North Carolina General Assembly of 1836–1837


The North Carolina General Assembly of 18361837 met in Raleigh from November 21, 1836 to January 23, 1837. The assembly consisted of the 120 members of the North Carolina House of Commons and 50 senators of North Carolina Senate elected by the voters in August 1836. During the 1836 session, the legislature created Davie County, but it was not until 1842 that Davie County began sending delegates to the General Assembly. William H. Haywood, Jr was elected speaker of the House of Commons and Charles Manley was elected clerk. Hugh Waddell was elected President of the Senate and Thomas G. Stone was elected Clerk. Richard Dobbs Spaight, Jr. was the Governor in 1835 and 1836. He was elected by the previous legislature. In 1837, the Governor of North Carolina, Edward Bishop Dudley from New Hanover County, was elected, for the first time, by the people vice the legislature. The Whigs would control North Carolina politics until 1850. While in power, their notable achievements included funding railroads and roads, public education, and State chartered banks.

Qualifications for office and voting

Voters and office holders were required by the North Carolina constitution of 1776 to own property. The amendments to the constitution in 1835 also disqualified free blacks from voting. Free blacks were qualified to vote in the original 1776 constitution.
The specific wording in the amended constitution, Article 1, Section 3, is as follows:
The religious qualifications for office were expanded to include the following statement:
Members of the House of Commons and Senate were elected every two years, starting with an election in 1835 for the 18361837 session of the general assembly.

Laws passed by the general assembly

The State treasure had a balance of $55,113.06 on deposit on January 19, 1837, including $25,192.04 in the literary fund. In 1836, the federal government gave North Carolina $1.5 M from sale of western lands. The following laws, acts, and resolutions were passed by the general assembly:
The General Assembly elected the following Councilors of State on December 28, 1836:
William Hill, elected in 1811, continued to serve as Secretary of State. Samuel F. Patterson, elected in 1835, continued to serve as North Carolina State Treasurer. John Reeves Jones Daniel, elected in 1835, continued to serve as North Carolina Attorney General.

Members of the legislature

House of Commons

Per the 1835 Constitution of North Carolina Convention, the House of Commons was authorized a total of one hundred-twenty delegates. Each county was authorized a minimum of one delegate, while the most populous counties were authorized four delegates. Members no longer included representatives from the boroughs or districts. Each delegate was elected for a two-year term of office.
CountyNo of House MembersHouse of Commons Members
Anson2John A. McRae
Anson2John Grady
Ashe1James M. Nye
Beaufort2F.C. Satterthwaite
Beaufort2S. Smallwood
Bertie2John F. Lee
Bertie2Thomas H. Speller
Bladen1Joseph M. Gillespie
Brunswick1Frederick Jones Hill
Buncombe2Montreville Patton
Buncombe2John Clayton
Burke3Edward J. Erwin
Burke3E. P. Miller
Burke3James H. Perkins
Cabarrus1William S. Harris
Camden1D. Pritchard
Carteret1Thomas Marshall
Caswell2Littleton A. Gwinn
Caswell2William A. Lea
Chatham3R.C. Cotten
Chatham3John S. Guthrie
Chatham3Spencer McClennahan
Chowan1Thomas S. Hoskins
Columbus1J. Maultsby
Craven2Abner Hartley
Craven2Abner Neale
Cumberland2Stephen Hollingsworth
Cumberland2Dillon Jordan
Currituck1Alfred Perkins
Davidson2Charles Brummell
Davidson2Meshack Pinckston
Duplin2Owen Rand Kenan
Duplin2James H. Jarman
Edgecombe2Joseph John Daniel
Edgecombe2James George
Franklin2Thomas Howerton
Franklin2Joseph J. Maclin
Gates1Whitmell Stallings
Granville3Charles R. Eaton
Granville3William Fleming
Granville3Robert B. Gilliam
Greene1Thomas Hooker
Guilford3Peter Adams
Guilford3Jesse H. Lindsay
Guilford3F. L. Simpson
Halifax3S.H. Gee
Halifax3I. Matthews
Halifax3Bartholomew Figures Moore
Haywood1John L. Smith
Hertford1Kenneth Rayner
Hyde1Tillman Farrow
Iredell3Theophilus M. Campbell
Iredell3James A. King
Iredell3Solomon Lowdermilk
Johnston2James Tomlinson
Johnston2Kedar Whitley
Jones1James W. Howard
Lenoir1Windall Davis
Lincoln4Henry Cansler
Lincoln4Michael Hoke
Lincoln4O. W. Holland
Lincoln4Thomas Ward
Macon1James W. Gwinn
Martin1Raleigh Roebuck
Mecklenburg3Green Washington Caldwell
Mecklenburg3J. A. Dunn
Mecklenburg3James M. Hutchison
Montgomery2William Harris
Montgomery2Encoh Jordan
Moore1John A.D. McNeill
Nash1Henry Blount
New Hanover2Charles Henry
New Hanover2John R. Walker
Northampton2Roderick B. Gary
Northampton2Herod Faison
Onslow1John A. Averitt
Orange4John Boon
Orange4William Alexander Graham
Orange4Nathaniel J. King
Orange4John Stockard
Pasquotank1David H. Kenyan
Perquimans1Josiah T. Granberry
Person2Moses Chambers
Person2James M. Williamson
Pitt2Macon Moye
Pitt2John Spiers
Randolph2Michael Cox
Randolph2William B. Lane
Richmond2John McAllister
Richmond2George Thomas
Robeson2Oliver K. Tuton
Robeson2Alexander Watson
Rockingham2Blake W. Brasswell
Rockingham2Philip Irion
Rowan3John Clements
Rowan3William D. Crawford
Rowan3Charles Fisher
Rutherford3John H. Bedford
Rutherford3Thomas Jefferson
Rutherford3William J. T. Miller
Sampson2Isaac W. Lane
Sampson2Dickson Sloan
Stokes3James M. Covington
Stokes3Peter Critz
Stokes3Caleb H. Matthews
Surry3James Calloway
Surry3Daniel William Courts
Surry3P. B. Roberts
Tyrrell1Silas Davenport
Wake3Weston Raleigh Gales
Wake3William Henry Haywood, Jr.
Wake3Nathaniel G. Rand
Warren2John H. Hawkins
Warren2Thomas I. Judkins
Washington1Joshua T. Swift
Wayne2Calvin Coor
Wayne2Raiford Whitney
Wilkes2Wiliam Horton
Wilkes2John Watts
Yancey1Samuel Byrd

