Talk:Samuel Smith (Pennsylvania politician)

Some background on Samuel Smith

Samuel Bates' History of Erie County, Vol I (1884) provides a line drawing of Samuel Smith on the page opposite pg 406. Bates labeled Smith as living in Mill Creek Township at the time he resigned as Associate Judge to become a Congressman circa November 1805. Bates noted that Associate Judges need not be learned in the law, but they are always either prominent farmers or intelligence businessmen. Bates also said that before 1851, all appointments were by the Governor.

A possible lead on Smith's identity can be found in land purchase records appearing on pg 510. On 23 March 1802, a Samuel Smith purchased Lot No. 1401 on the west side of State Street between 7th Street and 8th Street for $30. An Abraham Smith purchased Lot No 1400 on the opposite side of the street on the same date, also for $30. An Abraham Smith also purchased Lot No. 1936 on the northwest corner of Peach Street and 7th Street, the site of the Wetmore House, on the same date, for $25. The purchase of prime land on State Street wouldn't have hurt Smith's chances of appointment as Associate Judge by the local political machine.

The 1800 Federal Census for Pennsylvania lists an Abraham Smith in Waterford and a Samuel Smith in Union Township on neighboring pages of the enumeration. Abraham is 26-45 years old with family, and Samuel is 26-45 years old with what appears to be a wife of same age, two daughters and a son, all under age 10.

Bates effectively links the Samuel Smith enumerated in Erie in the 1810 Federal Census for Pennsylvania with the Samuel Smith he lists in Wayne Township (see pg 831). Bates says a William Smith who emigrated from Ireland was rumored to be the first settler of Wayne Township. William and Samuel Smith settled in Wayne in 1798 and were soon joined by their brothers James and Robert. The 1810 census shows consecutive listings for Samuel, James, William, and Robert Smith in Erie. Samuel is 26-45 and his wife is 45+. They have what appears to be a son and daughter aged 10-15, plus two sons and four daughters under ten.

The 1820 Federal Census suggests that Samuel Smith is either deceased, no longer in the area, no longer head of household, or attributed the wrong age bracket by the census enumerator. Listings for Samuel Smith in Northeast, Union, and Venango show men aged 26-45 years, while Smith should be over 45 by this time.

A check of wills and deeds at Erie County courthouse for both Abraham and Samuel Smith would be the next research step, if such has not already been done. Pat 04:01, 7 May 2007 (UTC)

Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Retirement Series

The Monticello has issued several volumes of the Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Retirement Series The Current Cumulative Index contains references to letters written to Samuel Smith (of Pennsylvania) which can be found in Volume 1, pp 335-36, 340, and 345. The Table of Contents for Volume 1 shows those references to include a letter to Samuel Smith (of Pennsylvania) dated 9 July 1809 (pp 335-36), a letter to Robert Smith dated 10 July 1809 (pg 340), and a letter from Robert Smith dated 15 July 1809. Surely a review of these letters would be of interest for this biography. Pat 08:44, 7 May 2007 (UTC)

I am in correspondence with Monticello and expect to receive scanned images and other details in coming weeks. Pat 21:31, 16 May 2007 (UTC)

Retirement Series, pg 335, includes a footnote with research notes as follows: Samuel Smith, of Mill Creek, Erie County, Pennsylvania, served as associate judge of that county, 1803-05, and sat in the United States House of Representatives, 1805-11. In 1812 he was appointed receiver of public moneys for the district east of the Pearl River in the Mississippi Territory. Smith was removed from this post and ruined financially in 1817 when he could not account for all of the public funds (History of Erie County, Pennsylvania (1884), 1:342, 415; Biographical Directory of the Congress; Territorial Papers, 6:287, 782, 784; Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States 2:281, 284 (1, 2 July 1812); Philip S. Klein, ed.,"Memoirs of a Senator from Pennsylvania: Jonathan Roberts, 1771-1854," Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 62 (1938): 241-2)
The letter from Jefferson to Samuel Smith mentions a recent letter from Smith to Jefferson regarding the disposition of court costs in a case against certain Lowry brothers from Erie - Morrow Lowry, Andrew Lowry, and John Lowry. Pat 03:38, 18 May 2007 (UTC)

Pennsylvania Records

Pennsylvania Archives, Fourth Series, edited by George Edward Reed, Vol IV, Papers of the Governors (1785-1817), (1900:Harrisburg, PA, by Wm Stanley Ray, State Printer), pp 587-89, 665-66, contains proclamations announcing the election of Representatives of Pennsylvania in the United States Congress. The first one, signed by the Governor of Pennsylvania on 12 December 1806, says that Samuel Smith was duly elected as the Representative of the District composed of the counties of Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Mercer, Crawford, Erie, Venango, and Warren, and will take office on 4 March 1807 for a two-year term. The second proclamation is substantially the same but was signed 13 January 1809, and Smith would take office on 4 March 1809.

Highlights of Erie Politics, by John G Carney, self-published in Erie in 1960, pp 9, 10, suggests that Samuel Smith, of Erie County, was "elected" in 1805 to replace John B C Lucas, who resigned from Congress. Presumably he would have been appointed to fulfill an unexpired term. Carney says that Samuel Smith was "re-elected" in 1806. Carney says that a Wilson Smith, of Waterford, was elected Erie County sheriff in 1803, then to State Assembly in 1804 and again in 1806. Abraham Smith, of Erie, became Erie County coroner in 1803. Pat 02:01, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

St. Stephens Land Office for the District East of the Pearl River, Mississippi Territory

Samuel Smith, a former Congressman from Pennsylvania, served as the receiver of public moneys at the land office at St Stephens, Mississippi Territory circa 1815. The office is described as having been located on the Tombigbee just above its confluence with the Alabama. Smith worked with Lewis Sewall, the register of lands at that office beginning in 1810. Former Indian lands came available for public purchase after the Choctaw Purchase of 1805, the War of 1812, and the pacification of Creek lands by Andrew Jackson circa 1813, so the land office was extremely busy with prospective buyers. By December 1815, the office couldn't handle all of the transactions, so the books fell into arrears. Complaints forced Sewall to resign. No mention of Smith's fate. "The Land Office Business: The Settlement and Administration of American Public Lands, 1789-1837", by Malcolm J. Rohrbough, pp 109-112 See text of article