urn:taro:utexas.cah.02381 A Guide to the Ashley Wood Spaight Papers, 1826-1912 Original EAD encoding by Laurel Rozema according to TARO 2 EAD 2002 Editing Instructions. February 2011 Finding aid written in English. Descriptive Summary Spaight, Ashley Wood, 1821-1911 Spaight, Ashley Wood, papers 1826-1912 Materials are written in English. 1944; 64-140 2 in. Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin Composed of correspondence, financial and legal documents, military records, biographical information, and photographs, the Ashley Wood Spaight Papers, 1826-1912, concern Spaight’s political and military career in Texas. Biographical Note

Born in Alabama to John and Matilda (Wood) Spaight, Ashley Wood Spaight (1821-1911) served in the Creek War before graduating from the University of North Carolina in 1842. He later began a law practice with Thomas W. Watts and served in the Alabama Legislature (1846-1848). In 1854, Spaight married Victoria M. Riggs, and the couple settled on a plantation in Liberty County, Texas, in 1861. During the Civil War, he joined the Confederate Army, organizing the Moss Bluff Rebels and commanding as lieutenant colonel the 11th Texas Cavalry Battalion, also known as Spaight’s Regiment of Texas Volunteers. In 1864, Spaight, now a colonel, took command of the 21st Texas Infantry and the Confederate headquarters at Houston. Following his service as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1866, Spaight moved to Galveston in 1869. From 1881 to 1883, he served as state commissioner of insurance, statistics, and history, supervising the publication of The Resources, Soil, and Climate of Texas in 1882.

Source:

Wooster, Robert. Spaight, Ashley W. Handbook of Texas Online. Accessed February 28, 2011. http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fsp01.

 Scope and Contents

Composed of correspondence, financial and legal documents, military records, biographical information, and photographs, the Ashley Wood Spaight Papers, 1826-1912, concern Spaight’s political and military career in Texas. Comprising official correspondence, rosters, appointments, regimental histories, and muster rolls, military records document the activities and history of Spaight’s Regiment of Texas Volunteers and the Moss Bluff Rebels during the Civil War. Correspondence, financial documents, and legal papers pertain to his work as an attorney and state commissioner of insurance, statistics, and history as well as his familial affairs in Texas and Alabama.

 Alternate Format Available

This collection is also available on microfilm: 24,518, Series C, Part 1, Reel 23 (filmed as part of the Civil War Research Collections: Confederate Military Manuscripts, by University Publications of America).

 Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research use.

For preservation purposes, a photocopy of the roster of commissioned officers in Spaight’s Regiment is provided for patron use.

 Index Terms Subjects (Persons) Spaight, Ashley Wood, 1821-1911 -- Archives. Subjects (Organizations) Confederate States of America. Army. Texas Cavalry Regiment, 11th. Confederate States of America. Army. Texas Infantry Regiment, 21st. Texas. Dept. of Agriculture, Insurance, Statistics and History. Subjects Attorneys -- Texas. Places Texas -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865. Texas -- Politics and government -- 19th century. Preferred Citation

Ashley Wood Spaight Papers, 1826-1912, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.

 Processing Information

Basic processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with funds from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) for the Briscoe Center’s “History Revealed: Bringing Collections to Light project,” 2009-2011.

 Detailed Description of the Papers Contact repository for inventory.