William Smith (Paymaster general)

William Smith was born in Orwell, Vermont from March 26, 1831, a son of Israel Smith 1790–1865) and Delia Ferguson Smith (1795–1882).{{cite book |date=1897 |title=The National Cyclopedia of American Biography |volume=IV |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3MMI6lZGbBQC&pg=PA459 |location=New York, NY |publisher=James T. White & Company |page=459 |via=Google Books}}{{cite book |last=Rhees |first=William J. |date=1896 |title=Register of the District of Columbia Society, Sons of the American Revolution |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TvQ_AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA173 |location=Washington, DC |publisher=W. F. Roberts |page=173 |via=Google Books}} He attended the schools of Orwell and taught school while attending the University of Vermont (UVM), from which he graduated in 1854 with an AB.{{cite book |editor-last=Marquis |editor-first=Albert N. |editor-link=Albert Nelson Marquis |date=1911 |title=Who's Who In America |volume=VI |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=COkDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1785 |location=Chicago, IL |publisher=A. N. Marquis |page=1785 |via=Google Books}} In 1856, UVM awarded him an AM.{{cite book |author=University of Vermont |date=1890 |title=General Catalogue of the University of Vermont |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8yHOAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA60 |location=Burlington, VT |publisher=Free Press Association |page=60 |via=Google Books}} After graduating, Smith taught school while studying law. Smith's father had served as a paymaster with the 30th Infantry Regiment during the War of 1812, and when Smith informed his father he was considering military service during the American Civil War, his father suggested that paymaster duties would be a favorable choice.{{cite news |date=March 21, 1890 |title=The Paymaster General: How Col. William Smith Received Tidings of His promotion |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/112640513/paymaster/ |work=The Burlington Free Press |location=Burlington, VT |page=4 |via=Newspapers.com}}

In August 1861, Smith's application for a commission was approved, and he was appointed a paymaster in the Union Army. He served as an assistant paymaster for the Department of Washington in Washington, D.C. until February 1862, when he was ordered to the Department of Kentucky in Louisville, where he performed paymaster duties until late 1864. He was then transferred to the Department of the Northwest in Saint Paul, Minnesota, where he continued to serve as a paymaster. In March 1865, he received brevet promotion to lieutenant colonel, and he was discharged in July 1866.

Smith was recommissioned as a major in the paymaster corps in January 1867, and continued to serve in Saint Paul. Later that year he was again posted to Louisville, and he served in San Antonio, Texas from 1869 to 1870.{{cite news |date=October 25, 1870 |title=Major William Smith, Paymaster, U.S.A. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/112654495/paymaster/ |work=Middlebury Register |location=Middlebury, VT |page=3 |via=Newspapers.com}} He served in New Orleans from 1870 to 1872, and Sioux City, Iowa from 1872 and 1873.{{cite news |date=April 29, 1871 |title=Army Intelligence: Stations of Paymasters for May, 1871 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/112654258/paymasters/ |work=New York Herald |location=New York, NY |page=4 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{cite book |author=U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Military Affairs |date=1878 |title=Report Relating to the Reorganization of the Army |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JE9HAQAAIAAJ&pg=RA4-PA77 |location=Washington, DC |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |page=77 |via=Google Books}} He served in Saint Paul again from 1873 to 1880.{{cite news |date=December 3, 1879 |title=Military Orders: General Orders, No. 14 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/112654757/orders/ |work=The St. Paul Globe |location=St. Paul, MN |page=4 |via=Newspapers.com}} Smith was posted to Washington, D.C. from 1880 to 1884, and St. Paul from 1884 to 1887.{{cite news |date=June 12, 1886 |title=Changes of Army Officers |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/112654976/officers/ |work=Hartford Courant |location=Hartford, CT |page=3 |via=Newspapers.com}} Smith served in Chicago, Illinois from 1886 to 1890, and he was promoted to lieutenant colonel in September 1888.{{cite book |author=Treasurer of the United States |date=1889 |title=Accounts of the Treasurer of the United States, 1887 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=doWE0uQw0JUC&pg=PA862 |location=Washington, DC |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |page=862 |via=Google Books}} From 1888 to 1890, Smith served again in Saint Paul.

File:William Smith (US Army Paymaster-General).jpg

In March 1890, Smith was promoted to Paymaster-General of the United States Army and promoted to brigadier general. His selection was unexpected, because at the time, Smith ranked fourth in seniority in the paymaster department, and those ahead of him included his brother Rodney (1829–1915), who was also a career U.S. Army paymaster. In fact, when Smith was informed of his promotion, he was giving an interview to a newspaper reporter, which included his prediction that Rodney Smith would receive the appointment. According to contemporary news accounts, Smith had visited President Benjamin Harrison to make the case for appointing Rodney Smith, and made such a favorable impression on Harrison that Harrison decided to appoint him instead.{{cite news |date=March 12, 1890 |title=Smith Is Surprised: Col. "Billy," of St. Paul, Is Raised to Rank of Paymaster General |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-saint-paul-globe-surprised/123764189/ |work=The St. Paul Globe |location=St. Paul, MN |page=4 |via=Newspapers.com}} Smith served until March 25, 1895, when he left the military after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 64.{{cite news |date=March 26, 1895 |title=Gen. Smith Retires |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/112650729/minneapolis-daily-times/ |work=Minneapolis Daily Times |location=Minneapolis, MN |page= |via=Newspapers.com}} He was succeeded by Thaddeus Harlan Stanton.{{cite news |date=March 27, 1895 |title=Stanton Gets the Place |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/112666700/stanton/ |work=Nebraska State Journal |location=Lincoln, NE |page=1 |via=Newspapers.com}}

In retirement, Smith was a resident first of St. Paul, and later of Pelham Manor, New York.{{cite web |url=https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/27007435:7602 |title=1900 United States Federal Census, Entry for William Smith and Mary Smith |date=1900 |website=Ancestry.com |publisher=Ancestry.com, LLC |location=Lehi, UT |access-date=November 6, 2022 |url-access=subscription}} As a result of his Civil War service, he was a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.{{cite book |date=July 1, 1886 |title=Register of the Commandery of the State of Illinois |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kSJFAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA67 |location=Chicago, IL |publisher=Commandery of the State of Illinois, Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States |page=67 |via=Google Books}} Smith was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution by right of descent from his grandfather Pliny Smith, a Massachusetts Militia veteran of the American Revolutionary War.

Smith died in Pelham Manor on January 17, 1912.{{cite news |date=January 25, 1912 |title=Gen. William Smith |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/93150129/obituary-for-gen-william-smith-aged/ |work=The Orwell Citizen |location=Orwell, VT |page=1 |via=Newspapers.com}} He was buried at Mountain View Cemetery in Orwell.

In October 1867, Smith married Mary Otto McAllister (1843–1935), the daughter of prominent businessman John Hanna McAllister.{{cite book |last=McAllister |first=Mary Catharine |date=1898 |title=Descendants of Archibald McAllister of West Pennsboro Township, Cumberland County, Pa. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rzc3AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA78 |location=Harrisburg, PA |publisher=Scheffer's Printing |page=78 |via=Google Books}} They were the parents of three children: Katherine Delia (1873–1951), William McAllister (1875–1966), and Harry Hall (1877–1909).

{{reflist}}

• {{Findagrave|46615640|William Smith (1831–1912)}}
• [https://vermontcivilwar.org/Bernie/BN39125.pdf Biography, William Smith (1831–1912)] Bernie Noble. Accessed November 4, 2022.
• [https://vermontcivilwar.org/get.php?input=39125 William Smith (1831–1912)] at Vermont in the Civil War

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Category:1831 births

Category:1912 deaths

Category:People from Orwell, Vermont

Category:Military personnel from Saint Paul, Minnesota

Category:People from Pelham Manor, New York

Category:University of Vermont alumni

Category:Union army officers

Category:United States Army paymasters

Category:Paymaster-General of the United States Army