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Nathaniel Benedict Smith

Gender:
Male
Born:
December 7, 1795
Died:
February 5, 1881
Home Town:
Woodbury, CT
Later Residences:
New Haven, CT
Marriage(s):
Mary Ann Goodrich Smith (February 22, 1819)
Biographical Notes:
Nathaniel Benedict Smith was the only child of the Hon. Nathaniel and Ruth (Benedict) Smith. He established a legal practice in New Haven, CT after his admission to the bar. When his father became ill, shortly after his marriage, Smith returned with his wife to Woodbury. After his father's death, Smith inherited the care of a large amount of property and he left the practice of the law. Unlike his father, Smith did not seek a prolonged political career and concentrated his interests on his farm. He died in Woodbury, CT.
Education
Years at LLS:
1817
Other Education:
Prepared for college by the Rev. Dr. Azel Backus and graduated from Yale College in 1815.
Profession / Service
Profession:
Lawyer; Agriculture; Political Office
Admitted To Bar:
1818 in Litchfield County Court
Training with Other Lawyers:
Before attending the Litchfield Law School he studied the law with his uncle, Judge Noah Benedict.
State Posts:
State Representative (CT) 1828, 1847
Judge of Probate for the Woodbury District (CT) 1838-1842
Immediate Family (Why only immediate family?)
Related Objects and Documents
Other:
Litchfield County, Litchfield County Court Papers by Subject: Admissions to the Bar
Johnson family papers, 1722-1863
help 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 by William Samuel Johnson, "Catalogue of the Students at Law in the school at Litchfield Conn. at & after Aug. 15th 1817..", Connecticut Historical Society, Johnson Family Papers, 1722-1863, Box - Johnson Papers; Catalogue of the Litchfie
Secondary Sources:
Dexter, Franklin Bowditch. Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Yale College with Annals of College History, Vol. 6. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1912. ; Goodrich, S.G. Recollections of a Lifetime, Vol. 1. New York: Miller, Orton, and Mulligan, 1856.
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