John Sitgreaves

Who was John Sitgreaves?

John Sitgreaves was a British-born American lawyer and jurist from New Bern, North Carolina. He was a delegate for North Carolina to the Continental Congress in 1785. He was Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives in 1787-88, and a United States federal judge for many years thereafter.

Sitgreaves attended Eton College in England, and read law to enter the bar in North Carolina. He was in private practice in New Bern before joining the Continental Army, in which he was a Lieutenant. He was a clerk to the North Carolina State Senate from 1777 to 1779, a member of the Board of Auditors for Public and Private Accounts in 1779, and a commissioner at for Sale of Confiscated Properties in 1780. He was elected to the North Carolina House of Commons in 1784, serving as a Delegate from North Carolina to the Continental Congress from 1784 to 1785. He was a Special U.S. judge in admiralty at Williamsburg, Virginia in 1785, returning to the North Carolina House of Commons from 1786 to 1788.