John Derby Smith (April 9, 1812 – April 26, 1884), was an American minister, physician, and Massachusetts state legislator. Smith, the youngest son of Nathan Smith,

Doctor of Medicine Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin language, Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a profes ...

, Professor of Medicine in

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

, was born in

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

, New Hampshire, April 9, 1812. The year after his birth his father became the head of the newly organized

Medical Institution of Yale College The Yale School of Medicine is the graduate medical school at Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was founded in 1810 as the Medical Institution of Yale College and formally opened in 1813. The primary te ...

. He graduated from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

in 1832. In 1833 he entered the

Yale Divinity School Yale Divinity School (YDS) is one of the twelve graduate and professional schools of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Congregationalist theological education was the motivation at the founding of Yale, and the professional school has ...

, and after two years there and two in the Andover Theological Seminary, he was licensed to preach in 1837. After a brief employment as acting pastor in Athol, Massachusetts, he was ordained, November 20, 1839, pastor of the Second Congregational Church in Charlemont, Massachusetts, where he continued until August 11, 1844. Then, on the partial failure of his health, he took up the study of medicine, and received a diploma from the

Baltimore Medical College University of Maryland Medical Center Midtown Campus (formerly Maryland General Hospital) is a hospital in the downtown area of Baltimore, Maryland. The hospital was founded for teaching purposes in 1881 by a group of local doctors. The hospital h ...

in 1846. In June 1848, he was resettled over his former charge in Charlemont, which he finally left in May 1852, though for some time longer residing in the town, which he represented in the

State Legislature A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

in 1854. He supplied the pulpit in Berkley, Massachusetts, from 1854 to 1858, and in

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals *Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking *Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil W ...

, Massachusetts, from 1860 to 1863, when he entered the U.S. Army as a contract-surgeon. After the close of 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 ...

, he was for a short time a clerk in the Treasury Department at Washington, and in July 1867, received the appointment of acting assistant surgeon in the U.S, Navy. At the close of four years' charge of the Naval Hospital in Pensacola, Florida, his health was so far broken by attacks of fever that he was ordered home on sick leave. His later years were spent in the village of Scotland, in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, where he died, of congestion of the liver, April 26, 1884, aged 72 years. He married, March 17, 1837, Sarah, daughter of Garry Bacon, of

Woodbury Woodbury may refer to: Geography Antarctica *Woodbury Glacier, a glacier on Graham Land, British Antarctic Territory Australia * Woodbury, Tasmania, a locality in Australia England * Woodbury, Bournemouth, an area in Dorset *Woodbury, East Devo ...

, Conn., who died May 11, 1848. He next married, April 22, 1849, Mary M. Dole, of Charlemont, who died March 30, 1854; he was again named, April 12, 1855, to Susan A. eldest daughter of Dr. J. H. Anthony, of

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

, Rhode Island, who died June 10, 1883. He left a large family of children; one son by his third marriage received the degree of M.D. at Yale in 1878.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:smith, john derby 1812 births 1884 deaths 19th-century American clergy 19th-century American legislators People from Hanover, New Hampshire Yale Divinity School alumni American Congregationalist ministers United States Navy Medical Corps officers University of Maryland School of Medicine alumni Members of the Massachusetts General Court People from Bridgewater, Massachusetts People from Charlemont, Massachusetts People from Berkley, Massachusetts People from Douglas, Massachusetts Civilian doctors serving the Union Army Yale College alumni Military personnel from Massachusetts 19th-century Massachusetts politicians