Samuel Smith (Maryland)

Samuel Smith
United States Senator from Maryland
In office March 4, 1803 – March 4, 1815 December 17, 1822 – March 3, 1833
Preceded by	John E. Howard William Pinkney
Succeeded by	Robert G. Harper Joseph Kent
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland's 5th district
In office March 4, 1793 – March 3, 1803
Preceded by	William Vans Murray
Succeeded by	Nicholas Ruxton Moore
In office January 31, 1816 – December 17, 1822
Preceded by	Nicholas Ruxton Moore
Succeeded by	Isaac McKim
Personal details
Born	July 27, 1752 Carlisle, Pennsylvania, USA
Died	April 22, 1839(1839-04-22) (aged 86) Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Political party	Democratic-Republican, Democrat
Profession	Politician, Merchant
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	Continental Army Maryland Militia
Rank	Lieutenant Colonel Major General
Battles/wars	American Revolutionary War Whiskey Rebellion War of 1812

Samuel Smith (July 27, 1752 – April 22, 1839) was a United States Senator and Representative from Maryland, a mayor of Baltimore, Maryland, and a general in the Maryland militia. He was the brother of cabinet secretary Robert Smith.

Biography

Born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Smith moved with his family to Baltimore, Maryland, in 1759. He attended a private academy, and engaged in mercantile pursuits until the American Revolutionary War, 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.^[1] After the war, Smith engaged in the shipping business.

General Samuel Smith

Senator Samuel Smith

From 1790 to 1792, Smith was a member of the Maryland House of Delegates. At the time of the threatened war with France in 1794, he was appointed brigadier general of the Maryland militia and commanded Maryland’s quota during the Whiskey Rebellion. Smith served as a major general of Maryland militia during the War of 1812, and commanded the defenses of Baltimore during the Battle of Baltimore and Fort McHenry in 1814. The American victory there can largely be attributed to Smith's preparation for the British invasion.

Smith entered into national politics when he was elected to the Third United States Congress, 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 United States presidential election, 1800.^[2] Smith entered into the Senate election in 1802, and was elected as a Democratic-Republican to the United States Senate. 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 during the Ninth and Tenth Congresses.

Smith was elected to the Fourteenth Congress on January 31, 1816 to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Nicholas R. Moore, 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 (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. Smith served as President pro tempore of the Senate 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, of which Charles Carroll of Carrollton, one of the co-signers of the Declaration of Independence, was president.^[3] The MSCS was a branch of the American Colonization Society, an organization dedicated to returning black Americans to lead free lives in African states such as Liberia.

Notes

References

• Andrews, Matthew Page, History of Maryland, Doubleday, New York (1929)

• Samuel Smith at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Samuel Smith (Maryland).

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

United States Senators from Maryland Class 1 Carroll Potts Howard S. Smith Harper Hanson Pinkney S. Smith Kent Merrick Johnson Stewart Pratt Kennedy Johnson Whyte Hamilton Whyte Gorman McComas Rayner Jackson Lee France Bruce P. Goldsborough Radcliffe O'Conor Beall, Sr. J. Tydings Beall, Jr. Sarbanes Cardin Class 3 Henry J. Lloyd Hindman Wright Reed R. Goldsborough E. Lloyd Chambers R. Goldsborough Spence Kerr Pearce Hicks Creswell Vickers Dennis Groome Wilson Gibson Wellington Gorman Whyte J. Smith Weller M. Tydings Butler Brewster Mathias Mikulski

Chairmen of the United States Senate Committee on Finance Campbell Eppes Sanford Holmes Lowrie Smith Webster Wright Clay Evans Woodbury Calhoun Lewis Atherton Dickinson Hunter Pearce Fessenden Sherman Fessenden Sherman Morrill Bayard Morrill Voorhees Morrill Aldrich Penrose Simmons Penrose McCumber Smoot Harrison George Millikin George Millikin Byrd Long Dole Packwood Bentsen Moynihan Packwood Roth Baucus Grassley Baucus Grassley Baucus Wyden Hatch

Presidents pro tempore of the United States Senate Langdon Lee Langdon Izard H Tazewell Livermore Bingham Bradford Read Sedgwick Laurance Ross Livermore Tracy Howard Hillhouse Baldwin Bradley Brown Franklin Anderson Smith Bradley Milledge Gregg Gaillard Pope Crawford Varnum Gaillard Barbour Gaillard Macon Smith L Tazewell White Poindexter Tyler W R King Southard Mangum Sevier Atchison W R King Atchison Cass Bright Stuart Bright Mason Rusk Fitzpatrick Bright Fitzpatrick Foot Clark Foster Wade Anthony Carpenter Anthony Ferry Thurman Bayard Davis Edmunds Sherman Ingalls Manderson Harris Ransom Harris Frye Office rotated 1911–1913 Bacon Curtis Gallinger Brandegee Lodge Clarke Saulsbury Cummins Moses Pittman W H King Harrison Glass McKellar Vandenberg McKellar Bridges George Hayden Russell Ellender Eastland Magnuson Young Magnuson Thurmond Stennis Byrd Thurmond Byrd Thurmond Byrd Stevens Byrd Inouye Leahy Hatch

Chairmen of the United States House Committee on Ways and Means Fitzsimons W. Smith Harper Griswold Randolph Clay G. Campbell Eppes Bacon Cheves Eppes Lowndes S. Smith McLane Randolph McDuffie Verplanck Polk Cambreleng J. W. Jones Fillmore McKay Vinton Bayly Houston L. Campbell J. G. Jones Phelps Sherman Stevens Morrill Schenck Hooper Dawes Morrison Wood Tucker Kelley Morrison R. Mills McKinley Springer Wilson Dingley Payne Underwood Kitchin Fordney Green Hawley Collier Doughton Knutson Doughton Reed Cooper W. Mills Ullman Rostenkowski Gibbons Archer Thomas Rangel Levin Camp Ryan

Mayors of Baltimore Calhoun T. Smith Johnson Stiles Johnson Montgomery Johnson Montgomery Small Steuart Hunt S. Smith Leakin Brady Hillen Law Davies Stansbury Jerome Hollins Hinks Swann Brown Blackburn Chapman Banks Van Sant Latrobe Kane Latrobe Whyte Latrobe Hodges Latrobe Davidson Latrobe Hooper Malster Hayes McLane Timanus Mahool Preston Broening Jackson Broening Jackson McKeldin D'Alesandro, Jr. Grady Goodman McKeldin D'Alesandro III Schaefer Burns Schmoke O'Malley Dixon Rawlings-Blake