Senate members

As a result of 1835 amendments to the Constitution of North Carolina, the Senate was authorized a total of fifty delegates from fifty districts apportioned on approximately equal populations. After each U.S. Census, these districts were to be adjusted, again based on approximately equal populations. Each delegate was elected for a two-year term of office. There was no lieutenant governor in 1836. Hugh Waddell was President of the Senate.
DistrictCounties RepresentedSenator
1Pasquotank & PersquimansJohn M. Skinner
2Camden & CurrituckDaniel Lindsay
3Chowan & GatesWilliam W. Cowper
4Tyrrell & WashingtonHezekiah G. Spruill
5NorthamptonWilliam Moody
6HertfordGeorge W. Montgomery
7BertieAlexander W. Mebane
8MartinJesse Cooper
9HalifaxAndrew Joyner
10NashSamuel L. Arrington
11WakeSamuel Whitaker
12FranklinJohn Davis Hawkins
13JohnstonJosiah Houlder
14WarrenWeldon Nathaniel Edwards
15EdgecombeThomas H. Hall
16WayneJohn Exum
17Greene & LenoirWilliam Dunn Moseley
18PittAlfred Moye
19Beaufort & HydeJames O'Kelly Williams
20Carteret & JonesJames West Bryan
21CravenJohn M. Bryan
22ChathamWilliam Albright
23GranvilleJohn C. Taylor
24PersonJohn Barnett
25CumberlandDuncan McCormick
26SampsonThomas Bunting
27New HanoverLouis H. Marsteller
28DuplinJohn E. Hussey
29OnslowDaniel S. Saunders
30Bladen, Brunswick, & ColumbusJames Burney
31Richmond & RobesonAlfred Dockery
32AnsonAbsalom Myers
33CabarrusChristopher Melchor
34Montgomery & MooreJohn B. Kelley
35CaswellJames Kerr
36RockinghamDavid S. Reid
37OrangeHugh Waddell
38RandolphJonathan Redding
39GuilfordJames T. Morehead
40StokesMatthew R. Moore
41RowanThomas Gilchrist Polk
42DavidsonJohn L. Hargrove
43SurryWilliam P. Dobson
44Ashe & WilkesEdmund Jones
45Burke & YanceyThomas Baker
46LincolnMichael Reinhardt
47IredellGeorge F. Davidson
48RutherfordJoseph Carson, M.D.
49Buncombe, Haywood, & MaconJames Gudger
50MecklenburgStephen Fox