Nathaniel Smith (January 6, 1762 – March 9, 1822) was a nineteenth-century lawyer, cattle dealer, judge and politician. He served as a

U.S. Representative 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 c ...

from Connecticut and as a judge of the

Supreme Court of Connecticut The Connecticut Supreme Court, formerly known as the Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors, is the highest court in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It consists of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices. The seven justices sit in Hartford, acr ...

Biography

Smith was born in

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 ...

in the

Connecticut Colony The ''Connecticut Colony'' or ''Colony of Connecticut'', originally known as the Connecticut River Colony or simply the River Colony, was an English colony in New England which later became Connecticut. It was organized on March 3, 1636 as a settl ...

, the son of Richard Smith and Annis (Hurd) Smith. He attended the

common school A common school was a public school in the United States during the 19th century. Horace Mann (1796–1859) was a strong advocate for public education and the common school. In 1837, the state of Massachusetts appointed Mann as the first secretary o ...

s and engaged in

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...

pursuits. He was also a

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...

dealer. Smith attended the

Litchfield Law School The Litchfield Law School of Litchfield, Connecticut, was the first independent law school established in America for reading law. Founded and led by lawyer Tapping Reeve, the proprietary school was unaffiliated with any college or university. (Whi ...

. He studied law and was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1787. Smith began the practice of law in Woodbury. In 1789 Smith became a member of the

Connecticut House of Representatives The Connecticut State House of Representatives is the lower house in the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The house is composed of 151 members representing an ...

, and served in the State House until 1795. He was elected as a

Federalist The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters called themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of de ...

candidate to the Fourth and Fifth Congresses, serving from March 4, 1795 to March 3, 1799. He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1798. Smith served as a member of the Connecticut council of assistants from 1799 to 1804. He served in the

Connecticut Senate The Connecticut State Senate is the upper house of the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The state senate comprises 36 members, each representing a district with around 99,280 inhabitants. Sena ...

from 1800 to 1805. Smith was State's Attorney for

Litchfield County Litchfield County is in northwestern Connecticut. As of the 2020 census, the population was 185,186. The county was named after Lichfield, in England. Litchfield County has the lowest population density of any county in Connecticut and is the ...

in 1805. In 1806 he became judge of the

. He kept this position for thirteen years. He was also a delegate to the

Hartford Convention The Hartford Convention was a series of meetings from December 15, 1814, to January 5, 1815, in Hartford, Connecticut, United States, in which the New England Federalist Party met to discuss their grievances concerning the ongoing War of 1812 and ...

from 1814 to 1815. Smith died in Woodbury on March 9, 1822. He is interred in the Episcopal Church Cemetery.

Personal life

Smith married Ruth Benedict Smith. They had two children, Harriet J. Smith and Nathaniel Benedict Smith. Smith was the brother of Nathan Smith, United States Senator from Connecticut, and the uncle of

Truman Smith Truman Smith (November 27, 1791 – May 3, 1884) was a Whig member of the United States Senate from Connecticut from 1849 to 1854 and a member of the United States House of Representatives from Connecticut's 4th and 5th congressional districts ...

, United States Senator from Connecticut.

References

External links

*
Govtrack.us: Rep. Nathaniel Smith

Litchfield Historical Society: Nathaniel Smith

Biographical Directory of the United States Congress: SMITH, Nathaniel, (1762 - 1822)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Nathaniel 1762 births 1822 deaths Members of the Connecticut General Assembly Council of Assistants (1662–1818) Members of the Connecticut House of Representatives Justices of the Connecticut Supreme Court People from Woodbury, Connecticut Federalist Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Connecticut 19th-century American Episcopalians