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Frederick Smyth (New Hampshire)
Encyclopedia
Frederick Smyth was a banker, railroad executive, and politician from Manchester, New Hampshire
. Born in 1819 in Candia, New Hampshire
, he became City Clerk of Manchester at the age of 30. A Republican
, he served four terms as mayor of Manchester from 1852 to 1854 and again in 1864, and was twice elected Governor of New Hampshire
.
Around 1838, he and Thomas Wheat began running a country store in Candia under the name of Wheat and Smyth. The store was owned by Wheat's father. They soon left to attend Phillips Andover Academy in Andover, Massachusetts
. Financial difficulties forced them to leave Phillips Academy after one term.
Smyth moved to Manchester, New Hampshire, where he found a job working for George Porter in Porter's general store and mercantile business. After three years, Smyth was made a partner in the business.
On December 11, 1844, Smyth married Emily Lane of Candia, daughter of John Lane and Nabby Emerson. Emily Lane Smith died on January 14, 1885. Smyth's second wife was Marion Hamilton Cossar of Manchester, daughter of James Cossar and Jessie Finlay. They were married on 22 February 1886 at Carmichael, Lanarkshire, Scotland
.
He continued to be a merchant until 1849, when he sold his share of the business following his election to the post of Manchester city clerk, at the age of 30.
He was reelected to that post in 1850 and 1851. In 1852, he was elected to his first term as mayor of Manchester. He was reelected in 1853 and 1854.
Many of the decisions he made as mayor remain today, including many "firsts", such as overseeing the construction of the city's first highways, the first water and sewer systems, the first sidewalks, and streetlights. He is credited with the idea to plant trees along city streets to provide shade and maintain the natural beauty of the city.
In 1857 and 1858, he was a member of the New Hampshire General Court
, representing Manchester's Ward 3.
He was active in the New Hampshire Agriculture Society, serving as treasurer for 10 years. He was a director in the American Agriculture Society and a vice-president of the American Pomological Society. He served as one of the commissioners on the part of the General Government of New Hampshire at the International Exhibition of 1862, in London
.
When Abraham Lincoln
visited the state in 1860, Smyth introduced him to a crowd as the "next president of the United States".
Smyth's terms as governor were consumed by efforts to straighten out the state's wartime finances, which were in substantial disarray because of Civil War
expenditures. He borrowed $1.2 million to fund the state's war debt, and settled all state claims against the federal government on terms favorable to the state. He is credited with putting New Hampshire's credit on a sound financial footing, and "mustered out" soldiers remaining in wartime military units.
He oversaw a revision of state statutes, and was a strong supporter of passage of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
(passed 1868), which guarantees due process
and equal protection to all United States citizens. He also undertook to restore fish to certain state rivers, and he began publication of state papers.
. Smyth had advocated legislation to create the school in his inaugural address. The bill provided that the college be established as part of Dartmouth College
and that it should be governed by a nine-member board of trustees.
The agricultural college was originally located in Hanover, New Hampshire
. In 1893, it moved to Durham
and became the University of New Hampshire
in 1923.
On July 19, 1866 the trustees appointed Smyth a trustee of the New Hampshire College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts. He continued to serve as a trustee until October 7, 1897. At the first meeting of the board, on September 28, 1866, he was elected treasurer. He held the post until August 20, 1895 when he relinquished the post due to ill health.
On April 10, 1895, Smyth was elected president of the board. However, business commitments and declining health prevented him from ever presiding as president, even though he held the post until his term as a trustee expired in 1897.
appointed him honorary commissioner to the 1878 International Exposition
at Paris
. Smyth was a principal stockholder and president of the Concord and Montreal Railroad. He was a trustee of the New England Conservatory of Music
in Boston
, and served as president of the New Hampshire Orphans' Home at Franklin
.
He died in Manchester on April 22, 1899, at the age of 80. He is buried there at Valley Cemetery
, where his family has one of the cemetery's 13 mausoleums.
Some sources http://www.izaak.unh.edu/archives/chron/smyth.htm say he died at his winter home in Hamilton, Bermuda
.
Smyth's name was honored when, in 1949, Smyth's wife Marion C. Smyth founded the Smyth Trust. The trust provides scholarships to music students in the greater Manchester area.
