US Congressman. He was born Jesse Vines Speight in 1795 or 1798 (sources differ) to Seth E. Speight Sr. and Mary Elizabeth Vines Speight in Greene County, North Carolina, and was educated in local country schools. After his education, he ran for public office and was elected to the North Carolina State Legislature (or House of Commons) and served in that position in 1820. He also served as a Member of the North Carolina State Senate from 1823 to 1827, and also as Speaker of the North Carolina State Senate from 1823 to 1827. He then ran for a seat in the United States Congress and was elected. A Democrat, he then served North Carolina's 4th District (Twenty-First and three succeeding Congresses) in the United States House of Representatives from 1829 to 1837. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1836. After his term in the United States Congress had expired on March 3, 1837, he relocated to Plymouth, Mississippi. He then ran for a seat in the Mississippi State Senate and was elected as a Democrat and served in that position from 1841 to 1844. He also served as the President of the Mississippi State Senate from 1842 to 1843. He lastly served as a United States Senator from the State of Mississippi serving in that position from 1845 to 1847. While serving as a United States Senator, he was Chairman of the Committee on Engrossed Bills for the Twenty-Ninth Congress and Chairman of the Committee to Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses for the Twenty-Ninth Congress. He passed away following a long illness while still serving in public office on May 1, 1847, in Columbus, Mississippi, at the age of 51, and he was buried in the Friendship Cemetery. He was married to Mary Grimes May with whom he had a daughter named Maria Grimes Speight on December 23, 1817. His wife Mary predeceased him on September 5, 1826, at the age of 31. His daughter Maria passed away on June 22, 1896, at the age of 78.