William Russell Smith (March 27, 1815 – February 26, 1896) was a prominent

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

politician who served in both 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 ...

and the

Confederate Congress The Confederate States Congress was both the Provisional government, provisional and permanent Legislature, legislative assembly of the Confederate States of America that existed from 1861 to 1865. Its actions were for the most part concerned w ...

Biography

Smith was born in

Logan County, Kentucky Logan County is a county in the southwest Pennyroyal Plateau area of the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,432. Its county seat is Russellville. History The county is named for Benjamin Logan, who had ...

. He moved to Alabama at an early age and attended the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

. Smith was admitted to the bar in 1835. The next year he served as a captain of state troops in the government's campaign against the

Creek A creek in North America and elsewhere, such as Australia, is a stream that is usually smaller than a river. In the British Isles it is a small tidal inlet. Creek may also refer to: People * Creek people, also known as Muscogee, Native Americans ...

Indians, intended to remove most of them to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River. He served as Mayor of

Tuscaloosa Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal and Piedmont plains meet. Alabama's fifth-largest city, it had an estimated population of 1 ...

in 1839 and as a member of the

Alabama House of Representatives The Alabama State House of Representatives is the lower house of the Alabama Legislature, the state legislature of state of Alabama. The House is composed of 105 members representing an equal number of districts, with each constituency contai ...

from 1841 to 1843. He later briefly served as a state judge from 1850 to 1851. Smith was elected to four terms in 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 ...

, serving from 1851 to 1857, representing the Fourth District. At the outbreak of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, Smith raised the

26th Alabama Infantry Regiment The 26th Alabama Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment of the Confederate States Army regiment during the American Civil War. The regiment was composed of ten companies that came from various counties across Alabama. It is one of the few reg ...

and was elected its colonel. He stepped down to represent Alabama in the

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and the

Second Confederate Congress The 2nd Confederate States Congress, consisting of the Confederate States Senate and the Confederate States House of Representatives, met from May 2, 1864, to March 18, 1865, during the last year of Jefferson Davis's presidency, at the Virginia S ...

es, from 1862 to 1865. After the war, he resumed his law practice in Tuscaloosa. He served as president of the

from 1869 to 1871. He died in Washington, D.C., on February 26, 1896. He was interred at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Washington, D.C.William Russell Smith
by Benjamin Buford Williams, Montgomery, Alabama, ''The Encyclopedia of Alabama''

References

Retrieved on 2009-04-26

External links

1815 births 1896 deaths People from Logan County, Kentucky Confederate States Army officers Mayors of places in Alabama Democratic Party members of the Alabama House of Representatives Members of the Confederate House of Representatives from Alabama Alabama Unionists Alabama Secession Delegates of 1861 Politicians from Tuscaloosa, Alabama Presidents of the University of Alabama Unionist Party members of the United States House of Representatives Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Alabama Know-Nothing members of the United States House of Representatives from Alabama Burials at Mount Olivet Cemetery (Washington, D.C.) 19th-century American politicians {{Alabama-mayor-stub