Joseph Sprigg

Following a hiatus during the American Civil War, Sprigg relocated to Moorefield, West Virginia, in 1866 and established a law partnership with former judge J. W. F. Allen.On March 7, 1844, the Maryland General Assembly passed an act authorizing Sprigg's father to freely move his slaves across state lines between his farms as often as he deemed necessary.[2] He attended the Democratic Party's state convention held in Charleston in June 1870, where he represented the Tenth Senatorial District on the Committee on Resolutions.[16] Sprigg ran against incumbent Aquilla B. Caldwell and was subsequently elected to the post with 28,020 votes, a large majority, and began his term as attorney general on January 1, 1871.Camden received the party's nomination, but despite the support from Sprigg, he lost in the general election to Jacob, who ran as a "People's Independent" candidate.[22] Sprigg attended the Democratic Party's state convention at Charleston in June 1876 and represented the Eleventh Senatorial District on the committee on resolutions.[24] Prior to the general election of 1876, Sprigg delivered speeches at a number of public speaking engagements hosted by county Democratic committees, including an event in Charles Town where he headlined alongside U.S.[4][29] During his tenure, Sprigg served as chairman of the Judiciary Committee and was initially a candidate for Speaker of the West Virginia House of Delegates.The league was formed in December 1899 for the purpose of cleaning up the pollution of the North Branch Potomac River, Cumberland's main public water source.[43][44][45] Other cities downstream from the company's Luke pulp mill, including Hancock, complained of pollution and decreased fish populations in the river.In early 1906, Sprigg was a spokesperson for the Associated Merchants organization, which had hired an independent auditor to investigate the city government's questionable accounting and appropriation practices.The independent auditor uncovered gross mismanagement, and the Associated Merchants, with Sprigg as their spokesperson, urged the Cumberland city council to take action.[3][57][58] While residing in West Virginia, Sprigg was an incorporator of several companies aimed at bringing further economic development to Moorefield and the South Branch Potomac River Valley.In February 1869, Sprigg became an incorporator of the Moorefield Building Co-operative Association, which managed a fund for investment in real estate development and construction.[59] In March 1869, he was an incorporator of the Cumberland, Moorefield and Broadway Rail Road Company, which was established to undertake the construction and maintenance of a proposed railway from a point on the North Branch Potomac River in Mineral County to the Virginia–West Virginia state line near Monterey.Sprigg was a member and sometime president of the Tri-State Agricultural Association of Allegany County, which held a fair at its grounds near Cumberland in October 1894 and 1895.[39][62][63] Sprigg was an active Freemason, and served as junior warden and later master of the Potomac Lodge, Number 100 of the Free and Accepted Masons, in Cumberland.