Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 09.djvu/448

 SMITH

SMITH

Chicago, 111., 1870-77, consolidating the same with the New York Associated Press in 1883, and serving as general manager of the united systems until 181)3. Meanwhile he was collector of cus- toms at Chicago, 1877-83, by appointment of President Hayes, and was the President's literary executor. 1893-96. The honorary degree of LL.D. was conferred upon him by the Ohio Wesleyan university in 1894. His historical re- searcli in the British museum resulted in the dis- covery of several unpublished letters of Wash- ington to Col. Henry Bouquet and in proving the inaccuracy of those published by Jared Sparks. He is the author of: The St. Clair Papers (2 vols.. 188'2) ; TJie Life of Charles Hammond; Political History of the United States. Ho also left a nearly finished work entitled, Life and Administration of President Rutherford B. Hatjes. He died in Lake Forest, 111., July 27. 1896.

SMITH, William Hugh, governor of Alabama, was burn in Fayette county, Ga., April 9, 1826 ; son of Jeptlia Vinen and Nancy (Dickson) Smith ; grandson of William and Mary (Powell) Smith, and of David, general of Georgia state militia and captain in the war of the Revolution, and Anne (Smitli) Dickson ; great-gi-andson of Nich- olas and Polly (Burke) Smith ; John and Peggy (McDonald) Powell ; William and Elizabeth Dickson, and Charles and Elizabeth (Hendricks) Smith, and of English and Scotch descent. He removed to Randolph county, Ala., at an early age ; acquired a common school education ; was admitted to the bar, and began the practice of law. He was married Jan. 29, 1852, to Lucy, daughter of John and Mary (Bailey) Wortham of Randolph county. He was a Democratic member of the state legislature for two terms prior to the civil war. He was opposed to slavery and to the secession of the Confederate States, as were his seven brothers and their father, who was, however, a large slave holder. He was a Douglas and Johnson elector in 1860 ; circuit judge of Alabama, 1866-68, and Republican gov- ernor from July 13, 1868, until the fall of 1870, when he was succeeded by R. B. Lindsay, Dem- ocrat. In 1872 he was returned to the bench of the circuit court. He was appointed by Presi- dent Garfield, attorney for the northern and middle districts of Alabama, serving, 1881-85, after which he devoted himself to law practice in Birmingham, Ala., where he died, Jan. 1, 1899.

SMITH, William Nathan Harrell, jurist, was born in Murfreesboro. N.C., Sept. 24, 1812. He was graduated from Yale, A.B., 1834, A.M., 1837, and from the Yale Law school in 1840. He was a representative in the North Carolina legislature in 1840 ; state senator, 1848 ; solicitor for the first judicial circuit, 1848-64 ; Democratic representa- tive in the 36th congress, 1859-61, and joined the

Confederate cause in 1861. He was a member of the Confederate States congress, 1862-65 ; a repre- sentative in the state legislature in 1805 and aided in the reconstruction of the state. He practised law in Norfolk, Va., 1870-72, and returned to Raleigh, N.C., in 1872. He succeeded Richmond W. Pearson as chief justice of the supreme court of North Carolina, and .served. 1878-89. He was a trustee of the University of North Carolina, 1865-68. and the honorary degree of LL.D. was conferred on him by Yale, in 1881. He died in Raleigh, N.C., Nov. 14, 1889.

SMITH, William Russell, representative and author, was born in Russellville, Ky., March 27, 1815; son of Ezekiel (of Russellville. Ky.) and Elizabeth (Hampton) Smith. He was a student at the University of Alabama, 1831-34, but did not graduate ; was admitted to the bar in 1834, and commenced practice in Greensborough, Ala. He commanded a volunteer company against the Creek Indians in 1836 ; removed to Tuscaloosa in 1838, where he founded and edited the 3Iir- ror, and was elected mayor of the city in 1839. He was a member of the state legislature, 1842- 43 ; an unsuccessful candidate for state senator in 1843 ; removed to Fayette county ; was judge of the seventh judicial district, and brigadier- general of state militia, 1850-51. He was elected as a Union Whig representative from Alabama, to the 32d congress, serving, 1851-53 ; was re- elected as a Democrat to the 33d congress, serv- ing, 1853-55 ; as a National American to the 34th congress, serving, 1855-57, during which term he acquired notoriety for his denunciation of Louis Kossuth, the Hungarian patriot, and he was de- feated as a candidate for the 35th congress in 1856 by Sydenham Moore (q.v.). He %vas a mem- ber of the state convention in 1861, where he op- posed secession ; was a representative in the 1st and 2d Confederate States congresses, 1862-65 ; president of the University of Alabama, 1870-71, and after that time devoted himself to the prac- tice of lasv and to the literary profession in Tus- caloosa. He is the autlior of : Sinith's Alabama Justice (1841) ; Smith's Digest of the Opinions of the Supreme Court; As It Is, a novel (1860); Condensed Alabama Reports (1862) ; several es- says under the pen-name of " Phocion " and a number of poems. He was married three times : first, to Jane Binion, Tuscaloosa, 1843 ; secondly, to Mary Jane Murray, Fayette, Jan. 3, 1847 ; and thirdly to Wilhemina Maria Easby, Washington, D.C., June 14, 1854. He died in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Feb. 26. 1896.

SMITH, William Sooy, soldier and civil en- gineer, was born in Tarlton, Ohio, July 22, 1830. He was an honorary graduate of the Ohio uni- versity, A.B., 1853, A.M., 1855, and was graduated from the United States Military academy in 1853.