William Stephens SMITH, Congress, NY (1755-1816)

SMITH, William Stephens, (son-in-law of John Adams; brother-in-law of John Quincy Adams; uncle of Charles Francis Adams), a Representative from New York; born on Long Island, N.Y., November 8, 1755; was graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1774; studied law for a short time; served in the Revolutionary Army as aide-de-camp to General Sullivan in 1776; was on the staff of General Lafayette in 1780 and 1781, and then transferred to the staff of General Washington; secretary of the Legation at London in 1784; returned to America in 1788; appointed by President Washington to be United States marshal for the district of New York in 1789, and later supervisor of revenue; one of the originators of the Society of the Cincinnati, and served as its president 1795-1797; appointed by President John Adams surveyor of the port of New York in 1800; moved to Lebanon, N.Y., in 1807; elected as a Federalist to the Thirteenth Congress (March 4, 1813-March 3, 1815); presented credentials of his election to the Fourteenth Congress, but he did not qualify, and on December 13, 1815, Westel Willoughby, Jr., successfully contested his election; died in Smith Valley, town of Lebanon, Madison County, N.Y., on June 10, 1816; interment in the Lines Hill Cemetery, between Smyrna and Sherburne, N.Y.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present