Francis Ormand Jonathan SMITH, Congress, ME (1806-1876)
SMITH, Francis Ormand Jonathan, a Representative from Maine; born in Brentwood, N.H., November 23, 1806; attended Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, N.H.; studied law; was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Portland, Maine, in 1826; division advocate of the fifth division of the circuit court-martial in Maine 1829-1834; served in the state house of representatives in 1831; member of the state senate in 1833 and served as its president; elected as a Jacksonian to the Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Congresses and as a Democrat to the Twenty-fifth Congress (March 4, 1833-March 3, 1839); chairman, Committee on Commerce (Twenty-fifth Congress); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1838 to the Twenty-sixth Congress; assisted Professor Morse in perfecting and introducing the electric telegraph; again a member of the state house of representatives in 1863 and 1864; died in Deering (later Woodfords), Maine, October 14, 1876; interment on his estate, âForest Homeâ; reinterment in Evergreen Cemetery, Portland, Maine.
Bibliography
Gaffney, Thomas L. âMaineâs Mr. Smith: A Study of the Career of Francis O. J. Smith, Politician and Entrepreneur.â Ph.D. diss., University of Maine, 1979.Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present
