Green Clay Smith

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Green Clay Smith
3rd Territorial Governor of Montana
In office July 13, 1866 – April 9, 1869
Preceded by	Thomas Francis Meagher
Succeeded by	James Monroe Ashley
Born	July 4, 1826 Richmond, Kentucky, USA
Died	June 29, 1895 Washington, D.C., USA
Political party	Prohibition
Profession	Politician, Lawyer, Pastor
Religion	Baptist

Green Clay Smith (July 4, 1826 – June 29, 1895) served as a major general during the Civil War, was a congressman from Kentucky and was the Territorial Governor of Montana from 1866 to 1869. He also ran for President of the United States on the Prohibition ticket in 1876.

Born in Richmond, Kentucky, Smith pursued academic studies as a young man. During the Mexican War, he enlisted in the Army and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the First Regiment of the Kentucky Volunteer Infantry on June 9, 1846. He graduated from Transylvania University in 1849, studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1852, commencing practice in Covington, Kentucky. From 1853 to 1857, Smith worked as a school commissioner. He was a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives from 1861 to 1863. On April 4, 1862, he was commissioned colonel of the Fourth Regiment of the Kentucky Volunteer Cavalry and later advanced to brigadier general of volunteers on July 2, 1862. In 1862, Smith was elected an Unconditional Unionist to the thirty-eighth congress, resigning from his military post on December 1, 1863. He served as chairman of the Committee on Militia from 1865 to 1866. He was brevetted major general of volunteers on March 13, 1865. Smith resigned from congress in July of 1866 when President Andrew Johnson appointed him Territorial Governor of Montana which he served as from 1866 to 1869. After he resigned, he moved to Washington, D.C. where he ordained to the Baptist ministry and supported the temperance movement. In 1876, the National Prohibition Party nominated Smith for President of the United States. With his running mate, Gideon T. Stewart, the two received 9,737 popular votes in the election. He continued his work in religion and temperance and in 1890 became pastor of the Metropolitan Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. which he served as until his death in 1895. He was interned in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.

[edit] External links

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Green Clay Smith at Find A Grave
• Green Clay Smith at Arlington National Cemetery

Preceded by George W. Dunlap	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Kentucky's 6th congressional district March 4, 1863 – July, 1866	Succeeded by Andrew H. Ward
Preceded by Thomas Francis Meagher	Territorial Governor of Montana July 13, 1866 – April 9, 1869	Succeeded by James Monroe Ashley
Preceded by James Black	Prohibition Party presidential nominee 1876 (lost)	Succeeded by Neal S. Dow

This article incorporates facts obtained from the public domain Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.