John Smilie (1741December 30, 1812) was an

Irish-American , image = Irish ancestry in the USA 2018; Where Irish eyes are Smiling.png , image_caption = Irish Americans, % of population by state , caption = Notable Irish Americans , population = 36,115,472 (10.9%) alone ...

politician from Newtownards, County Down, Ireland. He served in both houses of the state legislature and represented

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

in the

U.S. House 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 ...

from 1793 until 1795 and from 1799 to 1812. John Smilie Signature

Biography

Smilie was born in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and immigrated on May 24, 1762, settling first in Lancaster County. He moved to Fayette in 1780. He was a prominent Jeffersonian and was identified with the "'Quid" branch of the party. In 1806–07, during the debates over the abolition of the

slave trade Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

, Smilie was among the most outspoken against the evils of the slave trade. He argued that slaves illegally imported after 1808 should be freed, and that slave smugglers deserved the death penalty. Neither provision was adopted.

Congress

He was elected to the Thirteenth Congress in 1812 but died before it opened. In 1791, Smilie was elected a member of 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 ...

Death

He died in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, aged 71, and is buried in the

Congressional Cemetery The Congressional Cemetery, officially Washington Parish Burial Ground, is a historic and active cemetery located at 1801 E Street, SE, in Washington, D.C., on the west bank of the Anacostia River. It is the only American "cemetery of national m ...

there.

References

External links

Biographic sketch at U.S. Congress websiteGrave Location in the Congressional Cemetery
1741 births 1812 deaths American people of Scotch-Irish descent Burials at the Congressional Cemetery Kingdom of Ireland emigrants to the Thirteen Colonies Members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Pennsylvania state senators People from Fayette County, Pennsylvania People of the Whiskey Rebellion Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania {{Pennsylvania-Representative-stub

Biography

Congress

Death

See also

References

Further reading

External links