Benjamin H. Smith (October 31, 1797 – December 10, 1887) was a nineteenth-century American politician from

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. A U.S. District Attorney for both Whig President

Millard Fillmore Millard Fillmore (January 7, 1800March 8, 1874) was the 13th president of the United States, serving from 1850 to 1853; he was the last to be a member of the Whig Party while in the White House. A former member of the U.S. House of Represen ...

and Republican

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

, Smith also participated in Constitutional Conventions for both Virginia (1850) and West Virginia (1865).

Early life

Smith was born in Rockingham County, Virginia in 1797. His family migrated to Ohio in 1810, and he graduated from

Ohio University Ohio University is a Public university, public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confeder ...

in 1819.

Career

As an adult, Smith settled in Kanawha County, Virginia and began a law practice. Smith served in the Virginia state Senate from Kanawha County in the sessions of 1833/34, 1834/35, 1835/36, 1836/37 and in the January portions of 1838 and 1839. While a state Senator, Smith received a Master of Arts from the Ohio University. Appointed U.S. District Attorney for the Western District of Virginia in 1849, because of his Whig affiliation, he was removed during the Presidency of

Franklin Pierce Franklin Pierce (November 23, 1804October 8, 1869) was the 14th president of the United States, serving from 1853 to 1857. He was a northern Democrat who believed that the abolitionist movement was a fundamental threat to the nation's unity ...

, 1853-1857. In 1850, Smith was elected to the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1850. He was one of four delegates elected from the transmontane delegate district made up of his home district of Kanawha County as well as Greenbrier, Pocahontas, Fayette, Raleigh, and Nicholas Counties. Smith was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates from Kanawha County for the session 1855/56. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

in 1863, President

reappointed Smith as U.S. District Attorney for the Western District of Virginia encompassing much of what was to become West Virginia; Smith served in that position until 1865. Smith was a member of the West Virginia Convention of 1865. He was a Democratic candidate for Governor of West Virginia in 1866, and a member of the West Virginia legislature for one term.

Death

Benjamin H. Smith died in

Charlestown, West Virginia Charles Town is a city in Jefferson County, West Virginia, United States, and is also the county seat. The population was 5,259 at the 2010 census. It is named for its founder Charles Washington, youngest brother of President George Washington. ...

on December 10, 1887. Pulliam 1901, p. 112

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Benjamin H. 1797 births 1887 deaths Members of the Virginia House of Delegates United States Attorneys for the Western District of Virginia Virginia state senators Virginia Whigs People from Rockingham County, Virginia People from Charles Town, West Virginia West Virginia Democrats