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Nathan Smith
Gender:
Male
Born:
January 8, 1770
Died:
December 6, 1835
Home Town:
Roxbury, CT
Later Residences:
New Haven, CT
Biographical Notes:
Nathan Smith was the son of Richards and Annis (Hurd) Smith. Smith spent much of his early career as a peddlar.
Smith had no formal college education before attending the Law School. After completing his studies in Litchfield, he passed the bar and began his legal practice in New Haven, CT. In 1808 Smith received an honorary master's from Yale. Smith was also an incorporator of Washington College, later known as Trinity College in Hartford, CT.
Smith was prosecuting attorney for New Haven County from 1817 to 1835, and was a delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1818. In 1825, he was an unsuccessful candidate for governor of Connecticut, losing to Oliver Wolcott. In 1828 he was appointed United States Attorney for the district of Connecticut, serving two years.
Smith ...
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Smith had no formal college education before attending the Law School. After completing his studies in Litchfield, he passed the bar and began his legal practice in New Haven, CT. In 1808 Smith received an honorary master's from Yale. Smith was also an incorporator of Washington College, later known as Trinity College in Hartford, CT.
Smith was prosecuting attorney for New Haven County from 1817 to 1835, and was a delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1818. In 1825, he was an unsuccessful candidate for governor of Connecticut, losing to Oliver Wolcott. In 1828 he was appointed United States Attorney for the district of Connecticut, serving two years.
Smith ...
[more]
Additional Notes:
His brother Nathaniel Smith and nephew Truman Smith also attended the Law School and were elected to the U.S. Congress.
Education
Years at LLS:
1790
Other Education:
Studied law with his brother the Hon. Nathaniel Smith.
Profession / Service
Profession:
Lawyer; Political Office
Admitted To Bar:
Litchfield County, CT in 1792
Political Party:
Anti-Jacksonian; Whig
Federal Posts:
U.S. Attorney for the District of CT (CT) 1828-1829
U.S. Senator (CT) 1833-1835
U.S. Senator (CT) 1833-1835
State Committees:
Delegate to the 1818 CT State Constitutional Convention.
Local Posts:
Prosecuting Attorney (New Haven County, CT) 1827-1835
Immediate Family (Why only immediate family?)
- Nathaniel Smith
Brother
LLS (1786) - Annis Hurd Smith
Mother - Richard Smith
Father
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:
Handwritten list on loose papers of LLS Students "prior to 1798," inside Catalogue of Litchfield Law School (Hartford, CT: Press of Case, Tiffany and Company, 1849), Litchfield Historical Society, Helga J. Ingraham Memorial Library.
Secondary Sources:
Cothren, William. History of Ancient Woodbury from the First Indian Deed in 1659 to 1879. Weedbury, CT: William Cothren, 1879.
Kilbourne, Payne Kenyon. A Biographical History of the County of Litchfield, Connecticut. New York: Clark, Austin & Co., 1851.
Kilbourne, Payne Kenyon. A Biographical History of the County of Litchfield, Connecticut. New York: Clark, Austin & Co., 1851.
Contact Us
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