Persifor Frazer Smith

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For the Pennsylvania politician and lawyer, see Persifor Frazer Smith (politician).
Persifor Frazer Smith
Military Governor of California
In office
February 28, 1849 – April 12, 1849 [1]
Preceded byRichard Barnes Mason
Succeeded byBennet C. Riley
Personal details
Born(1798-11-16)November 16, 1798
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedMay 17, 1858(1858-05-17) (aged 59)
Leavenworth, Kansas, U.S.
Spouses
Frances Jeanette Bureau
​
​
(m. 1822; died 1852)​
Anne Monica Millard Armstrong
​
​
(m. 1854)​
ChildrenHoward Smith (first marriage)
Profession
2nd Seminole War
Mexican–American War
Bleeding Kansas

Persifor Frazer Smith (November 16, 1798 – May 17, 1858) was a

military governors of the occupied territory before California became a state, and died during the Bleeding Kansas conflict. From 1848 to 1851 he was president of the Aztec Club of 1847, an organization of United States Army officers founded on October 13, 1847 in Mexico City during the Mexican–American War.[2]

Early life

Smith was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Jonathan and Mary Ann (Frazer) Smith. His maternal grandfather was Revolutionary War figure Persifor Frazer.[3] General Smith is sometimes confused with his cousin, also named Persifor Frazer Smith, who was a well-known lawyer in Philadelphia. Persifor Frazer Smith the lawyer was the son of Joseph Smith (brother of Jonathan Smith) and Mary Frazer (sister of Mary Ann Frazer). Other notable relatives include his cousin, Joseph Smith Harris.

Career

Smith served as a colonel of volunteers in the Seminole Wars from 1836 to 1838, before taking part in the Mexican–American War. He commanded the 2nd Brigade in Worth's Division at the Battle of Monterrey. He was brevetted brigadier general in September 1846 and joined Winfield Scott's army as commander of the 1st Brigade, 2nd Division. He led his brigade at the battles of Veracruz, Cerro Gordo, and Contreras. He was brevetted major general for actions at Contreras and fought in the battles for Mexico City. He served on the armistice commission and then as military governor of Mexico City. He was an original member of the Aztec Club of 1847.

After the war, Smith commanded the

Sierra Nevada in the fall to meet the last arrivals in the emigration, saving many lives.[4]

Smith next commanded the U.S. Army's

E.V. Sumner's forcible dispersal of the territorial legislature on July 4, 1856, the Battle of Osawatomie in August 1856, and following the installation of a new territorial governor, the Marais des Cygnes massacre in May 1858. Obeying the request of Territorial Governor Wilson Shannon, a proslavery sympathizer in the process of being removed from office, in September 1856, General Smith sent 1,300 troops to protect the Lecompton territorial capital from a threatened attack by freesoilers
.

Personal life

General Smith married his first wife, Frances Jeanette Bureau, in 1822. Their only child, Howard Smith, became a physician and surgeon. After his first wife died in 1852, General Persifor Frazer Smith married Anne Monica Millard Armstrong, widow of Francis Wells Armstrong.

Death and legacy

Smith died at

Kirby Smith, and his stepson, Frank Crawford Armstrong, rose to brigadier general in the Confederate States Army.[6]

References

  1. ^ Bandini, Helen Elliott (1908). History of California. American Book Company. p. 292.
  2. ^ [1] Aztec Club of 1847 website. [2] List of Past Presidents. Retrieved June 24, 2023.
  3. ^ Armstrong County, Pa., Her People, Past and Present, J. H. Beers & Co., 1914; Pp. 489–496.
  4. ^ Josiah Royce, California, Berkeley: Heyday Books, 2002, p. 192 et seq.
  5. ^ "Fort Davis". Archived from the original on 2006-05-05. Retrieved 2005-12-01.
  6. ^ Black, Robert W., Cavalry Raids of the Civil War (2004)
  • New International Encyclopedia
    , Vol XVIII, New York, Dodd, Mead and Company, 1912
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