John Smith (New York politician, born 1752)


John Smith was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from New York from 1804 to 1813. He previously was the U.S. Representative for New York's 1st congressional district from 1800 to 1804.

Early life

He was born on February 12, 1752 in Mastic Beach, Province of New York, then a part of British America. He was a son of New York State Senator William Smith and Mary Smith. He was a great-grandson of Chief Justicee William "Tangier" Smith.
His mother died on April 22, 1758, a week after the birth of a daughter Mary who died the next year. He lived at Manor St. George in Mastic Beach, Suffolk County, New York. In 1762, his father married Ruth Woodhull, a sister of Gen. Nathaniel Woodhull, and from that marriage John had six half-siblings.

Career

He was a member of the New York State Assembly, representing Suffolk County, in 1784–85, from 1787 to 1794, and from 1798 to 1800.
He was elected to the 6th United States Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Jonathan N. Havens, and took his seat on February 27, 1800. He was re-elected to the 7th and 8th United States Congresses, and served until February 23, 1804, when he took his seat in the U.S. Senate.
In February 1804, he was elected as a Democratic-Republican to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of DeWitt Clinton, replacing the temporarily appointed John Armstrong. He was re-elected in 1807, and served until March 4, 1813.

Personal life

On October 16, 1776, Smith was married to Lydia Fanning of Bellport, Long Island. Together, they were the parents of one son:
Eight years after Lydia's death during childbirth in 1777, he remarried in 1785 to Elizabeth Platt, a daughter of Mary Platt and Judge Zephaniah Platt, a member of the New York Provincial Congress. Among her siblings was U.S. Representative Jonas Platt and New York State Treasurer Charles Z. Platt. Elizabeth died in March 1787, just two years after their marriage.
On October 21, 1792, he married for the third time to Elizabeth Nicholl. Elizabeth, the widow of Henry Nicholl, was a daughter of Nathaniel Woodhull and Ruth Woodhull. Together, they were the parents of four children:
Smith died on August 12, 1816 in Mastic on Long Island. He was interred in the family cemetery on Smiths Point, New York. His widow died on September 14, 1839.

Descendants

Through his son William, he was a grandfather of four, including: Lydia Smith, who married David Gelston Floyd of Greenport; and Egbert Tangiers Smith, who married Annie Marie Robinson.
Through his daughter Sarah, he was a grandfather of eleven, including Abraham Riker Lawrence, a Justice of the Supreme Court of New York.