# Thomas Spight > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Thomas_Spight > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Thomas_Spight.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Spight > Source revision: 1350675084 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|American politician}} {{More citations needed|date=May 2024}} {{Infobox officeholder | image = ThomasSpight.jpg | district = 2nd | term_end = {{End date|1911|03|03}} | term_start = {{Start date|1898|07|05}} | preceded = [William V. Sullivan](/source/William_V._Sullivan) | succeeded = [Hubert D. Stephens](/source/Hubert_D._Stephens) | state = Mississippi | party = [Democratic](/source/Democratic_Party_(United_States)) | office1 = Member of the [Mississippi House of Representatives](/source/Mississippi_House_of_Representatives) | term1 = 1874–1880 | birth_date = {{Birth date|1841|10|25}} | birth_place = near [Ripley](/source/Ripley%2C_Mississippi), [Mississippi](/source/Mississippi) | death_date = {{Death date and age|1924|01|05|1841|10|25}} | occupation = Lawyer, schoolteacher, newspaper owner | allegiance = [Confederate States of America](/source/Confederate_States_of_America) | branch = Army | resting_place = Ripley Cemetery }} '''Thomas Spight''' (October 25, 1841 – January 5, 1924) was an American lawyer and [Confederate](/source/Confederate_States_Army) [Civil War](/source/American_Civil_War) veteran who served seven terms as a [U.S. Representative](/source/United_States_House_of_Representatives) from [Mississippi](/source/Mississippi) from 1898 to 1911. == Early life and education == Born near [Ripley, Mississippi](/source/Ripley%2C_Mississippi), Spight attended the common schools, Ripley Academy, Purdy (Tennessee) College, and the La Grange (Tennessee) Synodical College where he was a member of the Sigma (original) chapter of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. == Civil War == He enlisted in the [Confederate States Army](/source/Confederate_States_Army) as a private in 1861. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant the same year. In 1862, he became captain of Company B, Thirty-fourth Regiment, Mississippi Volunteer Infantry, and served until the close of the war. == Career == He taught school and also engaged in agricultural pursuits. He studied law. He was admitted to the bar in 1875 and commenced practice in Ripley, Mississippi. He served as member of the [Mississippi House of Representatives](/source/Mississippi_House_of_Representatives) from 1874–1880. He established the Southern Sentinel in 1879, retiring from the newspaper business five years later. He served as prosecuting attorney of the third judicial district 1884–1892. === Congress === Spight was elected as a [Democrat](/source/Democratic_Party_(United_States)) to the [Fifty-fifth Congress](/source/55th_United_States_Congress) to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of [William V. Sullivan](/source/William_V._Sullivan). He was reelected to the [Fifty-sixth](/source/56th_United_States_Congress) and to the five succeeding Congresses and served from July 5, 1898, to March 3, 1911. He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1910. == Later career and death == He again resumed the practice of his profession and also engaged in religious work until his death in [Ripley, Mississippi](/source/Ripley%2C_Mississippi), January 5, 1924. He was interred in Ripley Cemetery. ==References== {{CongBio|S000734}} == External links == * {{Find a Grave|6927016}} {{s-start}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box | state = Mississippi | district = 2 | before=[William V. Sullivan](/source/William_V._Sullivan) | after=[Hubert D. Stephens](/source/Hubert_D._Stephens) | years= 1898–1911 }} {{s-end}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Spight, Thomas}} Category:1841 births Category:1924 deaths Category:Confederate States Army officers Category:Democratic Party United States representatives from Mississippi Category:Democratic Party members of the Mississippi House of Representatives Category:People from Ripley, Mississippi Category:19th-century United States representatives Category:19th-century members of the Mississippi Legislature --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Thomas Spight](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Spight) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Spight?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.