Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 09.djvu/444

 SMITH

SMITH

under the treaty of 1862 with Great Britain, and lie ^<erved. 1SG2-70. the system being abol- ished by the treaty of 1870. He is the author of: Examination of the Question of Ancesthesia (1859) reprinted as .47i Inquiry into the Origin of Ancesthesia (18G7). He died in Stamford, Conn., May 3, 1884.

SMITH, William, representative, was born in South Carolina. He was elected a Federal repre- sentative from the Pinckney district in the lst-5th congresses, 1789-97, resigning to accept the* ap- pointment of U. S. minister to Portugal, serving, 1797-1801. On his retui-n to South Carolina, he retired from political life, and resided on his plan- tation until his death. He is the author of: ^ Comparative View of the Constitutions of the States and of the United States, and a volume of speeches and letters (1795). He died in South Carolina in 1812.

SMITH, VVilliain, educator, was born on the bank of the river Don, a few miles from Aber- deen, Scotland, Sept. 7, 1727; son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Duncan) Smith; grandson of James Smith, a noted astronomer, and of Alexander

and (Murray)

Duncan of Lundie county, and through William, Sir William and John and Agnes (Charnock) Smyth, a descendant from Sir Rodger Clarendon, son of Edward, the Black Prince. He was graduated at the University of Aberdeen, B.A., in March, 1747; became a schoolmaster and commissioner of

schoolmasters, also acting clerk for the honorable society for the propagation of the gospel in London. On May 1, 1751, he came to America as tutor to two sons of Colonel Martin of New York city, residing on Long Island, the young men accompanying him from England where they had attended the uni- versity. He returned to England in 1753 for or- dination, and was made deacon in the palace at Fulham Vjy the Bishop of Lincoln at the request and in the presence of the Bishop of London, at the time too ill to perform the ceremony, Dec. 21, 1753. He was advanced to the priesthood two days later at the same place and by same request by the Bishop of Carlisle. He reported to the society the educational needs of the coloni.sts and especially of the Germans emigrating in large numbers into Pennsylvania, and his report led to the organization of the society for the education

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of the Germans in America. On his return to America, May 24, 1754, he was inducted into the oflBce of provost of the College and Academy of Philadelphia on the recommendation of Richard Peters and Benjamin Franklin, who had met and conferred with him on the subject while tutor in Colonel Martin's family. Besides his duties as provost he assumed the chair of natural phil- osophy, and instructed advance pupils in ethics and rhetoric. He became the object of Quaker resentment and, with Justice William Moore, was accused by the House of Assembly of libel, and both men were imprisoned from January 6, to April 11, 1758, and re-arrested on the re-assem- bling of the House in September, 1758, and held until the assembly dissolved, when he went free. During his imprisonment the pupils of the college met in the jail and received their daily instruc- tion, so as not to interfere with the progress of the college. He was finally purged of libel in

1759, but not till he had personally presented his case before the crown. During his visits to London, his claim to a doctor's degree was pre- sented to Oxford university by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the bishops of Durham, Salisbury, St. Asaph, Gloucester and Oxford, and he received his diploma, March 27, 1759, and a like degree from Aberdeen the same year, and from Trinity college, Dublin, at a subsequent visit to that city in 1763, when he was the guest of Thomas Penn and had a private audience with George III. He was president of the first convention of the American church in Pennsylvania, April 30,

1760, and of the third general convention held at Perth Amboy, N.J., in 1764. He was also chief- director of all the German schools in the prov- ince of Pennsylvania. His position in the Es- tablished church and his frequent visits to Eng- land and audiences with the King made him the object of criticism by both Quakers and Presby- terians, and strong efforts were made to destroy his popularity with the trustees of the college. He gained the ill will of Benjamin Franklin first by opposing his application for the doctor's de- gree sought from Oxford, and secondly by his advocacy of the claims of Ebenezer Kinnersly (q.v.), to the discovery of the principles of elec- tricity, which discovery Professor Kinnersly claimed to have communicated to Franklin, who had appropriated the same and failed to give due credit for the discovery. He drew up the charter and fundamental rules for the American Phil- osophical society, was secretary of the .society for many years, and was a member of the committee appointed by that body to observe the transit of Venus, June, 1769; of Mercury in 1776, and the eclipse of the Sun in 1777. On July 20, 1775, the occasion being the celebration of the first day of fasting and prayer appointed by the American