Charles Brooks Smith (February 24, 1844 – December 7, 1899) was a Union Army veteran, businessman and

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

politician who served in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

for a single term from

West Virginia's 4th congressional district West Virginia's 4th congressional district is an obsolete district existing from 1883 to 1993. While the district's bounds were changed many times over the years, from the 1940 redistricting to the 1970 redistricting, the district was focused on ...

Early and family life

Born in 1844 in

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

(which in 1848 became the county seat of newly organized Wirt County, Virginia (now West Virginia)) to Virginia-born Caroline B. Smith and her Pennsylvania-born merchant husband, Robert S. Smith. By 1850, the family moved to

Parkersburg Parkersburg is a city in and the county seat of Wood County, West Virginia. Located at the confluence of the Ohio and Little Kanawha rivers, it is the state's fourth-largest city and the largest city in the Parkersburg-Marietta-Vienna metro ...

, a growing city on the Ohio River and the county seat for Wood County (from which Wirt County had partly been formed), so Charles received his private education there (Virginia having no public schools until after the Civil War). In 1850, his father was listed as the head of household and a merchant with $3000 in real estate; the family included a year-old daughter Amy, as well as 50-year old Robert S. Smith Sr. (an English-born tanner with $2,500 in real estate) and Virginia-born Thomas Smith (15 years old) and Elizabeth Smith (12 years old; probably their father's younger siblings). By the 1860 census, Wood's father listed his occupation as "private citizen", and he owned $5000 in real estate and $5000 in personal property, the same as his next door neighbor, lawyer Arthur Boreman (the neighbor on the other side, also a "private citizen" 70-year old John P. Mayberry, owned $36,000 in real estate and 9,500 in personal property). The family appears to have moved to a wealthier neighborhood and included an English-born female domestic servant but neither Robert Smith Sr. nor Thomas, Elizabeth nor Amy.

American Civil War

On March 1, 1864, Smith enlisted in Company I of the First West Virginia Cavalry, associated with the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...

, and which saw heavy action, ending with General Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House. Within a week he was commissioned as a second lieutenant (on March 5, 1864), and was honorably discharged on July 8, 1865. The regimental surgeon (who earned the Medal of Honor for saving a drowning soldier on May 22, 1864 was

Henry Capehart Henry Capehart (March 18, 1825 – April 15, 1895) was a surgeon and officer in the U.S. Cavalry during the American Civil War. He received the Medal of Honor for saving the life of a drowning soldier while under fire at Greenbrier River, West Vir ...

, and his younger brother Charles Capehart earned a Medal of Honor during the

Battle of Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg () was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. In the battle, Union Major General George Meade's Army of the Po ...

and was promoted to Lt. Colonel of the regiment on August 1, 1864 (and received his medal in 1898).

Career

After the war, Smith became a steamboat captain and businessman in Parkersburg. In 1875 voters elected Smith the Recorder for Wood County. Elected to the Parkersburg city council in 1876, two years later he became the mayor of Parkersburg (1878–1880). Such appears a part-time position for on the 1880 census Smith lists his occupation as "crockery dealer".1880 U.S. Federal census for district 162, Parkersburg, Wood County, West Virginia family 137 (p. 15 of 50 By the end of the year, voters had elected Smith the Wood County sheriff and treasurer (1880–1884). He served as delegate at large to the Republican National Convention in 1888. Smith successfully contested as a

the election of James Monroe Jackson to the Fifty-first Congress and thus served a partial term, from February 3, 1890, to March 3, 1891. Democrat James Capehart defeated Smith by year's end, so he did not serve in the Fifty-second Congress in 1890. Smith then sold fire insurance.

Death and legacy

He died in Parkersburg, Wood County, West Virginia on December 7, 1899.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Charles Brooks 1844 births 1899 deaths American businesspeople in insurance American merchants Mayors of places in West Virginia Politicians from Parkersburg, West Virginia People from Wirt County, West Virginia People of West Virginia in the American Civil War Union Army officers West Virginia city council members West Virginia sheriffs Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from West Virginia 19th-century American legislators 19th-century American businesspeople West Virginia Republicans 19th-century American merchants Military personnel from West Virginia 19th-century West Virginia politicians