John Smith (New York politician, born 1752)

John Smith (February 12, 1752 – August 12, 1816) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from New York from 1804 to 1813. He previously was the U.S. Representative for New York's 1st congressional district from 1800 to 1804.

John Smith
United States Senator from New York
In office February 23, 1804 – March 4, 1813
Preceded by	John Armstrong, Jr.
Succeeded by	Rufus King
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 1st district
In office February 27, 1800 – February 23, 1804
Preceded by	Jonathan Nicoll Havens
Succeeded by	Samuel Riker
Personal details
Born	February 12, 1752 Mastic Beach, Province of New York
Died	August 12, 1816 (aged 64) Mastic Beach, New York
Political party	Democratic-Republican
Spouse(s)	Lydia Fanning ​ ​ (m. 1776; died 1777)​ Elizabeth Platt ​ ​ (m. 1785; died 1787)​ Elizabeth Woodhull Nicholl ​ ​ (m. after 1792, his death)​
Relations	Abraham Riker Lawrence (grandson)
Children	5
Parents	William Smith Mary Smith
Military service
Branch/service	New York Militia
Rank	Major general

Early life

He was born on February 12, 1752 in Mastic Beach, Province of New York, then a part of British America. He was a son of New York State Senator William Smith (1720–1799) and Mary (née Smith) Smith (1735–1758). He was a great-grandson of Chief Justice William "Tangier" Smith (1655–1705).[1]

His mother died on April 22, 1758, a week after the birth of a daughter Mary who died the next year.[2] He lived at Manor St. George in Mastic Beach, Suffolk County, New York. In 1762, his father married Ruth Woodhull (1740–1822), a sister of Gen. Nathaniel Woodhull (1722–1776), and from that marriage John had six half-siblings.[1]

Career

He was a member of the New York State Assembly, representing Suffolk County, in 1784–85, from 1787 to 1794, and from 1798 to 1800.[3]

He was elected to the 6th United States Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Jonathan N. Havens, and took his seat on February 27, 1800. He was re-elected to the 7th and 8th United States Congresses, and served until February 23, 1804, when he took his seat in the U.S. Senate.[4]

In February 1804, he was elected as a Democratic-Republican to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of DeWitt Clinton, replacing the temporarily appointed John Armstrong. He was re-elected in 1807, and served until March 4, 1813.[4]

Personal life

On October 16, 1776, Smith was married to Lydia Fanning (1760–1777) of Bellport, Long Island.[5] Together, they were the parents of one son:

• William Smith (1777–1857), who married Hannah Carman (1785–1861), daughter of Samuel Carman.[6][7]

Eight years after Lydia's death during childbirth in 1777, he remarried in 1785 to Elizabeth Platt (1765–1787), a daughter of Mary (née Van Wyck) Platt and Judge Zephaniah Platt, a member of the New York Provincial Congress. Among her siblings was U.S. Representative Jonas Platt and New York State Treasurer Charles Z. Platt. Elizabeth died in March 1787, just two years after their marriage.[5]

On October 21, 1792, he married for the third time to Elizabeth (née Woodhull) Nicholl (1762–1839).[8] Elizabeth, the widow of Henry Nicholl (a grandson of William Nicoll),[9] was a daughter of Nathaniel Woodhull and Ruth (née Floyd) Woodhull (sister of William Floyd, a signer of the Declaration of Independence).[10] Together, they were the parents of four children:[8]

• Sarah Augusta Smith (1794–1877), who married New York City Comptroller John L. Lawrence, a son of merchant Jonathan Lawrence.[11]
• Egbert Tangier Smith (1796–1879), who married Sarah Schenck, daughter of Gen. William Cortenus Schenck and sister of Gen. Robert C. Schenck, U.S. Minister to Great Britain.[5]
• Charles Jeffrey Smith (1803–1876), who married Letitia Jane Suydam (1808–1872), a daughter of John Suydam of New York City.[5]
• Robert Smith (d. 1862), a merchant who died unmarried.[1]

Smith died on August 12, 1816 in Mastic on Long Island.[4] He was interred in the family cemetery on Smiths Point, New York.[12] His widow died on September 14, 1839.[1]

Descendants

Through his son William, he was a grandfather of four, including: Lydia Smith (1810–1896), who married David Gelston Floyd (1802–1893) of Greenport;[5] and Egbert Tangiers Smith (1822–1889), who married Annie Marie Robinson (daughter of Joseph Robinson).[5]

Through his daughter Sarah, he was a grandfather of eleven, including Abraham Riker Lawrence, a Justice of the Supreme Court of New York.[13]

References

1. Woodhull Genealogy: The Woodhull Family in England and America. H.T. Coates. 1904. pp. 99–100. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
2. "Mary Smith (1735–1758)" at Long Island Surnames
3. Hough, Benjamin Franklin (1858). The New York Civil List: Containing the names and origin of the civil divisions, and the names and dates of election or appointment of the principal state and county officers from the Revolution to the present time. Weed, Parsons and Co. pp. 63, 162–67, 172f. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
4. "SMITH, John - Biographical Information". bioguide.congress.gov. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
5. Banta, Theodore Melvin (1901). Sayre Family: Lineage of Thomas Sayre, a Founder of Southampton. De Vinne Press. pp. 221–222. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
6. "Theodosie Carman Smith, Hannah Carman Smith, and William E. T. Smith vs. Samuel Carman Jr., in Chauncery Court, 1822" (PDF). brookhavensouthhaven.org. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
7. Greene, Richard Henry; Stiles, Henry Reed; Dwight, Melatiah Everett; Morrison, George Austin; Mott, Hopper Striker; Totten, John Reynolds; Pitman, Harold Minot; Forest, Louis Effingham De; Ditmas, Charles Andrew; Mann, Conklin; Maynard, Arthur S. (1911). The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record. New York Genealogical and Biographical Society. p. 284. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
8. Nicoll, Edward Holland (1894). The Descendants of John Nicoll of Islip, Eng., who Died A.D. 1467. p. 37. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
9. Revolution, Daughters of the American (1905). Lineage Book - National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Daughters of the American Revolution. p. 181. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
10. Stevenson, Charles Goldsmith (1967). But as Yesterday: The Early Life and Times of St. Ann's Church, Sayville, Long Island, New York, 1864-1888. The Church. p. 34. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
11. The Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York: History, Customs, Record of Events, Constitution, Certain Genealogies, and Other Matters of Interest. V. 1-. Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York. 1905. p. 96. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
12. Spencer, Thomas E. (1998). Where They're Buried: A Directory Containing More Than Twenty Thousand Names of Notable Persons Buried in American Cemeteries, with Listings of Many Prominent People who Were Cremated. Genealogical Publishing Com. p. 137. ISBN 9780806348230. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
13. "A. RIKER LAWRENCE, EX-JUSTICE, IS DEAD; Jurist of New York Supreme Court for 28 Years Expires in His Eighty-fifth Year. ONCE NOMINEE FOR MAYOR Author of Legal Works Was Twice the President of the St. Nicholas Society" (PDF). The New York Times. 15 February 1917. Retrieved 17 April 2019.

External links

• United States Congress. "John Smith (id: S000566)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• "Smith, John (New York senator)" . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. 1900.
• John Smith at Find a Grave