Joseph Riddick


Joseph Riddick was a North Carolina politician who served as Speaker of the North Carolina Senate for 11 years from 1800 to 1804 and from 1806 to 1811. Only Bartlett Yancey and Marc Basnight have led the state Senate for a longer span of time. Riddick was also a veteran of the American Revolutionary War. He attained the rank of General in the NC Militia.

Early life

Joseph was born in about 1735, probably in that portion of Perquimans County, North Carolina that became Gates County in 1779. His parents were Captain Joseph Riddick and Hannah Riddick. His mother was the daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth Hunter. Joseph Married Ann Stallings, who was the daughter of Simon Stallings.
Professor and historian Isaac Samauel Harrell writes the following

Political Career

Joseph Riddick was the leading man in the county from the close of the Revolutionary War to his death. He was in the Assembly from 1781 to 1811 and again in 1815 and 1817. For eleven years he was the speaker of the Senate; was a representative from Gates County to the Hillsborough Convention of 1788 that debated the Constitution of the United States. During its sessions he made himself distinguished on account of his common sense. He bitterly opposed the ratification by the state of the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions and their defeat is largely due to him. He was also a member of the convention of 1835 for a new constitution for the state. In 1798 Governor Samuel Johnston wrote to Supreme Court Justice James Iredell,
He made his trips to Raleigh in a stick-gig and never missed a session. At his old home is a grape-vine that he brought from Raleigh when he was a member of the Assembly.
He represented Gates County, North Carolina in the North Carolina General Assembly over a period of 35 years, including service in the North Carolina House of Commons and in the North Carolina Senate. He ran unsuccessfully for the United States House of Representatives as a Democratic-Republican in 1810 and 1813.
He was a Presidential elector for the state of North Carolina on 2 occasions--1809-Madison, 1817-Monroe.

Patriotic Service

Joseph was a member of the Chowan County Committee of Safety in 1776.

Commissioner

The following court record is stating that he was to be a commissioner to establish the county boundary line between Gates & Perquimans.
Joseph died September 1818. In his will, dated July 24, 1818, he mentions his wife Ann; sons Reuben, Isaiah, and Arthur; daughters Hannah Rogerson, Easter Billups, Avis Eason, and Mabel Hill; and grandsons Josiah, Kedar, and Nathan Riddick, Mills Hill, Langley Billups, Solomon Eason, and Jesse Rogerson.