William Stephens Smith

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William Stephens Smith
1786 portrait of Smith by Mather Brown
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New York's 17th district
In office
March 4, 1813 – March 3, 1815
Preceded byNone; district established
Succeeded byWestel Willoughby Jr.
Personal details
BornNovember 8, 1755
Federalist
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1786; died 1813)​
Children4
ResidenceLebanon, New York
Alma materCollege of New Jersey
ProfessionMilitary officer, government official
Signature

William Stephens Smith (November 8, 1755 – June 10, 1816) was a United States representative from New York. He married Abigail "Nabby" Adams, the daughter of President John Adams, and so was a brother-in-law of President John Quincy Adams and an uncle of Charles Francis Adams Sr.

Early life

Born in Suffolk County, New York, on Long Island, he graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1774 and studied law for a short time.[citation needed]

American Revolutionary War

Smith served in the

Light Infantry, then transferred to the staff of George Washington.[1]

Later life

Smith was secretary of the Legation at London in 1784. While there, he met and courted John Adams's daughter, Abigail, whom he married in 1786.[2] He returned to America in 1788.

He was appointed by President

supervisor of revenue. He was one of the originators of the Society of the Cincinnati and served as its president from 1795 to 1797. He was appointed Surveyor of the Port of New York by President John Adams in 1800. The Smiths bought land in what was then the countryside outside New York City and planned to build an estate, which they called Mount Vernon, in honor of President Washington. They never lived there, but a carriage house on the property was later converted to a hotel and is now operated as the Mount Vernon Hotel Museum
.

Along with General Francisco de Miranda, Colonel Smith raised private funds, procured weapons, and recruited soldiers of fortune to liberate Venezuela from Spanish colonial rule. That action was inspired by Smith's renewal of acquaintance with Miranda, whom Smith had first met when he was John Adams's secretary in London. On February 2, 1806, a force of 200 filibusters, including Smith's son William Steuben, set sail to Venezuela on a chartered merchant vessel, the Leander, armored by Samuel G. Ogden.

In

death by hanging. Their bodies were beheaded and quartered, with pieces sent to nearby towns as a warning. Smith survived and later escaped his captors and made his way home. Miranda, aboard the Leander and escorted by the packet ship HMS Lilly, escaped to the British islands of Grenada, Barbados, and Trinidad, where the governor Sir Thomas Hislop, 1st Baronet agreed to provide some support for a second attempt to invade Venezuela. The Leander left Port of Spain on July 24, together with HMS Express, HMS Attentive, HMS Prevost
, and HMS Lilly, carrying some 220 officers and men.

General Miranda decided to land in La Vela de Coro and the squadron anchored there on August 1, carrying a flag that Miranda had designed, which later became the flag of modern Venezuela. Nevertheless, the local support that he had hoped for failed to materialize when the fighting started. Much of the local population joined the Spanish against the mercenaries and August 13, Miranda hastily retreated to Aruba and Trinidad, where he left the Leander to avoid the prosecution of Spanish fleet.

In the aftermath of the failed expedition, Colonel Smith and Ogden were indicted by a federal grand jury in New York for violating the

US Supreme Court ruled that the President "cannot authorize a person to do what the law forbids." Both Smith and Ogden stood trial and were found not guilty.[4]
His son, William Steuben, later escaped from the jail in Puerto Cabello.

In 1807, Smith moved to

1814, and appeared to defeat Westel Willoughby Jr.

The Secretary of State of New York initially issued his credentials of election to the 14th United States Congress, but Smith did not claim the seat. Some of the ballots had been returned for "Westel Willoughby," without the "Jr.", and so Smith initially appeared to have a majority. Smith declined to challenge the results, and on December 15, 1815, at the start of the first session of the 14th Congress, the House voted that Willoughby was entitled to the seat.

Death

Smith died in Smith Valley, Lebanon, New York in 1816. He is interred in West Hill Cemetery in Sherburne, New York.

Family

Abigail Adams Smith, portrait by Mather Brown

William Stephens Smith was the son of John Smith, a wealthy New York City merchant, and Margaret Stephens. His siblings included a sister, Sally, who was married to Charles Adams, the son of John Adams and brother of John Quincy Adams. Sally's daughter, Abigail Louisa Smith, Adams married the banker and philosopher Alexander Bryan Johnson; their son, William's grandnephew, Alexander Smith Johnson, became a judge.

He and his wife, Abigail Adams, had four children:

  • William Steuben Smith (1787—1850)
  • John Adams Smith (1788—1854)
  • Thomas Hollis Smith (1790—1791)
  • Caroline Amelia Smith (1795—1852) – married John Peter DeWint of Fishkill-on-Hudson


In popular culture

  • Smith was portrayed by Andrew Scott in the 2008 miniseries, John Adams.
  • Incidents in the Life of John Edsall is an autobiographical memoir published in Catskill, New York, in 1831. John Edsall (1788 – after 1850) was an illiterate American sailor who participated in several historically significant voyages and events. Edsall's seafaring adventures began at age 18 when he was inveigled into joining the filibustering expedition of General Francisco de Miranda to liberate Venezuela in 1806.

References

  1. ^ (USMS), U.S. Marshals Service. "U.S. Marshals Service". www.usmarshals.gov. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  2. ISBN 0-19-503874-6
  3. ^ Edsall, John; P., J. D. (April 27, 2018). "Incidents in the life of John Edsall". Catskill [N.Y.] Pub. for the author. Retrieved April 27, 2018 – via Internet Archive.
  4. ^ Ross, Shelley Washington Babylon Allison & Busby (1989).

External links

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by
District restored
 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New York's 17th congressional district
1813–1815 		Succeeded by
Westel Willoughby, Jr.
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