George Baldwin Smith (May 22, 1823September 18, 1879) was an American lawyer and Democratic politician. He was the 4th

Attorney General of Wisconsin The Attorney General of Wisconsin is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of the government of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Forty-five individuals have held the office of Attorney General since statehood. The incumbent is Josh Kaul, ...

, and the 3rd and 16th mayor of

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...

.A Loss to Wisconsin: Death of Gen. George B. Smith, a leading lawyer and Democratic politician
''New York Times'', September 22, 1879, at 2. Reprinting article from the ''

Milwaukee Sentinel The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper. It is also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely distributed. It is currently ...

'', September 19, 1879.

Legal and political career

Smith was admitted to the federal bar in to Southport,

Wisconsin Territory The Territory of Wisconsin was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 3, 1836, until May 29, 1848, when an eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Wisconsin. Belmont was ...

, (present-day

Kenosha, Wisconsin Kenosha () is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the seat of Kenosha County. Per the 2020 census, the population was 99,986 which made it the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, Kenos ...

) in 1843. In 1845, he moved to the territorial capital of

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

, where he was appointed

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

for

Dane County Dane County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 561,504, making it the second-most populous county in Wisconsin. The county seat is Madison, which is also the state capital. Dane County is the ...

in January 1846. He served in this role until 1852. He was elected to represent Dane County at the 1846 Wisconsin Constitutional Convention.Gen.

David Atwood David Atwood (December 15, 1815 – December 11, 1889) was a nineteenth-century American politician, publisher, editor and printer from Wisconsin. He represented Wisconsin's 2nd Congressional District in the United States House of Represen ...

, Speech to the Wisconsin Historical Society, November 10, 1879. Reprinted
Report and Collections on the State Historical Society of Wisconsin for the years 1877, 1878 and 1879
' vol. VIII. Madison, Wisconsin:David Atwood, 1879, p. 111–120. Smith was elected Attorney General of Wisconsin in 1853, serving from 1854 to 1856; he declined a re-nomination in 1855. After leaving office, his name was drawn into the scandal involving the fraudulent re-election of

William A. Barstow William Augustus Barstow (September 13, 1813December 13, 1865) was an American businessman, politician, and public administrator. He was the third governor and second Secretary of State of Wisconsin, and served as a Union Army officer during the ...

in 1855. He then served as mayor of Madison from 1858 to 1861. He represented the city in the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Representatives are elected for two-year terms, ...

in 1859, 1864, and 1869. The

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

selected him as their candidate to run for his district's congressional seat in 1864 and 1872, but he failed to win both times. Smith was also the unsuccessful Democratic candidate for Senate in 1869, losing to Matthew H. Carpenter. In 1876 he helped to supervise the canvass of electoral votes in

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

in the heavily-disputed 1876 presidential election. He was re-elected as mayor of Madison in April 1878, and served until just a few months before his death, in Madison, in 1879.

Personal life and education

Smith was born in Parma Corners,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

to Reuben Smith and Betsy Page Smith; his mother died ten weeks after his birth. His family moved to

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, in 1825, then to

Medina, Ohio Medina ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Medina County, Ohio, United States. The population was 26,094 at the 2020 Census. It lies about 33 miles (53 km) south of Cleveland and 23 miles (37 km) west of Akron within the Clevelan ...

, in 1827. Smith studied law with attorneys in Medina and Cleveland before moving with his father to Wisconsin in 1843.Letters of George B. Smith
Wisconsin Historical Society Smith married Eugenia Weed in 1844. They had five children, two of whom survived to adulthood: James and Anna.

Electoral history

Wisconsin Attorney General (1853)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 8, 1853

Madison Mayor (1858)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, March 1, 1858

Wisconsin Assembly Dane 6th District (1858)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 2, 1858

Madison Mayor (1859, 1860)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, March 7, 1859 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, April 3, 1860

Wisconsin Assembly Dane 5th District (1863)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 3, 1863

U.S. House of Representatives (1864)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 8, 1864

Wisconsin Assembly Dane 5th District (1868)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 3, 1868

U.S. House of Representatives (1872)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 5, 1872

Madison Mayor (1878)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, April 2, 1878

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, George Smith 1823 births 1879 deaths People from Parma, New York Lawyers from Madison, Wisconsin Democratic Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly Wisconsin Attorneys General Mayors of Madison, Wisconsin District attorneys in Wisconsin 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American lawyers