Samuel Smith (July 27, 1752April 22, 1839) was an American Senator and

Representative Representative may refer to: Politics * Representative democracy, type of democracy in which elected officials represent a group of people * House of Representatives, legislative body in various countries or sub-national entities * Legislator, som ...

from

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, a mayor of

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, and a general in the Maryland militia. He was the brother of cabinet secretary Robert Smith. Smith served twice as President pro tempore of the United States Senate, first from 1805 to 1808 and later from 1828 to 1831.

Biography

Samuel Smith was born in Carlisle in the Province of Pennsylvania. His grandfather, also named Samuel Smith (1698–1784), was born in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and settled in the Province of Maryland. Smith moved with his family to

, in 1759. He attended a private academy, and engaged in mercantile pursuits until the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, at which time he served as captain, major, and lieutenant colonel in the Continental Army. Prior to the war, as a young captain, he was sent to Annapolis to arrest Governor Eden and seize his papers. On September 23 with Philadelphia on the verge of capture, Washington sent Smith, then a Lieutenant Colonel of the

4th Maryland Regiment The 4th Maryland Regiment was organized on March 27, 1777 as a part of eight companies from Baltimore, Anne Arundel and Somerset Counties. It was assigned to the 2nd Maryland Brigade -- a part of the Main Army -- on May 22, 1777. Assigned 27 D ...

with a detachment of Continentals into the fort on Mud Island on the Delaware River. Smith's force numbered 200 soldiers plus Major Robert Ballard of Virginia, Major Simeon Thayer of Rhode Island, and Captain Samuel Treat of the Continental Artillery.McGuire, 184 However, another account stated that Thayer did not reach Fort Mifflin until October 19.Thayer & Stone, 75 With the British army closing in on Philadelphia, the small force had to reach Fort Mifflin by a circuitous route. On the last leg of their journey, reinforcements for Mud Island had to be ferried across the Delaware from

Red Bank, New Jersey Red Bank is a borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. Incorporated in 1908, the community is on the Navesink River, the area's original transportation route to the ocean and other ports. Red Bank is in the New York Metropolitan ...

under the protection of the

Pennsylvania Navy The Pennsylvania Navy (more formally known as the Pennsylvania State Navy or in modern terms the Pennsylvania Naval Militia) served as the naval force of Pennsylvania during the American Revolution and afterward, until the formation of the United ...

river flotilla commanded by

John Hazelwood John Hazelwood (1726 – March 1, 1800) served as a Commodore (rank), Commodore in the Pennsylvania Navy and Continental Navy and was among the most noted naval officers during the American Revolutionary War. Born in England about 1726, he ...

. The fort was eventually overwhelmed by weeks of British bombardment and was abandoned. After his service in the war, Smith engaged in the shipping business. General Samuel Smith of Maryland

Colonel Smith was admitted as an original member of The Society of the Cincinnati of Maryland when it was established in 1783. He went on to serve as the vice president (1804-1828) and president of the Maryland Society (1828-1839), serving in the latter capacity until his death. From 1790 to 1792, Smith was a member of the

Maryland House of Delegates The Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the legislature of the State of Maryland. It consists of 141 delegates elected from 47 districts. The House of Delegates Chamber is in the Maryland State House on State Circle in Annapolis, ...

. At the time of the threatened war with

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

in 1794, he was appointed

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

of the Maryland

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

and commanded Maryland's quota during the

Whiskey Rebellion The Whiskey Rebellion (also known as the Whiskey Insurrection) was a violent tax protest in the United States beginning in 1791 and ending in 1794 during the presidency of George Washington. The so-called "whiskey tax" was the first tax impo ...

. Smith entered into national politics when he was elected to the

Third United States Congress The 3rd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met at Congress Hall in Philadelphia, Penn ...

, serving from March 4, 1793, until March 4, 1803. As a Congressman, Smith served as chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Commerce and Manufactures (Fifth through Seventh Congresses). As a principal negotiator between the young Federalist leader and Delaware representative, James Asheton Bayard II, and the presumptive President-Elect Jefferson, Smith secured the winning ballot in the United States House of Representatives for Jefferson during the

1800 United States presidential election The 1800 United States presidential election was the fourth quadrennial presidential election. It was held from October 31 to December 3, 1800. In what is sometimes called the "Revolution of 1800", Vice President Thomas Jefferson of the Democra ...

