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Smith, William 1727-1803


Clergyman; born in Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1727; graduated at the University of Aberdeen in 1747; emigrated to America in 1750; and, accepting an invitation to take charge of the College of Philadelphia, he went to England to receive ordination as a minister in the Protestant Episcopal Church. He was placed at the head of the college in 1754. He was its founder and first provost. It was the origin of the present University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Smith was distinguished for his patriotism and oratory. At the request of Congress he pronounced orations on the deaths of [235] General Montgomery and Dr. Franklin, and these are considered masterpieces of English composition. He was the author of several works, religious, moral, philosophical, and historical, including Brief account of the province of Pennsylvania; and Bouquet's expedition against the Western Indians. He died in Philadelphia, Pa., May 14, 1803.


Jurist; born in New York City, June 25, 1728; graduated at Yale College in 1745; became one of the leading lawyers in America; and was appointed judge of the Supreme Court of New York in 1763, and member of the council in 1769. When the Revolutionary War broke out he at first opposed the measures of government, but finally adhered to the crown and went to England at the end of the struggle in 1783. In November, 1786, he was appointed chiefjustice of Canada. Judge Smith wrote History of the province of New York from its discovery in 1732, and, with William Livingston, published Revised laws of New York, 1690–;1762. He died in Quebec, Canada, Nov. 3, 1793.


Jurist; born in North Carolina in 1762; graduated at Mount Zion College, Winnsboro, S. C., in 1784; member of the State Senate in 1806-8; appointed circuit judge in the latter year; United States Senator in 1817-23; returned to the Senate in 1826 to fill out an unexpired term; and settled in Alabama in 1836. He died in Huntsville, Ala., June 10, 1840.


Lawyer; born in King George county, Va., Sept. 6, 1796; admitted to the bar in 1818; member of the State Senate in 1830-35; of Congress in 1840-42; chosen governor of Virginia by the legislature without being previously consulted, Jan. 1, 1846; member of Congress in 1853-61. He was then commissioned colonel of the 49th Virginia Infantry; promoted brigadier-general in 1862; and was re-elected governor in 1863. He was known as “Extra Billy,” a sobriquet which arose from his demands for extra compensation for carrying the United States mail on a line of postcoaches in Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia, which he established in early manhood. He died in Warrenton, Va., May 18, 1887.

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