Worthington Curtis Smith

Worthington Curtis Smith (April 19, 1823 – January 2, 1894) was an American politician and railroad president. He served as a U.S. Representative from Vermont, and was the son of John Smith, of Vermont, a U.S. Representative from Vermont.[1]

Worthington C. Smith
Member of the
United States House of Representatives
from Vermont's 3rd district
In office
March 4, 1867 – March 3, 1873
Preceded byPortus Baxter
Succeeded byGeorge Whitman Hendee
Personal details
Born(1823-04-19)April 19, 1823
St. Albans, Vermont, U.S.
DiedJanuary 2, 1894(1894-01-02) (aged 70)
St. Albans, Vermont, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseCatherine M. Walworth
ChildrenF. Walworth Smith and W. Tracy Smith
Alma materUniversity of Vermont at Burlington
ProfessionPolitician

Early life

Smith was born in St. Albans, Vermont[2] to John Smith and Maria Curtis Smith.[3] He pursued classical studies and was a member of the Lambda Iota Society at the University of Vermont where he graduated in 1843. Smith studied law with his father but did not practice.[4]

Career

Smith was involved in the iron trade, and from 1845 until 1860 he engaged in the manufacture of railroad supplies in the iron foundries located in Plattsburgh and St. Albans.[5] During the Civil War, Smith assisted in raising the 1st Vermont Infantry Regiment.[6]

Smith served as a member of the Vermont House of Representatives in 1863.[7] He was a member of the Vermont State Senate in 1864 and 1865, and was unanimously elected President pro tempore in 1865.[8] He was the president of the Vermont National Bank from 1864 until 1870.[9]

Smith was elected as a Republican candidate to the Fortieth, Forty-first, and Forty-second Congresses, serving from March 4, 1867 until March 3, 1873.[10] In Congress he served as chairman of the Committees of Banking and Currency, Manufactures and Weights and Measures.[11]

Smith served as president of the St. Albans Foundry Company. He was director, and later president, of the Vermont and Canada Railroad, and vice-president of the Central Vermont Railway.[12] From 1868 until 1892 he was a member of the corporation of the University of Vermont.[13]

Personal life

Smith married Katherine M. Walworth on January 12, 1850. They had five children, including F. Walworth Smith, member of the Colorado State Senate, and W. Tracy Smith, vice-president and treasurer of the St. Albans Foundry Company.[14]

Worthington C. Smith was the brother of Governor J. Gregory Smith and uncle of Governor Edward Curtis Smith.[15]

Smith's daughter Katherine Maria Smith (1851-1935) was the wife of businessman William Walker Scranton (1844-1916).[16] Their son Worthington Scranton (1876-1955) was the father of William Scranton, who served as Governor of Pennsylvania.[17] The genealogical line for William Scranton runs from John Smith (great-great-grandfather) to Worthington C. Smith (great-grandfather) to Katherine Maria Smith Scranton (grandmother) to Worthington Scranton (father) to William Scranton.[17]

Death

Smith died in St. Albans, Vermont on January 2, 1894.[18] He was buried at Greenwood Cemetery in St. Albans.[19]

References
  1. "Smith, John (1789-1858)". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved December 16, 2012.
  2. "Smith, Worthington Curtis (1823-1894)". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved December 16, 2012.
  3. "John Smith". Ancestry.com. Retrieved December 16, 2012.
  4. Brown, John Howard (2006). The Cyclopedia of American Biography V7: Comprising the Men and Women of the United States Who Have Been Identified with the Growth of the Nation. Kessinger Publishing. p. 146. ISBN 9781428640528.
  5. University of Vermont. Associate Alumni, University of Vermont (1895). University of Vermont Obituary Record, Volume 1. University of Vermont. Associate Alumni, University of Vermont. p. 83.
  6. Jones, Rossiter and John Howard Brown (1904). The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans. Biographical Society.
  7. "SMITH, Worthington Curtis, (1823 - 1894)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved December 16, 2012.
  8. Brown, John Howard (2006). The Cyclopedia of American Biography V7: Comprising the Men and Women of the United States Who Have Been Identified with the Growth of the Nation. Kessinger Publishing. p. 146. ISBN 9781428640528.
  9. Jones, Rossiter and John Howard Brown (1904). The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans. Biographical Society.
  10. "Rep. Worthington Smith". Govtrack.us. Retrieved December 16, 2012.
  11. Aldrich, Lewis Cass (1891). History of Franklin and Grand Isle counties, Vermont: With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of the prominent men and pioneers. D. Mason & Co. pp. 716. Worthington Curtis smith president of the St. Albans Foundry Company.
  12. Vermont History. Vermont Historical Society. 1915. p. 245.
  13. University of Vermont. Associate Alumni, University of Vermont (1895). University of Vermont Obituary Record, Volume 1. University of Vermont. Associate Alumni, University of Vermont. p. 83.
  14. Aldrich, Lewis Cass (1891). History of Franklin and Grand Isle counties, Vermont: With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of the prominent men and pioneers. D. Mason & Co. pp. 716. Worthington Curtis smith president of the St. Albans Foundry Company.
  15. "Biographical Sketch, J. (John) Gregory Smith" (PDF). J. Gregory Smith (1818-1891) Papers, 1810-1928. Montpelier, VT: Vermont Historical Society. October 2, 2007. pp. 1–2. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
  16. Hitchcock, Frederick Lyman (1914). History of Scranton and Its People. Vol. II. New York, NY: Lewis Historical Publishing Company. pp. 31–32 – via Google Books.
  17. Wolf, George D. (1981). William Warren Scranton, Pennsylvania Statesman. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press. p. 38. ISBN 978-0-2710-0278-1 – via Google Books.
  18. "Worthington C. Smith Dead". The Burlington Free Press. Burlington, VT. January 3, 1894. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. Spencer, Thomas E. (1998). Where They're Buried. Baltimore, MD: Clearfield Company. p. 310. ISBN 978-0-8063-4823-0 – via Google Books.

Further reading
  • "University of Vermont Obituary Record, Volume 1" by the University of Vermont. Associate Alumni, published in 1895.


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