William Sprigg (1770 – September 9, 1827) was an American attorney who twice served as Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court, as well as adjudicated on the Superior Court of the Orleans Territory and the highest court of the Illinois Territory.

Early life

Sprigg was born in 1770 in

Prince George's County, Maryland ) , demonym = Prince Georgian , ZIP codes = 20607–20774 , area codes = 240, 301 , founded date = April 23 , founded year = 1696 , named for = Prince George of Denmark , leader_title = Executive , leader_name = Angela D. Alsobroo ...

to Joseph Sprigg and Hannah Lee. His uncle, Thomas Sprigg, was a Member of Congress from Maryland from 1793–1797. His half-brother, Samuel Sprigg, was Governor of Maryland from 1818-1820.

Career

Sprigg headed westward to Hagerstown and Cumberland, Maryland (where relatives were merchants) then continued along the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

. He became a pioneer and early attorney in Adams County, Ohio, then in the

Northwest Territory The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolutionary War. Established in 1 ...

. When Ohio became a state in 1803, the state legislature appointed Sprigg to the Ohio Supreme Court. He served as a justice of the Supreme Court from April 1803 to April 1806, and again from 1808 to 1810. During the interim period, Sprigg received an appointment from President Thomas Jefferson to serve on the highest court in the Territory of Orleans, which he did from January 1806 to November 1808.''Celebration of the Centenary of the Supreme Court of Louisiana'' (March 1, 1913), in John Wymond, Henry Plauché Dart, eds., ''The Louisiana Historical Quarterly'' (1922), p. 113. In 1812, Governor Ninian Edwards of the newly formed Illinois Territory appointed Sprigg as a judge for that territory. Sprigg served on the Illinois court for several years alongside

Jesse B. Thomas Jesse Burgess Thomas (1777May 2, 1853) was an American lawyer, judge and politician who served as a delegate from the Indiana Territory to the tenth Congress and later served as president of the Constitutional Convention which led to Illinois be ...

and

Stanley Griswold Stanley Griswold (November 14, 1763August 21, 1815) was a Democratic-Republican politician from Ohio. He served in the U.S. Senate. Born in Torrington, Connecticut, Griswold served in the militia during the Revolutionary War. After graduating f ...

. However, when Illinois was on the verge of becoming a state, he and Thomas became the center of controversy about the relative relationship between the judicial and legislative branches, and both wrote to the U.S. Congress. By April, 1818 Judge Sprigg was either removed or had resigned from the bench. When Illinois became a state in December 1818, the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the current constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 re ...

approved none of the territorial judges to the newly formed

Illinois Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Illinois is the state supreme court, the highest court of the State of Illinois. The court's authority is granted in Article VI of the current Illinois Constitution, which provides for seven justices elected from the five ap ...

. Sprigg sought nomination for Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Illinois, but failed.

Death and legacy

Judge Spriggs returned eastward, moving to

Hagerstown, Maryland Hagerstown is a city in Washington County, Maryland, United States and the county seat of Washington County. The population of Hagerstown city proper at the 2020 census was 43,527, and the population of the Hagerstown metropolitan area (exten ...

, where he died among relatives on September 9, 1827. Sprigg Township in Adams County, Ohio is named for Judge Sprigg.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sprigg, William 1770 births Justices of the Louisiana Supreme Court United States federal judges appointed by Thomas Jefferson 19th-century American judges People from Prince George's County, Maryland 1827 deaths Justices of the Ohio Supreme Court Illinois Territory officials Politicians from Hagerstown, Maryland Sprigg family