Joseph Luther SMITH, Congress, WV (1880-1962)

SMITH, Joseph Luther, a Representative from West Virginia; born in Marshes (now Glen Daniel), Raleigh County, W.Va., May 22, 1880; attended public and private schools; editor and owner of the Raleigh Register, Beckley, W.Va., until 1911; also engaged in the real estate and banking business; mayor of Beckley 1904-1929; member of the State senate 1909-1913; elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-first and to the seven succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1929-January 3, 1945); chairman, Committee on Mines and Mining (Seventy-second through Seventy-eighth Congresses); was not a candidate for renomination in 1944; engaged in banking administrative business, and was a resident of Beckley, W.Va., until his death on August 23, 1962; interment in Sunset Memorial Park.

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