Samuel Nicholas Smallwood

Samuel Nicholas Smallwood (born September 5, 1772 in Charles County , Province of Maryland , †  September 30, 1824 in Washington, DC ) was an American politician . He was Mayor of Washington, DC between 1819 and 1822 and in 1824

Career

In 1794, Samuel Smallwood moved to an area that had previously belonged to Prince George's County of Maryland, but had been part of the developing District of Columbia since 1791 . There he was involved in the construction of the new federal capital Washington. Among other things, he supplied stones for the foundations of the White House . In 1795, he oversaw the slaves who worked on building the Capitol . By 1804 he was one of the leading suppliers of wood and building materials in Washington, DC He also ran his own shipyard and became the director of a bank. Soon he was one of the richest men in town. In 1807 he was also one of the founders of the Congress Cemetery .

At the same time, Smallwood also embarked on a political career, although no party affiliation is recorded. From 1804 he was a city councilor in Washington, DC. In 1819 he was elected mayor by the city council. He held this office after being re-elected between 1819 and 1822. Only after 1820 were there regular elections. For Smallwood, that meant he was the last mayor to be appointed by the city council. At the same time, he was also the first to be elected by the people after the reform of 1820. It's also worth noting that until 1871 the Mayor of Washington, DC did not administer the entire District of Columbia . The then independent city of Georgetown provided its own mayor until 1871.

In 1822 Smallwood waived possible re-election for health reasons. A year later he was a member of the committee that financially and organizationally made a wall around the congress cemetery possible. In 1824 he was re-elected mayor of the capital. He took office on June 14th of that year and died around three and a half months later on September 30th. He was succeeded by Roger C. Weightman . Smallwood was buried in the congressional cemetery he co-founded.

Web links

• Samuel Nicholas Smallwood in the database of Find a Grave (English)
• The Political Graveyard

predecessor	Office	successor
Benjamin G. Orr	Mayor of Washington 1819–1822	Thomas Carbery
Thomas Carbery	Mayor of Washington 1824–1824	Roger C. Weightman