William Smith was an eighteenth- and nineteenth-century congressman from Virginia.
Life and career Born in Chesterfield, Virginia, Smith graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1807. He studied law and relocated to Greenbrier County, Virginia.Pulliam 1901, p. 112
During the War of 1812, Smith served as a captain of artillery, stationed in Norfolk, Virginia.Pulliam 1901, p. 112
Smith was first elected to the House of Delegates for the session of 1819/20.Swem 1918, p. 430
He was elected a Democratic-Republican, Crawford Republican, and Jacksonian to the United States House of Representatives in 1820, serving from 1821 to 1827.Congressional Biographical Directory, "William Smith"
Smith served a second time in the House of Delegates for the session of 1828/29.Swem 1918, p. 430
Smith was elected to the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1829-1830 from Greenbrier County, serving from a district made up of Monroe, Greenbriar, Bath, Botetourt, Alleghay, Pocahontas and Nicolas. He served there on the Committee on the Executive Department.Pulliam 1901, p. 68, 71
In the 1840s, Smith was an aide to Democratic Governor James McDowell 1843–46, and served as a presidential elector in 1844.Pulliam 1901, p. 112
Smith was elected to the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1850 from Greenbrier County, serving from a district made up of Greenbrier County, from an Assembly district made up of the transmontane Greenbrier, Pocahontas, Fayette, Raleigh, Nicholas and Kanawha Counties.Pulliam 1901, p. 99
In the 1850s, Smith served from Greenbriar in the Virginia Senate in the sessions of 1857/58 and 1859/60. On the eve of the American Civil War, he again served in January 1861.Swem 1918, p. 430
Election of 1821 Smith was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives with 53.17% of the vote, defeating fellow Democratic-Republican James Wilson.
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