David Gillespie (surveyor)

David Gillespie
North Carolina Councilor of State
In office
December 6, 1817  December 1824
Member of the
North Carolina House of Commons
from Bladen County
In office
November 16, 1812  December 25, 1813
Serving with John Owen
Preceded byThomas Brown
James Owen
Succeeded byJames J. Cummings
John Sellers
In office
November 16, 1807  December 18, 1807
Serving with James Bunbury White
Preceded byAmos Richardson
Succeeded byThomas Brown
James Owen
Personal details
Born(1774-04-05)April 5, 1774
Duplin County, Province of North Carolina
DiedSeptember 28, 1829(1829-09-28) (aged 55)
Bladen County, North Carolina, U.S.
Burial placeCarvers, North Carolina, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic-Republican
Spouse
Sarah Street
(m. 1802)
Children12
Parents
Alma materUniversity of North Carolina
Occupation
  • Planter
  • engineer
  • surveyor
  • military officer
  • politician
Military service
Branch/serviceU.S. Army
North Carolina militia
RankSecond Major
UnitFirst Brigade, 4th Regiment
Battles/wars

David B. Gillespie (April 5, 1774 – September 28, 1829) was an American land surveyor and politician. He was the first person granted a document in the nature of a diploma from what is today the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He received the document prior to leaving the university in 1796 to assist the astronomer Andrew Ellicott with determining the Southern boundary of the United States after the 1795 Treaty of San Lorenzo with Spain. Gillespie was a member of the North Carolina House of Commons from Bladen County, served on the North Carolina Council of State, and in the North Carolina militia as a second major in the War of 1812.