Samuel Axley Smith was an American politician and a member of the

United States House of Representatives 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 house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

for the 3rd congressional district of

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

Biography

Smith was born in

Monroe County, Tennessee Monroe County is a county on the eastern border of the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 46,250. Its county seat is Madisonville. History During the early part of the 18th century, the area around what is now ...

on June 26, 1822. He was the younger brother of Colonel M. Whit Smith (b. Oct. 7, 1814), prominent lawyer, politician and Confederate officer from

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. Smith received a limited

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

, taught school, and studied law. He was admitted to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

in 1845 and commenced practice in

Cleveland, Tennessee Cleveland is the county seat of and largest city in Bradley County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 47,356 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Cleveland metropolitan area, Tennessee (consisting of Bradley and neigh ...

. He married Martha E McCarty in 1846 and they had two children, William and John Lea. Smith later married Lavinia W. Henderson, daughter of Hon. Luke Lea, U. S. Representative for Tennessee, in 1855.

Career

From 1845 to 1848, Smith was a District Attorney General for the city of

Chattanooga, TN Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

. He was a delegate to the

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 ...

in 1848. Smith was elected as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

to the Thirty-third, Thirty-fourth, and Thirty-fifth Congresses. He served from March 4, 1853 to March 3, 1859. He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1858 to the

Thirty-sixth Congress The 36th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1859, ...

. Appointed by President

Buchanan Buchanan may refer to: People * Buchanan (surname) Places Africa * Buchanan, Liberia, a large coastal town Antarctica * Buchanan Point, Laurie Island Australia * Buchanan, New South Wales * Buchanan, Northern Territory, a locality * Buchanan ...

to be Commissioner of the

General Land Office The General Land Office (GLO) was an independent agency of the United States government responsible for public domain lands in the United States. It was created in 1812 to take over functions previously conducted by the United States Department o ...

, Smith served from January 18 to February 12, 1860, when he resigned. On November 16, 1861, he was appointed by the governor of Tennessee to be an agent to collect arms for the

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

Death

Smith died at Ladd Springs, Tennessee in

Polk County Polk County is the name of twelve counties in the United States, all except two named after president of the United States James Knox Polk: * Polk County, Arkansas * Polk County, Florida * Polk County, Georgia * Polk County, Iowa * Polk Count ...

on November 25, 1863 (age 41 years, 152 days). He is

interred Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

at Amos Ladd's Burial Ground, Ladd Springs, Tennessee.

References

External links

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American Political Leaders 1789-2009

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Samuel Axley 1822 births 1863 deaths General Land Office Commissioners Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee 19th-century American politicians