Dietrich Conrad SMITH, Congress, IL (1840-1914)

SMITH, Dietrich Conrad, a Representative from Illinois; born in Ost Friesland, Hanover, Germany, April 4, 1840; immigrated to the United States with his parents, who settled in Pekin, Tazewell County, Ill., about 1850; attended the public schools of Pekin, Ill., and Quincy College, Quincy, Ill.; during the Civil War served in the Union Army as lieutenant in Company I, Eighth Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry; left the service as captain of Company C, One Hundred and Thirty-ninth Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry; organizer of the German College at Mount Pleasant in 1874; member of board of trustees of that institution for many years; member of the State house of representatives 1876-1878; engaged in banking and manufacturing and also in the construction and management of railroads in Illinois; elected as a Republican to the Forty-seventh Congress (March 4, 1881-March 3, 1883); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1882 to the Forty-eighth Congress; again engaged in banking; died in Pekin, Ill., April 18, 1914; interment in Lakeside Cemetery.

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