to the convention at Hillsborough, where delegates would decide whether North Carolina should ratify the new federal Constitution. Though not the most prominent delegate with antifederalist sentiments, Spencer would become the preeminent antifederalist debater in the Hillsborough Convention. Like many of the other antifederalists at the convention, Spencer argued against allowing the proposed U.S. Congress control of national Congressional elections.

Despite his antifederalism, Spencer was outspoken in support of the clause proscribing religious tests for federal offices. He made two arguments in support of this clause. First, he contended that a religious test could become a basis of persecution. Second, he claimed that a religious test would only keep morally upright citizens out of federal offices, for a disingenuous office-seeker could easily pass any religious test.

After the antifederalists’ victory in the Hillsborough convention, Spencer attended the Fayetteville convention of 1789, at which delegates voted to ratify the Constitution.

According to a late nineteenth-century magazine, Spencer died in 1794, when, while sleeping in a chair under a tree, he was attacked by a wild turkey. On this account, he died almost certainly not from a wound inflicted by the turkey but, rather, from falling out of his chair.

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Biography

This biography was auto-generated by a GEDCOM import.^[3] It's a rough draft and needs to be edited.

Name

Name: John Samuel /SPENCER/^[4][5][6][7]

Residence

Residence:

Date: 1777

Place: Anson, North Carolina, USA^[8]

Residence:

Date: 1772

Place: South Carolina^[9]

Residence:

Date: 1791

Place: North Carolina, USA^[10]

Residence:

Date: 1790

Place: Anson, North Carolina, United States^[11]

Note

Note: #N1201

Sources

1. ↑ References: William S. Powell, ed., Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, V, 412-413—sketch by J. Isaac Copeland and Jerry C. Cashion Albert Coates, Three North Carolinians Who Have Stood Up to Be Counted for the Bill of Rights (1973) Lucy I. Trenholme, The Ratification of the Federal Constitution in North Carolina (1967)
2. ↑ Walter Clark, "The Supreme Court of North Carolina," The Green Bag: An Entertaining Magazine for Lawyers 4, No. 10 (1892); Louise Irby Trenholme, The Ratification of the Federal Constitution in North Carolina (New York, 1967); Lyon Gardiner Tyler, ed., An Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography (New York, 1915), 91; Bessie Lewis Whitaker, The Provincial Council and Committees of Safety in North Carolina (Chapel Hill, 1908).
3. ↑ Spencer-7223 was created by Eric Wilson through the import of Wilson _ Carter_2014-06-04_01.ged on Jun 4, 2014. This comment and citation can be deleted after the biography has been edited and primary sources are included.
4. ↑ Source: #S108 Data: Text: Residence date: 1584-1851 Residence place: North Carolina, USA Note: #N1197
5. ↑ Source: #S8 Page: Year: 1790; Census Place: , Anson, North Carolina; Roll: ; Image: Data: Text: Residence date: 1790 Residence place: Anson, North Carolina, United States Note: #N1198
6. ↑ Source: #S110 Data: Text: Residence date: 1790-1840 Residence place: North Carolina, USA Note: #N1199
7. ↑ Source: #S109 Data: Text: Residence date: Residence place: South Carolina Note: #N1200
8. ↑ Source: #S108 Data: Text: Residence date: 1584-1851 Residence place: North Carolina, USA Note: #N1197
9. ↑ Source: #S109 Data: Text: Residence date: Residence place: South Carolina Note: #N1200
10. ↑ Source: #S110 Data: Text: Residence date: 1790-1840 Residence place: North Carolina, USA Note: #N1199
11. ↑ Source: #S8 Page: Year: 1790; Census Place: , Anson, North Carolina; Roll: ; Image: Data: Text: Residence date: 1790 Residence place: Anson, North Carolina, United States Note: #N1198

• Source: S108 Author: Ancestry.com Title: Historical sketches of North Carolina, from 1584 to 1851 : compiled from original records, official documents and traditional s Publication: Name: Online publication - Provo, UT: The Generations Network, Inc., 2005.Original data - Wheeler, John H.. Historical sketches of North Carolina, from 1584 to 1851 : compiled from original records, official documents and traditional statements, with biographica; Repository: #R13 NOTEVol. 2 contains a separate chapter on each county.|||Includes index.
• Repository: R13 Name: Ancestry.com Address: 360 West 4800 North, Provo, UT 84604 E-Mail Address: Phone Number:
• Source: S109 Author: Ancestry.com Title: U.K. and U.S. Directories, 1680-1830 Publication: Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2003.Original data - Avero Publications. Biography Database, 1680-1830. Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England: Avero Publications, 1998.Original data: Avero Publications. Biography Database, 1680-183; Repository: #R13
• Source: S110 Author: Ancestry.com Title: North Carolina schools and academies, 1790-1840 : a documentary history Publication: Name: Online publication - Provo, UT: The Generations Network, Inc., 2005.Original data - Coon, Charles Lee,. North Carolina schools and academies, 1790-1840 : a documentary history. Raleigh, N.C.: Edwards & Broughton, State Printers and Binders, 1915.Original d; Repository: #R13 NOTETitle on Spine: Publications of the North Carolina Historical Commission.
• Source: S8 Author: Ancestry.com Title: 1790 United States Federal Census Publication: Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2000.Original data - Indexed from: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Heads of Families at the First Census of the United States in the Year 1790. Washington, D.C.: Government; Repository: #R13

Notes

Note N1197http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=sse&db=genealogy-glh07878201&h=99&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt

Note N1198http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=sse&db=1790usfedcen&h=168932&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt

Note N1199http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=sse&db=genealogy-glh07882121&h=561&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt

Note N1200http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=sse&db=biodat&h=365532&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt

Note N1201Alleged to be a Judge.