Samuel Nicholas Smallwood (5 September 1772 – September 30, 1824) was the fifth and seventh

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

of Washington, D.C. and was the first popularly elected mayor of the city. Appointed to a one-year term in 1819, Smallwood was elected the following year to a two-year term, which he served from 1820–1822. He then was re-elected in 1824 but served only three months of his second term before dying at the age of 52.

Biography

Smallwood was born in

Charles County Charles County is a county in Southern Maryland. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 166,617. The county seat is La Plata, Maryland, La Plata. The county was named for Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore, Charle ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, in 1772. He was the son of Samuel Smallwood, from a prominent family that included members of the Maryland Assembly and Revolutionary War hero General

William Smallwood William Smallwood (1732February 14, 1792) was an American planter, soldier and politician from Charles County, Maryland. He served in the American Revolutionary War, rising to the rank of major general. He was serving as the fourth Governor ...

. In 1794, Smallwood moved to the section of

Prince George's County ) , demonym = Prince Georgian , ZIP codes = 20607–20774 , area codes = 240, 301 , founded date = April 23 , founded year = 1696 , named for = Prince George of Denmark , leader_title = Executive , leader_name = Angela D. Alsobrook ...

that would eventually become

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Washington. He worked on both of the most important and prestigious construction projects in the new capital: he quarried rock for the foundation of the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

and was overseer of the slaves who built the

U.S. Capitol The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the Seat of government, seat of the Legislature, legislative branch of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is form ...

in 1795. In 1801, he married Ruth Beall. By 1804 he was one of the leading merchants of lumber and building supplies in the city. He also owned one of the major wharves in the city, Smallwood's Wharf, on the

Anacostia River The Anacostia River is a river in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States. It flows from Prince George's County in Maryland into Washington, D.C., where it joins with the Washington Channel to empty into the Potomac River at Buzzard Point. ...

(then known as the "Eastern Branch") in southeast Washington, D.C. He was also a bank director and an incorporator for the Washington Canal that was built in 1815. In 1807, Smallwood was one of eight wealthy city residents (along with George Blagden,

Commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore'' * Air commodore, a ...

Thomas Tingey Thomas Tingey (11 September 1750 – 23 February 1829) was a commodore of the United States Navy. Originally serving in the British Royal Navy, Tingey later served in the Continental Navy. Tingey served with distinction during the Quasi-War and s ...

and Henry Ingle) who attenuated a large lot in Washington for use as a public burial ground. He signed the article incorporating what would become

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 ...

on April 4, 1807. Serving as an

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

beginning in 1804, Smallwood became mayor of Washington in 1819. In 1820, the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

amended the city charter to allow the Mayor to be popularly elected to a two-year term, and Smallwood was popularly elected in 1820. In 1821, Mayor Smallwood and the Board of Aldermen imposed new, more onerous restrictions on free black people in order to limit their movement and to dissuade free blacks from settling in Washington. One of the new requirements was a surety bond, which

William Costin William "Billy" Costin ( - May 31, 1842) was a free African-American activist and scholar who successfully challenged District of Columbia slave codes in the Circuit Court of the District of Columbia. Early life Little is known of Costin's u ...

challenged, with only partial success, in court. Smallwood also worked on legislation to establish the District's prison and Asylum, to keep the river navigable, to mandate that chimney's be swept regularly to avoid fires and to prevent the abuse of horses. During his mayoral term, he was responsible for the construction of what is now the

11th Street Bridge The 11th Street Bridge was completed in December 1915 to carry vehicles across the Arkansas River at Tulsa, Oklahoma. Used from 1916 to 1972, it was also a part of U.S. Route 66. Functionally, it has been replaced by the I-244 bridges across the ...

across the Anacostia River, connecting the city to the village of Uniontown (now

Anacostia Anacostia is a historic neighborhood in Southeast Washington, D.C. Its downtown is located at the intersection of Good Hope Road and Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue. It is located east of the Anacostia River, after which the neighborhood is nam ...

). He also adopted plans for the construction of a City Hall designed by original

architect George Hadfield. (Hadfield's City Hall is now the courthouse for the

Supreme Court of the District of Columbia The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (in case citations, D.D.C.) is a federal district court in the District of Columbia. It also occasionally handles (jointly with the United States District Court for the District of ...

.) Smallwood chose not to run for mayor in 1822 because of health and business concerns. However, in 1823, he served on a city committee to finance and erect a brick wall around the Congressional Cemetery. The wall was erected in 1824. That year, Smallwood ran for mayor again and was reelected. His final act, signed August 24, 1824, established a committee to arrange the reception of

General Lafayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (, ), was a French aristocrat, freemason and military officer who fought in the American Revolutio ...

. After an illness of a few weeks, he died on September 30, 1824, having served just over three months of his second term as mayor. He is interred in a family plot in Congressional Cemetery. In 1889, a Washington, DC schoolhouse on I Street SW between 3d and 4 1/2 Street was named the Smallwood School in his honor. The building was razed in the 1960s as part of the redevelopment of SW. Smallwood's house, at 324 Virginia Avenue SE, became, in the second decade of the 20th century, the location of the Friendship House Association, a

settlement house The settlement movement was a reformist social movement that began in the 1880s and peaked around the 1920s in United Kingdom and the United States. Its goal was to bring the rich and the poor of society together in both physical proximity and s ...

. It was razed to build I-695. His widow died in 1836. They had four children.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smallwood, Samuel N. 1772 births 1824 deaths Mayors of Washington, D.C. Burials at the Congressional Cemetery People from Charles County, Maryland