Mississippi Department of Archives and History

SPEIGHT, Jesse, a Representative from North Carolina and a Senator from Mississippi; born in Greene County, N.C., September 22, 1795; attended the country schools; member, State house of commons 1820, and served as speaker; member, State senate 1823-1827; elected from North Carolina to the Twenty-first and to the three succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1829-March 3, 1837); was not a candidate for renomination; moved to Plymouth, Miss.; member, State senate 1841-1844, and served as president; elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate from Mississippi and served from March 4, 1845, until his death; chairman, Committee on Engrossed Bills (Twenty-ninth Congress), Committee to Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses (Twenty-ninth Congress); died in Columbus, Miss., May 1, 1847; interment in Friendship Cemetery.