Thomas Spalding

Thomas Spalding, born March 25, 1774, on St. Simons Island, Georgia, and died January 4, 1851, was a United States representative from Georgia who, after being admitted to the bar in 1795 without practicing law, devoted himself to agricultural pursuits on his Sapelo Island plantation using enslaved labor. He became one of the largest producers of Sea Island cotton in Georgia and wrote extensively on its cultivation, is credited with introducing sugarcane cultivation to the state in 1805, built tabby-walled sugar mills including one powered by tidal action, helped found the Union Agricultural Society of Georgia in 1824, and contributed to agricultural publications including The Southern Agriculturist and American Agriculturist.