After practicing law and serving as a clerk and master in equity, Stanly was elected to the North Carolina House of Commons in 1798 and 1799.

[1] He is also known for killing Richard Dobbs Spaight, a signer of the Constitution, in a famous duel in 1802.

Although Spaight's family sought to have Stanly charged with murder, he was pardoned by Gov.

[2] As a result of the duel, North Carolina passed a strict anti-duelling law prohibiting duelists from holding public office, and listing the duel as a specific crime, as opposed to a common law offense.

One theory offered by Bramlett is that the elder Stanly, while on a trip to India during the American Revolution, met a British soldier named Stanley.