Hiram Y. Smith
Encyclopedia
- This article is about the IowaIowaIowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
politician and lawyer. For the settler in the Pacific NorthwestPacific NorthwestThe Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
, see Hiram F. SmithHiram F. SmithHiram F. "Okanogan" Smith was one of the first American settlers in the Pacific Northwest. Smith was born in Maine and learned the printer's trade, working on papers in Detroit and with Horace Greeley in New York...
.
Hiram Ypsilanti Smith (March 22, 1843 – November 4, 1894) was a nineteenth century 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...
politician, lawyer and clerk from Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
. For three months, he represented Iowa's 7th congressional district
Iowa's 7th congressional district
Iowa's 7th congressional district is a former congressional district in Iowa. It was eliminated after the 1970 election, leaving Iowa with six congressional districts. The state has since been reduced to five congressional districts.-Redistricting:...
in the U.S. House of Representatives, after winning election to serve out the term of John A. Kasson
John A. Kasson
John Adam Kasson was a nineteenth century lawyer, politician and diplomat from south-central Iowa. Elected to the U.S...
following Kasson's appointment as U.S. Envoy to Germany
United States Ambassador to Germany
The United States has had diplomatic relations with the nation of Germany and its predecessor nation, the Kingdom of Prussia, since 1835. These relations were broken twice while Germany and the United States were at war...
.
Biography
Born in Piqua, OhioPiqua, Ohio
Piqua is a city in Miami County, Ohio, United States. The population was 20,738 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area.Piqua was one of the cities that experienced severe flooding during the Great Dayton Flood of 1913....
, Smith moved to Rock Island, Illinois
Rock Island, Illinois
Rock Island is the county seat of Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The population was 40,884 at the 2010 census. Located on the Mississippi River, it is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring Moline, East Moline, and the Iowa cities of Davenport and Bettendorf. The Quad Cities...
with his parents in 1850 and again to Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the US state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857...
in 1854. He attended public schools and enlisted in the Iowa Militia
Iowa Army National Guard
The Iowa Army National Guard is the Army component of the Iowa National Guard, a military reserve force with dual federal and state missions. It is empowered to function in a state status if needed to carry out limited actions during non-emergency situations all the way to full scale law...
for service against the Indians
Indian American
Indian Americans are Americans whose ancestral roots lie in India. The U.S. Census Bureau popularized the term Asian Indian to avoid confusion with Indigenous peoples of the Americas who are commonly referred to as American Indians.-The term: Indian:...
in 1861. He was appointed a clerk in the Post Office Department
United States Post Office Department
The Post Office Department was the name of the United States Postal Service when it was a Cabinet department. It was headed by the Postmaster General....
in 1862, serving until 1864 when he was transferred to the Treasury Department
United States Department of the Treasury
The Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue...
, serving there until 1865.
Smith graduated from the Albany Law School
Albany Law School
Albany Law School is an ABA accredited law school based in Albany, New York. It was founded in 1851 by Amos Dean , Amasa Parker, Ira Harris and others....
in 1866 and was admitted to the bar later the same year, commencing practice in Des Moines. He served as district attorney
District attorney
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
of the fifth judicial district of Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
from 1875 to 1879, and was a member of the Iowa Senate
Iowa Senate
The Iowa Senate is the upper house of the Iowa General Assembly. There are 50 members of the Senate, representing 50 single-member districts across the state with populations of approximately 59,500 per constituency. Each Senate district is composed of two House districts...
from 1882 to 1884.
In 1884, Smith became a candidate for the Republican nomination to succeed retiring Republican Congressman (and former Ambassador to Austria-Hungary) John A. Kasson as representative for Iowa's 7th congressional district. Smith's closest competitor for the nomination was Iowa State Treasurer Edwin H. Conger
Edwin H. Conger
Edwin Hurd Conger was an Civil War soldier, lawyer, banker, Iowa congressman, and United States diplomat. As the United States' minister to China during the Boxer Rebellion, Conger, his family, and other western diplomatic legations were under siege in Beijing until rescued by the China Relief...
, Smith's former law-school classmate. However, in August 1884, Kasson left Congress early when President Chester A. Arthur
Chester A. Arthur
Chester Alan Arthur was the 21st President of the United States . Becoming President after the assassination of President James A. Garfield, Arthur struggled to overcome suspicions of his beginnings as a politician from the New York City Republican machine, succeeding at that task by embracing...
selected him as the next envoy to Germany. This appointment required a double election in the 7th district in November 1884 - the regular election to pick a representative for the upcoming Forty-ninth Congress, and a special election of a representative to serve out the remainder of Kasson's term in the Forty-eighth Congress. By the time of the district nominating convention, Smith ran only for the shorter term, and Conger ran only for the longer term. Smith (and Conger) were nominated and defeated their opponents in the November election.
Smith served in the lame-duck session, from December 2, 1884 to March 4, 1885. Afterwards, Smith resumed practicing law until his death in Des Moines on November 4, 1894. He was interned in Woodland Cemetery in Des Moines.