In commemoration of his birthday, and many contributions to the formation of the State of North Carolina and the United States, Richard Dobbs Spaight will be honored Friday, March 25, with a proclamation declaring March 25, 2016 Richard Dobbs Spaight Day in New Bern, NC.
City of New Bern Mayor Dana Outlaw, the Daughters of the American Revolution Richard Dobbs Spaight Chapter and the New Bern Garden Club will convene at Spaight’s gravesite on Madame Moore’s Lane in New Bern on Friday at 2 p.m. for a reading of the proclamation. The New Bern Garden Club will place a wreath at the Spaight grave in commemoration of the proclamation.
North Carolina’s first native-born governor and a New Bern native, Spaight was a patriot of the American Revolutionary War and one of the representatives from North Carolina to sign the United States Constitution in 1787. Spaight died in New Bern on Sept. 6, 1802, from injuries sustained from a pistol duel with political rival John Stanly.
Outlaw and the New Bern Board of Aldermen approved the proclamation at its meeting Tuesday, March 8, following a request from the DAR Richard Dobbs Spaight Chapter.
The Spaight gravesite is located on Tryon Palace’s Clermont Plantation property. The property entrance and gravesite are located on Madame Moore’s Lane, just east of the Marion Drive intersection.
In January Tryon Palace announced the beginning of an effort to revitalize the 51-acre Clermont property and Spaight gravesite after the late Hughrena MacDonald bequeathed the land to the Tryon Palace Foundation following her death in 2008.
For more information call 252-639-3500 or visit TryonPalace.org.
Upcoming events at Tryon Palace include:
March 26: Easter Egg Hunt
March 29: Behind-the-Scenes: Spring in the Gardens
April 8-9: Spring Heritage Plant Sale
April 8-10: Spring Garden Lovers Weekend
Submitted by: Craig Ramey, Marketing and Communications, Manager for Tryon Palace