Ray B. Smith
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Ray Burdick Smith (December 7, 1867 – December 28, 1939) was an American lawyer and politician from New York.


Life

Smith was born on December 7, 1867 in
Cuyler, New York Cuyler is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Cortland County, New York, Cortland County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 908 at the 2020 census. The town is in the northeastern corner of Cortland C ...
. He was the son of farmer Willis Smith and Emily Burdick. When he was a child, Smith moved with his parents to Lincklean. He attended DeRuyter Academy and Cazenovia Seminary, graduating from the latter in 1886. He then attended
Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...
for a year, after which he attended
Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
. While in Yale, he edited the
Yale Literary Magazine The ''Yale Literary Magazine'', founded in 1836, is the oldest student literary magazine in the United States and publishes poetry, fiction, and visual art by Yale undergraduates twice per academic year. Notable alumni featured in the magazine whi ...
and won the
John Addison Porter Prize The John Addison Porter Prize is a literary award given annually by Yale University to the best work of scholarship in any field "where it is possible, through original effort, to gather and relate facts or principles, or both, and to present the ...
. He was also a member of
Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...
,
Psi Upsilon Psi Upsilon (), commonly known as Psi U, is a North American fraternity,''Psi Upsilon Tablet'' founded at Union College on November 24, 1833. The fraternity reports 50 chapters at colleges and universities throughout North America, some of which ...
, and Chi Delta Theta. He graduated with distinction, and a degree in
Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
, in 1891. After graduating from Yale, Smith attended
Cornell Law School Cornell Law School is the law school of Cornell University, a private Ivy League university in Ithaca, New York. One of the five Ivy League law schools, it offers four law degree programs, JD, LLM, MSLS and JSD, along with several dual-deg ...
, where one of his professors was future
New York governor The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has a ...
and Supreme Court Chief Justice
Charles Evans Hughes Charles Evans Hughes Sr. (April 11, 1862 – August 27, 1948) was an American statesman, politician and jurist who served as the 11th Chief Justice of the United States from 1930 to 1941. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the ...
. He then moved to
Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...
, where he finished his law studies and passed the bar in 1893. He quickly started the law firm Woods & Smith, later called Thomson, Woods & Smith. He later headed the law firm Smith, Heyden & Setright. He also served as president of several corporations, including the First Mortgage Bond Corporation, Syracuse Press, Inc., Selina Paper Company, and Excelsior Insurance Company of New York. Smith was appointed a clerk for the 1894 New York State Constitutional Convention. He was Clerk of the Committee on General Laws in the
New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan com ...
in 1894 and
1895 Events January–March * January 5 – Dreyfus affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his army rank, and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island. * January 12 – The National Trust for Places of Histor ...
. He served as
town supervisor The administrative divisions of New York are the various units of government that provide local services in the State of New York. The state is divided into boroughs, counties, cities, townships called "towns", and villages. (The only borou ...
of the Syracuse 14th ward from 1896 to 1900. He was appointed Assistant Clerk of the
New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...
in
1898 Events January–March * January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, B ...
, 1899,
1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), 2 ...
,
1901 Events January * January 1 – The Crown colony, British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria (Australia), Victoria and Western Australia Federation of Australia, federate as the Australia, ...
, 1902, 1903,
1904 Events January * January 7 – The distress signal ''CQD'' is established, only to be replaced 2 years later by ''SOS''. * January 8 – The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library system. * ...
,
1905 As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War begins, more than 100,000 die in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos leads to the 1905 Russian Revolution against Nicholas II of Russia (Shostakovich's 11th Symphony i ...
,
1906 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...
, and
1907 Events January * January 14 – 1907 Kingston earthquake: A 6.5 Mw earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica, kills between 800 and 1,000. February * February 11 – The French warship ''Jean Bart'' sinks off the coast of Morocco. ...
. He was elected
Clerk of the New York State Assembly The Clerk of the New York State Assembly heads the administration of the New York State Assembly. The outgoing clerk of the previous session presides over a new Assembly until a Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politi ...
by the Assembly in 1908,
1909 Events January–February * January 4 – Explorer Aeneas Mackintosh of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition escaped death by fleeing across ice floes. * January 7 – Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama. * Januar ...
, and 1910. He was a delegate to the 1915 New York State Constitutional Convention. He was the vice-chairman and chairman of the Onondoga County Republican Committee, and from 1906 to 1907 he served as assistant secretary of the
New York State Republican Committee The New York Republican State Committee, established in 1855, is the New York State affiliate of the United States Republican Party (GOP). The party has headquarters in Albany, Buffalo, and New York City.
. In 1922, he worked with Willis Fletcher Johnson to publish the "Political and Governmental History of the State of New York," a six-volume history on the politics and political parties of New York from George Clinton to 1922. Smith was a
Mason Mason may refer to: Occupations * Mason, brick mason, or bricklayer, a craftsman who lays bricks to construct brickwork, or who lays any combination of stones, bricks, cinder blocks, or similar pieces * Stone mason, a craftsman in the stone-cut ...
and a
Shriner Shriners International, formally known as the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine (AAONMS), is an American Masonic society established in 1870 and is headquartered in Tampa, Florida. Shriners International describes itself ...
. He was a member of the
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE; also often known as the Elks Lodge or simply The Elks) is an American fraternal order founded in 1868, originally as a social club in New York City. History The Elks began in 1868 as a soci ...
, the
Improved Order of Red Men The Improved Order of Red Men is a fraternal organization established in North America in 1834. Their rituals and regalia are modeled after those assumed by men of the era to be used by Native Americans. Despite the name, the order was formed ...
, the
Independent Order of Foresters The Independent Order of Foresters, operating as Foresters Financial, is a fraternal benefit society headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada that provides life insurance and other financial solutions in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United ...
, the Onondaga County Bar Association, and the
New York State Bar Association The New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) is a voluntary bar association for the state of New York. The mission of the association is to cultivate the science of jurisprudence; promote reform in the law; facilitate the administration of justice ...
. He married Nellie King Reilay in 1891. They had a son, Willis King. Smith died in his son's home in
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
on December 28, 1939. He was buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Syracuse.


References


External links

*
The Political Graveyard
'
Ray B. Smith
at ''
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'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Ray B. 1867 births 1939 deaths New York (state) Republicans People from Cortland County, New York People from Chenango County, New York Yale University alumni Psi Upsilon Cornell Law School alumni Lawyers from Syracuse, New York Politicians from Syracuse, New York County legislators in New York (state) American Freemasons Burials at Oakwood Cemetery (Syracuse, New York) Clerks of the New York State Assembly