William Jay Smith (politician)

William Jay Smith

William Jay Smith (born September 24, 1823 in Birmingham , Great Britain , †  November 29, 1913 in Memphis , Tennessee ) was an American politician . Between 1869 and 1871 he represented the state of Tennessee in the US House of Representatives .

Career

William Smith came to the United States in his youth, where he settled in Orange County, New York State . There he attended the public schools; then he completed an apprenticeship in the printing trade. In 1846 he moved to Tennessee. During the Mexican-American War he served in a regiment from Tennessee. After the war, he moved to Hardeman County , where he dealt with horticulture. During the Civil War , Smith served in the Union Army from 1861 to 1865 . In 1865 he was on a commission to revise the Tennessee Constitution. Politically, he became a member of the Republican Party . Smith was a member of the House of Representatives from Tennessee from 1865 to 1867 . From 1867 to 1869 and again between 1885 and 1887 he was a member of the State Senate .

In the 1868 congressional election , Smith was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC , in the eighth constituency of Tennessee , where he succeeded David Alexander Nunn on March 4, 1869 . Since he was not confirmed in 1870, he could only serve one term in Congress until March 3, 1871 . During this time the 15th amendment to the constitution was passed there. From 1871 to 1883, William Smith headed the Memphis Port Authority. Later he also worked in real estate and banking. In 1876 he was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in Cincinnati , where Rutherford B. Hayes was nominated as a candidate for president. He died in Memphis on November 29, 1913 at the age of 90.

Web links

• William Jay Smith in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• William Jay Smith in the database of Find a Grave (English)