George William Smith

George William Smith (* 1762 in Bathurst , Essex County , Colony of Virginia , † December 26, 1811 in Richmond , Virginia ) was an American politician and in 1811 governor of the state of Virginia.

Career

George Smith was the son of Meriwether Smith (1730-1790), who was a delegate to the Continental Congress . His exact date of birth is unknown. However, the sources assume that 1762 was the year of his birth. He became a member of Thomas Jefferson's Democratic Republican Party and was a member of the Virginia House of Representatives several times between 1790 and 1808 . He was then a member and president of the Governing Council, a precursor to the Virginia Senate . In this capacity, under the constitution, he fell to his post after the resignation of Governor John Tyler , who had been appointed federal judge. He only had to bridge the period between January 15 and 19, 1811, until the newly elected Governor James Monroe could take office.

After Monroe had been appointed the new Secretary of State of the United States by President James Madison , he resigned as governor on April 3, 1811; Smith then had to take this office again and Monroe's tenure, which would have run until January 1812, to end. In December 1811 he then won the gubernatorial elections for a term of his own, which would have run from January 1812 to January 1813. But that never happened because on December 26, 1811, only three weeks after his election, he was killed in a theater fire in Richmond. George Smith was married twice and had a total of 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, 1978. 4 volumes.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Smith, George William
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American politician
DATE OF BIRTH	1762
PLACE OF BIRTH	Bathurst , Virginia
DATE OF DEATH	December 26, 1811
Place of death	Richmond , Virginia