Manchester, New Hampshire
Manchester is the largest city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire, the tenth largest city in New England, and the largest city in northern New England, an area comprising the states of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. It is in Hillsborough County along the banks of the Merrimack River, which...
. Born in 1819 in Candia, New Hampshire
Candia, New Hampshire
Candia is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 3,909 at the 2010 census. The town includes the villages of Candia, Candia Four Corners and East Candia.-History:...
, he became City Clerk of Manchester at the age of 30. A Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
, he served four terms as mayor of Manchester from 1852 to 1854 and again in 1864, and was twice elected Governor of New Hampshire
Governor of New Hampshire
The Governor of the State of New Hampshire is the supreme executive magistrate of the U.S. state of New Hampshire.The governor is elected at the biennial state general election in November of even-numbered years. New Hampshire is one of only two states, along with bordering Vermont, to hold...
.
Early life
Smyth was the third of five children born to Stephen and Dolly Rowe Smyth of Candia.Around 1838, he and Thomas Wheat began running a country store in Candia under the name of Wheat and Smyth. The store was owned by Wheat's father. They soon left to attend Phillips Andover Academy in Andover, Massachusetts
Andover, Massachusetts
Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was incorporated in 1646 and as of the 2010 census, the population was 33,201...
. Financial difficulties forced them to leave Phillips Academy after one term.
Smyth moved to Manchester, New Hampshire, where he found a job working for George Porter in Porter's general store and mercantile business. After three years, Smyth was made a partner in the business.
On December 11, 1844, Smyth married Emily Lane of Candia, daughter of John Lane and Nabby Emerson. Emily Lane Smith died on January 14, 1885. Smyth's second wife was Marion Hamilton Cossar of Manchester, daughter of James Cossar and Jessie Finlay. They were married on 22 February 1886 at Carmichael, Lanarkshire, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
He continued to be a merchant until 1849, when he sold his share of the business following his election to the post of Manchester city clerk, at the age of 30.
He was reelected to that post in 1850 and 1851. In 1852, he was elected to his first term as mayor of Manchester. He was reelected in 1853 and 1854.
Many of the decisions he made as mayor remain today, including many "firsts", such as overseeing the construction of the city's first highways, the first water and sewer systems, the first sidewalks, and streetlights. He is credited with the idea to plant trees along city streets to provide shade and maintain the natural beauty of the city.
In 1857 and 1858, he was a member of the New Hampshire General Court
New Hampshire General Court
The General Court of New Hampshire is the bicameral state legislature of the U.S. state of New Hampshire. The lower house is the New Hampshire House of Representatives with 400 members. The upper house is the New Hampshire Senate with 24 members...
, representing Manchester's Ward 3.
He was active in the New Hampshire Agriculture Society, serving as treasurer for 10 years. He was a director in the American Agriculture Society and a vice-president of the American Pomological Society. He served as one of the commissioners on the part of the General Government of New Hampshire at the International Exhibition of 1862, in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
When Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
visited the state in 1860, Smyth introduced him to a crowd as the "next president of the United States".
As governor
He was an unsuccessful candidate for Governor of New Hampshire in 1860, but was elected in 1865, and again in 1866.Smyth's terms as governor were consumed by efforts to straighten out the state's wartime finances, which were in substantial disarray because of Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
expenditures. He borrowed $1.2 million to fund the state's war debt, and settled all state claims against the federal government on terms favorable to the state. He is credited with putting New Hampshire's credit on a sound financial footing, and "mustered out" soldiers remaining in wartime military units.
He oversaw a revision of state statutes, and was a strong supporter of passage of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868, as one of the Reconstruction Amendments.Its Citizenship Clause provides a broad definition of citizenship that overruled the Dred Scott v...
(passed 1868), which guarantees due process
Due process
Due process is the legal code that the state must venerate all of the legal rights that are owed to a person under the principle. Due process balances the power of the state law of the land and thus protects individual persons from it...
and equal protection to all United States citizens. He also undertook to restore fish to certain state rivers, and he began publication of state papers.
