William Hugh Smith
{{short description|American politician}}
{{other people||William H. Smith (disambiguation){{!}}William H. Smith}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2016}}
{{more citations needed|date=February 2017}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = William Hugh Smith
|image = William Hugh Smith.jpg
|order = 21st Governor of Alabama
|lieutenant = Andrew J. Applegate (1868–70)
Vacant (1870)
|term_start = July 24, 1868
|term_end = November 26, 1870
|predecessor = Wager Swayne
|successor = Robert B. Lindsay
|office2 = Member of the Alabama House of Representatives
|term_start2 = 1855
|term_end2 = 1859
|predecessor2 =
|successor2 =
|birth_name = William Hugh Smith
|birth_date = {{birth date|1826|4|26}}
|birth_place = New York City, U.S.
|death_date = {{death date and age|1899|1|1|1826|4|26}}
|death_place = Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.
|resting_place= Oak Hill Cemetery (Birmingham, Alabama)
|party = Republican
Democratic
|spouse =
|children =
|religion =
}}
Image:Wedowee Alabama Governor William Hugh Smith Historic Marker.JPG) in Wedowee, Alabama, this historical marker marks the site of the former home of William Hugh Smith.]]
William Hugh Smith (April 26, 1826 – January 1, 1899) was an American planter and politician, the 21st Governor of the U.S. state of Alabama. He was the first Republican elected as governor in the state, serving from 1868 to 1870 during the period of Reconstruction.{{cite web|title=Alabama : Past Governors Bios|url=https://classic.nga.org/cms/home/governors/past-governors-bios/page_alabama.default.html?begincf757b7b-9ab7-47cc-90d3-12757d603123=50&endcf757b7b-9ab7-47cc-90d3-12757d603123=59&pagesizecf757b7b-9ab7-47cc-90d3-12757d603123=10&|website=National Governors Association|access-date=June 12, 2019|archive-date=May 4, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200504065313/https://classic.nga.org/cms/home/governors/past-governors-bios/page_alabama.default.html?begincf757b7b-9ab7-47cc-90d3-12757d603123=50&endcf757b7b-9ab7-47cc-90d3-12757d603123=59&pagesizecf757b7b-9ab7-47cc-90d3-12757d603123=10|url-status=dead}} A former slave owner, he had opposed secession from the United States on the grounds it would imperil slavery. He appeared driven by practical consideration rather than principled opposition to slavery.
Political career
From 1855 to 1859, Smith served in the Alabama House of Representatives as a "states' rights" Democrat, but he evolved into a strong Unionist. In 1862, he escaped to the Northern United States and spent the rest of the war recruiting soldiers for the 1st Alabama Union Cavalry Regiment. He went with this regiment on General William Tecumseh Sherman's famous "March to the Sea."
After the war, Smith chaired the first statewide Republican convention in 1867. He was installed as Governor of Alabama by the U.S. Congress in July 1868. Although he had been elected in February 1868, Smith would not voluntarily take office due to voters failing to ratify the 1868 constitution. A conservative once in office, he supported the restoration of voting rights for ex-confederate public officials and military officers, who had been temporarily disenfranchised. He took only light action against the Ku Klux Klan, arguing that local law enforcement could effectively handle the situation. He promoted economic and railroad development, for the South was behind in investing in infrastructure. Its planter elite had reserved their money for private projects.
He was defeated for re-election by Robert Lindsay by fewer than 1500 votes: Lindsay had 77,721 to Smith's 76,292.
Smith remained active in the Republican Party. In 1873, Governor David P. Lewis appointed him as a Circuit Judge. He was the 6th Chairman of the Alabama Republican Party, serving in the post from 1875 to 1878. He was a Federal District Attorney under President James A. Garfield. He died in Birmingham at the age of 72, where he was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery.
Smith's son, John A. W. Smith, unsuccessfully ran for governor of Alabama in 1902{{cite web|url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=48609|title=Smith, John A. W.|publisher=Our Campaigns|access-date=October 25, 2016}} as a Republican.
References
{{Reflist}}
- [http://www.archives.alabama.gov/govs_list/g_smithw.html Alabama Department of Archives and History]
{{s-start}}
{{s-ppo}}
{{s-new|first}}
{{s-ttl|title=Republican nominee for Governor of Alabama|years=1868, 1870}}
{{s-aft|after=David P. Lewis}}
{{s-off}}
{{succession box | before = Wager Swayne |title=Governor of Alabama | years = 1868–1870 | after = Robert B. Lindsay}}
{{s-end}}
{{Governors of Alabama}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, William Hugh}}
Category:People from Randolph County, Alabama
Category:Democratic Party members of the Alabama House of Representatives
Category:American slave owners
Category:American proslavery activists
Category:Politicians from Birmingham, Alabama
Category:Republican Party governors of Alabama
Category:Southern Unionists in the American Civil War
Category:19th-century members of the Alabama Legislature
{{Alabama-politician-stub}}