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William Smith was an eighteenth- and nineteenth-century congressman from Virginia.

Life and career

Born in Chesterfield, Virginia, Smith graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1807. He studied law and relocated to Greenbrier County, Virginia.

During the War of 1812 Smith served as a captain of artillery, stationed in Norfolk, Virginia.

Smith was first elected to the House of Delegates for the session of 1819/20.

He was elected a Democratic-Republican, Crawford Republican and Jacksonian to the United States House of Representatives in 1820, serving from 1821 to 1827.

Smith served a second time in the House of Delegates for the session of 1828/29.

Smith was elected to the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1829-1830 from Greenbrier County, serving from a district made up of Monroe, Greenbriar, Bath, Botetourt, Alleghay, Pocahontas and Nicolas. He served there on the Committee on the Executive Department.

In the 1840s, Smith was an aide to Democratic Governor James McDowell 1843–46, and served as a presidential elector in 1844.

Smith was elected to the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1850 from Greenbrier County, serving from a district made up of Greenbrier County, from an Assembly district made up of the transmontane Greenbrier, Pocahontas, Fayette, Raleigh, Nicholas and Kanawha Counties.

In the 1850s, Smith served from Greenbriar in the Virginia Senate in the sessions of 1857/58 and 1859/60. On the eve of the American Civil War, he again served in January 1861.

Election of 1821

Smith was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives with 53.17% of the vote, defeating fellow Democratic-Republican James Wilson.

References

1. Pulliam 1901, p. 112
2. Pulliam 1901, p. 112
3. Swem 1918, p. 430
4. Congressional Biographical Directory, "William Smith"
5. Swem 1918, p. 430
6. Pulliam 1901, p. 68, 71
7. Pulliam 1901, p. 112
8. Pulliam 1901, p. 99
9. Swem 1918, p. 430

Bibliography

• "Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774 - Present". bioguide.congress.gov. United States Congress. Retrieved January 1, 2016.
• Pulliam, David Loyd (1901). The Constitutional Conventions of Virginia from the foundation of the Commonwealth to the present time. John T. West, Richmond. ISBN 978-1-2879-2059-5.
• Swem, Earl Greg (1918). A Register of the General Assembly of Virginia, 1776-1918, and of the Constitutional Conventions. David Bottom, Superintendent of Public Printing. ISBN 978-1-3714-6242-0.

External links

• United States Congress. "William Smith (id: S000626)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

v t e Members of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 7th congressional district
Page Venable Randolph Lewis Caperton B. Smith W. Smith Leftwich Claiborne Stuart Goggin Wise Bayly W. "EB" Smith Upton McKenzie Braxton Harris Paul Sr. O'Ferrall Turner Hay T. Harrison Paul Jr. T. Harrison Garber Fishburne Robertson B. Harrison Marsh Robinson Slaughter Allen Bliley Cantor Brat Spanberger Vindman

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

• Members of the Virginia House of Delegates
• Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia
• Jacksonian members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia
• People from Chesterfield, Virginia
• People from Greenbrier County, West Virginia
• Virginia state senators
• 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives