Charles Aurelius Smith

Charles Aurelius Smith (born January 22, 1861 in Hertford County , North Carolina , † April 1, 1916 in Baltimore , Maryland ) was an American politician and in 1915 governor of the state of South Carolina for a few days .

Early years

Charles Smith attended Wake Forest University until 1882 . He then made a career both as a businessman and in banking. He became president of several banks in South Carolina and a curator of Furman University in Greenville and Greenville Women's College . He also held senior positions in the South Carolina Baptist Church.

Political career

Smith was a member of the Democratic Party , which was the ruling party in South Carolina for decades. In 1910, Smith was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives. From January 1911 he was lieutenant governor of his state. When incumbent Governor Coleman Livingston Blease resigned just five days before the end of his term on January 14, 1915, Smith had to bridge this period until the new governor Richard Irvine Manning took office . His tenure remained the shortest of any South Carolina governor to this day. He then moved to Baltimore, where he died in 1916. Smith was married to Fannie L. Byrd, with whom he had eight children.

literature

• Robert Sobel and John Raimo (Eds.): Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789–1978. Volume 4. Meckler Books, Westport, CT, 1978. 4 volumes.
• The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. Vol. 12. James T. White & Company, New York

Web links

• Charles Smith at the National Governors Association (English)
• South Carolina Information Highway (English)
• Charles Aurelius Smith in the database of Find a Grave (English)