Founding of the University of New Hampshire
On July 7, 1866, during his second term as governor, Smyth signed a bill providing for the incorporation of the New Hampshire College of Agriculture and the Mechanic ArtsNew Hampshire College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts
New Hampshire College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts was founded and incorporated in 1866, as a land grant college in Hanover in connection with Dartmouth College...
. Smyth had advocated legislation to create the school in his inaugural address. The bill provided that the college be established as part of Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
and that it should be governed by a nine-member board of trustees.
The agricultural college was originally located in Hanover, New Hampshire
Hanover, New Hampshire
Hanover is a town along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 11,260 at the 2010 census. CNN and Money magazine rated Hanover the sixth best place to live in America in 2011, and the second best in 2007....
. In 1893, it moved to Durham
Durham, New Hampshire
As of the census of 2000, there were 12,664 people, 2,882 households, and 1,582 families residing in the town. The population density was 565.5 people per square mile . There were 2,923 housing units at an average density of 130.5 per square mile...
and became the University of New Hampshire
University of New Hampshire
The University of New Hampshire is a public university in the University System of New Hampshire , United States. The main campus is in Durham, New Hampshire. An additional campus is located in Manchester. With over 15,000 students, UNH is the largest university in New Hampshire. The university is...
in 1923.
On July 19, 1866 the trustees appointed Smyth a trustee of the New Hampshire College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts. He continued to serve as a trustee until October 7, 1897. At the first meeting of the board, on September 28, 1866, he was elected treasurer. He held the post until August 20, 1895 when he relinquished the post due to ill health.
On April 10, 1895, Smyth was elected president of the board. However, business commitments and declining health prevented him from ever presiding as president, even though he held the post until his term as a trustee expired in 1897.
The Smyth Prize
In addition to his service as a trustee, Smyth established and provided funds for the Smyth Prize for Writing, Reading and Elocution for students of the agricultural college. The Smyth Prizes were awarded from 1881 until 1904. After Smyth's death in 1899, the prize money came from provisions in his will and then was funded by his wife, Marion C. Smyth. Prizes ranged from $25 to $10. The essay and elocution competitions were open to the senior and middle class while the reading competition was only open to first-year students.Civic involvement
Smyth served as one of the board of managers of the National Homes for Disabled Soldiers. He was a delegate-at-large to the 1872 Republican national convention, and President HayesRutherford B. Hayes
Rutherford Birchard Hayes was the 19th President of the United States . As president, he oversaw the end of Reconstruction and the United States' entry into the Second Industrial Revolution...
appointed him honorary commissioner to the 1878 International Exposition
Exposition Universelle (1878)
The third Paris World's Fair, called an Exposition Universelle in French, was held from 1 May through to 10 November 1878. It celebrated the recovery of France after the 1870 Franco-Prussian War.-Construction:...
at Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. Smyth was a principal stockholder and president of the Concord and Montreal Railroad. He was a trustee of the New England Conservatory of Music
New England Conservatory of Music
The New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, is the oldest independent school of music in the United States.The conservatory is home each year to 750 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate studies along with 1400 more in its Preparatory School as well as the School of...
in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, and served as president of the New Hampshire Orphans' Home at Franklin
Franklin, New Hampshire
The median income for a household in the city was $34,613, and the median income for a family was $41,698. Males had a median income of $32,318 versus $25,062 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,155...
.
He died in Manchester on April 22, 1899, at the age of 80. He is buried there at Valley Cemetery
Valley Cemetery
The Valley Cemetery is a public cemetery located in Manchester, New Hampshire, USA. It is bounded on the east by Pine Street, on the north by Auburn Street, on the west by Willow Street, and on the south by Valley Street, from which it derives its name.It came into existence in 1840, when the...
, where his family has one of the cemetery's 13 mausoleums.
Some sources http://www.izaak.unh.edu/archives/chron/smyth.htm say he died at his winter home in Hamilton, Bermuda
Hamilton, Bermuda
Hamilton is the capital of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda. It is the territory's financial centre and a major port and tourist destination.-Geography:...
.
Smyth's name was honored when, in 1949, Smyth's wife Marion C. Smyth founded the Smyth Trust. The trust provides scholarships to music students in the greater Manchester area.