Aubrey Henry Smith (October 14, 1814 - April 14, 1891) was a lawyer,

U.S. district attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...

, and early officer of the

Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad The Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad (PW&B) was an American railroad that operated independently from 1836 to 1881. It was formed in 1836 by the merger of four state-chartered railroads in three Middle Atlantic states to create a ...

. Smith graduated from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

in 1833. He married Mary Rose (b. 1822?- ), a daughter of Robert C. Grier (1794-1870), who served as a justice of the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

from 1846 to 1870. On January 4, 1837, he was admitted to the Philadelphia Bar, one of 15 that year. In 1838, he was assistant treasurer of the

, which, along with three other railroads, built the first rail link from Philadelphia to Baltimore. His service as an early railroad executive is noted on the 1839

Newkirk Viaduct Monument The Newkirk Viaduct Monument (also, Newkirk Monument) is a 15-foot white marble obelisk in the West Philadelphia neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Installed in 1839, it is inscribed with the names of 51 railroad builders and executives, ...

. In 1841, he purchased Printz Island, toward the eastern end of

Little Tinicum Island William Penn State Forest is a Pennsylvania State Forest in Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry District #17. The main offices are located in Elverson in Chester County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The forest is named for William Penn, the ...

in the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...

. He was a member of both the

Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, formerly the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, is the oldest natural science research institution and museum in the Americas. It was founded in 1812, by many of the leading natura ...

and the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

. In 1867, Smith published "On the colonies of plants observed near Philadelphia", the first of several scientific papers about the plants — often introduced from foreign lands — found on ballast heaps in the ports and wharves of New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. On April 5, 1869, he was appointed U.S. District Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. In 1876, he published a revised edition of "The Campaign Against Quebec," a history of the Revolutionary War campaign of 1775 by his grandfather,

John Joseph Henry John Joseph Henry (November 4, 1758 – April 15, 1811) was an American private soldier, lawyer, and judge from Pennsylvania in the American Revolutionary War. Biography Henry, the son of William Henry of Lancaster and Ann Wood Henry, was bor ...

. He was a member of the

Union League of Philadelphia The Union League of Philadelphia is a private club founded in 1862 by the Old Philadelphians as a patriotic society to support the policies of Abraham Lincoln. As of 2022, the club has over 4,000 members. Its main building was built in 1865 and ...

at least from 1876-78.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Aubrey Henry 1814 births 1891 deaths Pennsylvania lawyers University of Pennsylvania alumni 19th-century American lawyers