Frederick Smith (lawyer)

Frederick Smith (March 1, 1773 – October 6, 1830) was a Pennsylvania lawyer. He was state Attorney General (1823–8) and a Justice of the state's Supreme Court (1828–30).

Frederick Smith
11th Attorney General of Pennsylvania
In office
December 18, 1823 – February 5, 1828
GovernorJohn Andrew Shulze
Preceded byThomas Elder
Succeeded byCalvin Blythe
Personal details
BornMarch 1, 1773
Germantown, Philadelphia
DiedOctober 6, 1830 (aged 57)
Reading, Pennsylvania
Spouse(s)Catharine Leaf[1][2]
Alma materUniversity of Pennsylvania
ProfessionAttorney, Judge

Biography and career

Smith was born in the Germantown area of Philadelphia. After graduating in 1792[3] from the University of Pennsylvania, he worked and studied in the office of Jared Ingersoll, a signer of the U. S. Constitution who was then the newly appointed state Attorney General. In 1794, Smith moved to Reading, and practiced law in Berks, Lehigh, Northampton, and Schuylkill counties.

In 1809 he was part of the team defending, unsuccessfully, the controversial Susanna Cox.[4]

In 1823, Governor Shulze offered Smith the position of Secretary of the Commonwealth, which he declined, but then offered Smith the position of state Attorney General, which he accepted. He served until 1828, when he resigned upon being appointed to the state Supreme Court, where he served until his death in 1830.

References
  1. "Notes and Queries". The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. XVII (2): 235. 1893.
  2. "Find A Grave".
  3. Catalogue of the Alumni of the University of Pennsylvania: Comprising Lists of the Provosts, Vice-provosts, Professors, Tutors, Instructors, Trustees, and Alumni of the Collegiate Departments : with a List of the Recipients of Honorary Degrees, 1749-1877. 1877. p. 20.
  4. Patricia Ernest Suter; Russell Earnest; Corinne Earnest (2010). The Hanging of Susanna Cox: The True Story of Pennsylvania's Most Notorious Infanticide and the Legend That's Kept it Alive. Stackpole Books. p. 118. ISBN 9780811705608.

Further reading
  • Samuel Hazard (ed.), The Register of Pennsylvania, volume VI, July 1830–January 1831, p. 265 Obituary
Legal offices
Preceded by
Thomas Elder		 Attorney General of Pennsylvania
1823–1828		 Succeeded by
Calvin Blythe
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