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Junius Smith
Gender:
Male
Born:
October 2, 1780
Died:
January 22, 1853
Home Town:
Plymouth, CT
Later Residences:
New Haven, CT
London, England
Greenville, SC
London, England
Greenville, SC
Marriage(s):
Sarah Allen Smith (April 9, 1812)
Biographical Notes:
Junius Smith was the son of Major-General David and Ruth (Hancock) Smith. His father was a member of the Connecticut Society of the Cincinnati as well as a successful merchant in Plymouth, CT. Junius was the third of four siblings to attend Yale and his brother Aaron also attended the Litchfield Law School. Junius Smith and Aaron Burr Reeve (Tapping Reeve's son) were members of the Yale Class of 1802.
After leaving Litchfield, Smith opened a law office in New Haven in 1804. A year later he was appointed to prosecute a claim against the British government for the capture of an American merchant ship. He pleaded the cause in the admiralty court in London and succeeded in obtaining large damages. Shortly afterwards, he and his brother Aaron both gave up the law to go into the mercantile ...
[more]
After leaving Litchfield, Smith opened a law office in New Haven in 1804. A year later he was appointed to prosecute a claim against the British government for the capture of an American merchant ship. He pleaded the cause in the admiralty court in London and succeeded in obtaining large damages. Shortly afterwards, he and his brother Aaron both gave up the law to go into the mercantile ...
[more]
Education
Years at LLS:
1802
Other Education:
Prepared for college with Rev. Azel Backus and then studied at Williamstown, MA. He later graduated from Yale College in 1802.
Profession / Service
Profession:
Lawyer; Business
Immediate Family (Why only immediate family?)
- Junius A. Smith
Son
LFA (1818-1820) - Aaron Smith
Brother
LLS (1791) - Sarah Allen Smith
Wife - David Smith
Father - Ruth Hitchcock Smith
Mother
The Citation of Attendance provides primary source documentation of the student’s attendance at the Litchfield Female Academy and/or the Litchfield Law School. If a citation is absent, the student is thought to have attended but currently lacks primary source confirmation. Records for the schools were sporadic, especially in the formative years of both institutions. If instructors kept comprehensive records for the Litchfield Female Academy or the Litchfield Law School, they do not survive. Researchers and staff have identified students through letters, diaries, family histories and genealogies, and town histories as well as catalogues of students printed in various years. Art and needlework have provided further identification of Female Academy Students, and Litchfield County Bar records document a number of Law School students. The history of both schools and the identification of the students who attended them owe credit to the early 20th century research and documentation efforts of Emily Noyes Vanderpoel and Samuel Fisher, and the late 20th century research and documentation efforts of Lynne Templeton Brickley and the Litchfield Historical Society staff.
CITATION OF ATTENDANCE:
Catalogue of the Litchfield Law School (Hartford, CT: Press of Case, Tiffany, and Company, 1849), 5.
Secondary Sources:
Pond, E.L. Junius Smith, A Biography of the Father of the Atlantic Liner. 1927
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