William Smith (Governor)

William "Extra Billy" Smith

William Smith also known as Extra Billy (born September 6, 1797 in Marengo , King George County , Virginia , † May 18, 1887 in Warrenton , Virginia) was an American attorney, member of the House of Representatives of the United States , one of the oldest generals of the Confederate States Army and two-time governor of Virginia .

Early years

William Smith was born on September 6, 1797 in Marengo to Caleb and Mary Anne Waugh Smith. In his childhood and youth he attended private schools in Virginia and from 1811 the Plainfield Academy in Connecticut . After studying law , he began working as a lawyer in Culpeper , Virginia in 1818 . Here he married his wife Elizabeth Bell († 1878) in 1821, with whom he fathered eleven children, four of whom died in childhood. The Smiths house, built in 1825, later served as the quarters of Ulysses S. Grant during the American Civil War . From 1827 he received permission to transport mail and passengers between Washington, DC , Warrenton and Culpeper. This route was later extended to Milledgeville , Georgia and covered more than 650 miles. Often Smith had to order additional carriages due to the high demand and he charged passengers who only carried hand luggage for this extra. Because of these business practices, the nickname “Extra Billy” soon emerged.

Political and military advancement

In addition to his success as a businessman, Smith has also made a name for himself in politics. Between 1836 and 1841 he was a member of the Virginia Senate . From March 4, 1841 to March 3, 1843, he served as a Democrat from a legislative period in the US House of Representatives in Washington. Smith then moved to Warrenton with his family.

Although he had not even run for candidacy, he was elected governor of Virginia by the General Assembly in 1846 . During his tenure, he was responsible for improving public schools and recruiting soldiers for the Mexican-American War . By the end of his tenure in 1849, he had tried unsuccessfully to be elected to the US Senate .

In the course of the California gold rush , Smith also sought his fortune in the western United States from April 1849 and followed his two sons, who had been there for a long time. He was involved in the local Democratic Party, was president of the state's first Democratic Convention in 1850, and invested in real estate , so he returned to Virginia in 1852 as a wealthy man. From here he was sent again to the lower house of Congress in Washington for four legislative terms (March 4, 1853 to March 3, 1861) .

When the Civil War broke out, he became a colonel in the Confederate Army . At the same time he was a member of the first Confederate Congress in 1862 . Despite a lack of military training, he proved to be a capable soldier, fought in the first battle of the Bull Run (known as the first battle of Manassas in the southern states ) and was promoted to brigadier general in January 1863 . After fighting in Gettysburg that summer , he was promoted again to major general . At the end of the year he ended his military career and took up a second term as governor of Virginia (1864-1865). After the fall of the capital Richmond , he fled to Lynchburg and later Danville and there was a bounty of 25,000 dollars exposed to him. However, in June he surrendered to the Union troops and returned to his family home in Monterosa in Warrenton.

Old age and death

At the age of 79, Smith was re- elected to the Virginia House of Representatives, where he worked from 1877 to 1879 to rebuild the state after the Civil War. He died on May 18, 1887 in Warrenton at the age of 89 and was buried in Hollywood Cemetery , Richmond.

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} "Extra Billy" Smith Dead , in: New York Times, May 19, 1887
2. ^ "Extra Billy" Smith , in: New York Times, May 16, 1865
3. ^ "Extra Billy" arrived in the New York Times June 15, 1865

Web links

• William Smith in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• William Smith in the database of Find a Grave (English)
• William Smith at the National Governors Association (English)