Michael Cresap Sprigg

Michael Cresap Sprigg (July 1, 1791 – December 18, 1845) was a U.S. Representative from Maryland and a prominent early nineteenth-century public official and businessman in western Maryland. A member of a politically active family, he was the brother of James Cresap Sprigg, who later served as a U.S. Representative from Kentucky. Michael Sprigg’s career spanned local and state office, national legislative service, and leadership in one of the era’s major internal improvement enterprises.

Sprigg was born on July 1, 1791, in Frostburg, Maryland, then a developing community in the western part of the state. He completed preparatory studies, which at the time typically consisted of instruction in the classical curriculum and basic legal and commercial subjects, preparing young men for careers in law, commerce, or public service. Although detailed records of his early professional pursuits are limited, his subsequent public roles indicate that he quickly became involved in local affairs and established himself as a figure of some influence in Allegany County.

Before entering statewide and national politics, Sprigg held a number of local offices, participating in the civic administration of his region as western Maryland grew in population and economic importance. His work at the local level helped to build his reputation and laid the foundation for his election to the Maryland House of Delegates. Representing Allegany County, he served in the House of Delegates in 1821 and 1823, and later returned for additional terms in 1837, 1840, and 1844. His repeated elections over more than two decades reflected sustained confidence in his leadership during a period marked by debates over internal improvements, banking, and the balance of power between state and federal authorities.

Sprigg’s prominence in state politics led to his election to the United States House of Representatives as a Jacksonian, aligning him with the political movement that coalesced around Andrew Jackson and emphasized expanded participation in government and skepticism of concentrated financial power. He was elected to the Twentieth and Twenty-first Congresses and served from March 4, 1827, to March 3, 1831, representing Maryland at a time when issues such as tariffs, internal improvements, and the role of the national bank were central to congressional debate. His affiliation as a Jacksonian placed him within the evolving Democratic Party that was reshaping American political life in the late 1820s.

During his tenure in Congress, Sprigg held a significant committee leadership position. He served as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures on Public Buildings in both the Twentieth and Twenty-first Congresses. In this role, he was involved in overseeing federal spending related to the construction, maintenance, and improvement of public buildings in the nation’s capital and other federal facilities, a responsibility that carried particular importance as Washington, D.C., continued to develop as the permanent seat of the federal government. His chairmanship underscored the trust placed in him to supervise matters of fiscal accountability and public infrastructure.

After leaving Congress in 1831, Sprigg remained active in public and economic affairs in Maryland. He continued to serve intermittently in the Maryland House of Delegates, where his experience in national government informed his contributions to state policy. In the early 1840s, he assumed a leading role in one of the most ambitious internal improvement projects of the era when he became president of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company. Serving as president in 1841 and 1842, he oversaw a critical phase in the effort to complete a canal linking the tidewater of the Potomac River to the interior, a project intended to enhance trade and transportation between the eastern seaboard and the western territories. His leadership in the company reflected the broader antebellum belief that canals and other internal improvements were essential to economic development.

Sprigg spent his later years in Cumberland, Maryland, a key transportation and commercial hub in western Maryland and an important point along both the National Road and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. He died there on December 18, 1845. He was interred in Rose Hill Cemetery in Cumberland, a burial place for many of the region’s notable figures. Through his service in local and state offices, his two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, and his presidency of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company, Michael Cresap Sprigg played a notable role in the political and economic life of Maryland during a formative period in the state’s and the nation’s history.