Jonathan Bayard Smith

Jonathan Bayard Smith (born February 21, 1742 in Philadelphia , Province of Pennsylvania , † June 16, 1812 ibid) was an American politician . He was the son of Samuel Smith from Portsmouth , New Hampshire , who later moved to Philadelphia and ran a successful trading company there.

Career

Smith graduated from Princeton College in 1760 and then worked with his father. Later he decided to pursue a political career. He became a member of the Committee of Safety and was its Secretary from 1775 to 1777 . Then he was elected as a delegate for Pennsylvania to the Continental Congress, where he served from April 4, 1777 to November 1778. During this time he signed the Articles of Confederation . He was also from 1777 to 1778 prothonotary and 1778 judge at the Court of Common Pleas . In the following year, 1779, he was one of the founders of the University of the State of Pennsylvania and a member of its board of trustees until it was merged with the College of Philadelphia to form the University of Pennsylvania in 1791. He then became a curator at that university, a position he held until his death. He was also a curator at Princeton College from 1779 to 1808. He then served on the Philadelphia City Council from 1792 to 1794 and was Auditor General of Philadelphia in 1794 .

Smith died in Philadelphia in 1812 and was subsequently buried in the Second Presbyterian Church cemetery.

Single note

1. ↑ In English usage the term "prothonotary" is used for the most important clerk of a court at a court.

Web links

• Jonathan Bayard Smith in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)