Samuel Dinsmore Purviance

Samuel Dinsmore Purviance was a Congressional Representative from North Carolina.  Born on Masonboro Sound  at Castle Fin House, near Wilmington, North Carolina.  He attended a private school; studied law; was admitted to the bar and practiced at Fayetteville, North Carolina.  He also owned and operated a large plantation.  In about 1792 he married Mary Brownlow (c.1774–January 23, 1802), daughter of John Brownlow and Rebecca Evans of Cumberland County, North Carolina. He was member of the North Carolina State House of Commons in 1798 and 1799; member of the North Carolina State Senate from Cumberland County in 1801; trustee of the Fayetteville Academy in 1803; elected as a Federalist to the Eighth Congress (March 4, 1803-March 3, 1805); continued the practice of law in Fayetteville; died on the Red River in 1806, while on an exploring expedition into what is now Tennessee and Kentucky.