Larkin Smith (Virginia politician) explained

Larkin Smith
Order:10th
Office:Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates
Term Start:1799
Term End:1802
Preceded:John Wise
Succeeded:Edmund Harrison
Office2:Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from King and Queen County
Term2:December 2, 1799-December 4, 1803
Preceded2:Henry Young
Successor2:Thomas G. Smith
Alongside2:Richard Corbin, Benjamin Dabney
Term3:December 1, 1797-December 22, 1798
Preceded3:Henry Young
Successor3:Henry Young
Alongside3:Richard Brooke
Term4:October 1, 1792-November 11, 1794
Preceded4:Benjamin Dabney
Successor4:Benjamin Dabney
Alongside4:John Walker Semple
Term5:June 23, 1788-October 17, 1790
Preceded5:William Dudley
Successor5:Benjamin Dabney
Alongside5:Anderson Scott, William Roane
Term6:May 3, 1784-October 16, 1785
Preceded6:Henry Todd
Successor6:William Dudley
Alongsid:Edmund Byne
Allegiance:United States
Branch:Virginia Militia
Continental Army
Serviceyears:1777–1783 (Continental Army
1775-1807 (Virginia militia)
Rank:Colonel(Virginia militia)
Captainl(Continental Army)
Battles:American Revolutionary War
Birth Date:1745 7, df=yes
Birth Place:Rickahock, Virginia
Death Place:Fredericksburg, Virginia
Spouse:Mary Eleanor Hill (21 April 1781 – 10 February 1797)
Sophia Ann Tazewell Taliaferro
Children:John Hill Smith
Parents:John Morris Smith (father)
Mary Beverly née Chew (1735-1757)
Residence:Virginia

Larkin Smith (10 Jul 1745 28 Sep 1813) was a Virginia officer, planter and politician who represented King and Queen County in the Virginia House of Delegates, and served as that body's Speaker from 1799 until 1802.

Early and family life

Born at Richahock plantation in King and Queen County to Mary Chew and her planter husband, John Smith. A member of the First Families of Virginia, he could trace his ancestors in the colony several generations back to immigrants from England.

Military service

Smith enlisted in November 1775 as a private in a company of minutemen. He was promoted to cadet in the 6th Virginia Regiment on February 10, 1776, then cornet of the 4th Regiment Continental Light Dragoons on August 1, 1777. His first officer's commission was issued on September 4, 1778, when he became a lieutenant. He was promoted to captain on April 1, 1780, and received land in southern Virginia as partial compensation for his patriotic service. Following the conflict, Smith became a member of the Society of the Cincinnati and continued in the Virginia militia, retiring as Colonel of the Regiment of Dragoons in 1807.

Career

Following the war, on September 30, 1784, Smith became one of the Justices of the Peace which collectively ruled his native King and Queen County.

King and Queen County voters elected Smith as their (part-time) representative in the Virginia House of Delegates in 1784-1785 and both re-elected him and failed to re-elect him many times.[1] In the period June 7, 1794 until 1797 he was ineligible for legislative service because fellow legislators elected him as a member of the Governor's Privy Council which governed the Commonwealth's small executive branch. During their joint Privy Council service, he and Edmund Harrison (who would succeed him as speaker) on October 7, 1794, issued a report to the Governor on the condition of the State Treasury. Smith again won election to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1797, and was re-elected several times. Fellow delegates elected and re-elected him as their Speaker beginning in 1799, and he served until 1802.[2] Smith moved to Norfolk, Virginia and accepted the office of tax Collector for the Port of Norfolk, serving from October 12, 1807, until his death on September 28, 1813.

Personal life

Smith married twice. On April 21, 1781, he married Mary Eleanor Hill. Following her death, on May 25, 1804, Smith married Sophia Ann Tazewell Taliaferro (widow of Benjamin Taliaferro) at the home of her brother, Littleton Waller Tazewell, who would become Governor of Virginia in 1834–36. Her father was Judge Henry Tazewell of Williamsburg.

Death and legacy

Smith died in Fredericksburg, Virginia in 1813.He is buried in Dinwiddie County with a nice toumb stone in the rock wall cemetery at Village View or Diamon Springs or Smith Farm. Same place different names.

References

List of former Speakers of the House of Delegates, in the old House chamber in the Virginia State Capitol

Notes and References

  1. Cynthia Miller Leonard, The Virginia General Assembly 1619-1978 (Richmond: Virginia State Library 1978) pp. 154, 169, 176, 188, 192, 208, 216, 220, 224, 228
  2. Leonard, pp. xv, 215, 223