. Smith entered into the Senate election in 1802, and was elected as a

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...

to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

. He was re-elected in 1808 and served from March 4, 1803 until March 4, 1815. While senator, Smith served as

President pro tempore of the Senate A president pro tempore or speaker pro tempore is a constitutionally recognized officer of a legislative body who presides over the chamber in the absence of the normal presiding officer. The phrase ''pro tempore'' is Latin "for the time being". ...

during the Ninth and Tenth Congresses. Smith served as a

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

of Maryland militia during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

, and commanded the defenses of Baltimore during the

Battle of Baltimore The Battle of Baltimore (September 12–15, 1814) was a sea/land battle fought between British invaders and American defenders in the War of 1812. American forces repulsed sea and land invasions off the busy port city of Baltimore, Maryland ...

in September 1814. The American victory there can largely be attributed to Smith's preparation for the British invasion. Smith was elected to the Fourteenth Congress on January 31, 1816 to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of

Nicholas R. Moore Nicholas Ruxton Moore (July 21, 1756October 7, 1816) was a United States House of Representatives, U.S. Representative from Maryland. Born near Baltimore in the Province of Maryland, Moore attended the common schools. He served as a member of G ...

, and was re-elected to the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Congresses. In the House, Smith served as chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Expenditures in the Department of the Treasury (Fourteenth Congress), and as a member of the

Committee on Ways and Means The Committee on Ways and Means is the chief tax-writing committee of the United States House of Representatives. The committee has jurisdiction over all taxation, tariffs, and other revenue-raising measures, as well as a number of other program ...

(Fifteenth through Seventeenth Congresses). On December 17, 1822, Smith resigned as congressman, having been elected as a Democratic-Republican (later Crawford Republican and Jacksonian) to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of

William Pinkney William Pinkney (March 17, 1764February 25, 1822) was an American statesman and diplomat, and was appointed the seventh U.S. Attorney General by President James Madison. Biography William Pinkney was born in 1764 in Annapolis in the Province ...

. In March–April 1824, Samuel Smith was honored with a single vote at the

Democratic-Republican Party The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the earl ...

Caucus to be the party's candidate for U.S. Vice President at the election later that year. Smith served as President Pro Tempore of the Senate again during the Twentieth and Twenty-first Congresses, and as chairman of the Committee on Finance (Eighteenth and Twentieth through Twenty-second Congresses). He was re-elected in 1826 and served until March 4, 1833. Two years later, in 1835, Smith became mayor of Baltimore, and served in that position until 1838, when he retired from public life. Smith died in Baltimore in 1839, and is interred in the Old Westminster Burying Ground.

Attitude toward slavery

In 1828 Smith served as Vice-President of the

Maryland State Colonization Society The Maryland State Colonization Society was the Maryland branch of the American Colonization Society, an organization founded in 1816 with the purpose of returning free African Americans to what many Southerners considered greater freedom in Af ...

, of which

Charles Carroll of Carrollton Charles Carroll (September 19, 1737 – November 14, 1832), known as Charles Carroll of Carrollton or Charles Carroll III, was an Irish-American politician, planter, and signatory of the Declaration of Independence. He was the only Catholic si ...

, one of the co-signers of the

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of th ...

, was president.''The African Repository, Volume 3'', 1827, p.251, edited by Ralph Randolph Gurley
Retrieved February 16, 2010 The MSCS was a branch of the

American Colonization Society The American Colonization Society (ACS), initially the Society for the Colonization of Free People of Color of America until 1837, was an American organization founded in 1816 by Robert Finley to encourage and support the migration of freebor ...

, an organization dedicated to returning black Americans to lead free lives in African states such as Liberia.

References

External links

*
Samuel Smith at History Central"The Samuel Smith Land Grants: A historical study of land ownership and use in southern West Virginia"

The Society of the Cincinnati

The American Revolution Institute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Samuel 1752 births 1839 deaths People from Carlisle, Pennsylvania People of colonial Pennsylvania People of colonial Maryland American people of Irish descent Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Maryland Democratic-Republican Party United States senators from Maryland Jacksonian United States senators from Maryland Maryland Jacksonians Presidents pro tempore of the United States Senate Members of the Maryland House of Delegates Mayors of Baltimore Continental Army officers from Maryland Maryland in the War of 1812 People from Maryland in the War of 1812 American militia generals Burials at Westminster Hall and Burying Ground