James Cresap Sprigg

James Cresap Sprigg (1802 – October 3, 1852) was a United States Representative from Kentucky and a long-serving member of the Kentucky House of Representatives. He was born in 1802 in Frostburg, Allegany County, Maryland, into a family that would become active in public affairs; his brother, Michael Cresap Sprigg, later served as a U.S. Representative from Maryland. In Frostburg, James Sprigg completed his preparatory studies, receiving the basic classical and legal grounding typical of aspiring professionals of the early nineteenth century.

As a young man, Sprigg left Maryland and moved west to Shelbyville, Kentucky, a growing community that offered opportunities in law and politics on the expanding American frontier. In Shelbyville he pursued the study of law, reading in the offices of established attorneys as was customary at the time. After completing his legal training, he was admitted to the bar and commenced the practice of law. His professional work and growing reputation led to his holding several local offices in Kentucky, through which he became known in state political circles.

Sprigg entered state politics as a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives, first serving from 1830 to 1834. During this initial period in the legislature, he participated in debates over internal improvements, banking, and other issues that preoccupied Kentucky in the Jacksonian era. After a brief interval out of office, he returned to the Kentucky House of Representatives for a second stretch of service from 1837 to 1840, further consolidating his standing as a Whig-aligned politician and experienced legislator.

Building on his state legislative career, Sprigg was elected as a Whig to the Twenty-seventh Congress, representing Kentucky in the U.S. House of Representatives from March 4, 1841, to March 3, 1843. His term coincided with the Whig ascendancy in national politics under President William Henry Harrison and, following Harrison’s death, President John Tyler. In Congress, Sprigg served during a period marked by contentious debates over the national bank, tariff policy, and the scope of federal power, aligning with the Whig Party’s general support for a stronger role for Congress and for economic development measures.

In 1842, Sprigg sought reelection to the Twenty-eighth Congress, this time running as an Independent rather than under the formal Whig banner. His bid was unsuccessful, and he left national office at the close of his term in March 1843. After his congressional service, he returned to Shelbyville and resumed the practice of law, reengaging in local and state affairs and maintaining his influence in Kentucky politics.

Sprigg’s commitment to public service continued into the final year of his life. In 1852 he was again elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives, returning to the state legislature more than a decade after his service in Congress. He served in that body until his death later that year, remaining active in legislative duties while contending with the political and sectional tensions that were beginning to intensify nationally in the early 1850s.

James Cresap Sprigg died in Shelbyville, Kentucky, on October 3, 1852, while still a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives. He was interred in Grove Hill Cemetery in Shelbyville. His career, spanning local office, multiple terms in the Kentucky legislature, and a term in the U.S. House of Representatives, reflected the trajectory of a nineteenth-century lawyer-politician who helped shape public life in both his adopted state of Kentucky and the nation.