SMITH, Nathaniel, jurist, born in Woodbury, Connecticut, 6 January, 1762; died there, 9 March, 1822. He studied law under Judge Tapping Reeve at Litchfield, Connecticut From 1789 till 1795 he was a member of the legislature, in whose deliberations he took an energetic part in abolishing slavery, founding the public-school system, and settling the public lands belonging to Connecticut. From 1795 till 1799 he was a member of congress, and assisted in ratifying the Jay treaty with Great Britain, which closed the century. Mr. Smith declined a re-election to congress in 1799, and, after six years in the state senate, was raised to the supreme bench of Connecticut, where, from 1806 till 1819, he formulated decisions, many of which are still quoted. He was one of the leaders of the famous Hartford convention in 1814, to which his own great character helped to give weight, and the pure patriotism of whose purpose he strenuously defended in company with William Prescott, Stephen Longfellow, Chauncey Goodrich, James Hillhouse, and Roger Minot Sherman. "Judge Smith," says Goodrich (Peter Parley), in his " Recollections of a Lifetime," "was regarded by Connecticut as one of the intellectual giants of his time." Gideon H. Hollister, in his "History of Connecticut," describes him as "one whom the God of nations chartered to be great by the divine prerogative of genius."--His brother Nathan, senator, born in Wood-bury, Connecticut, 8 January, 1769 ; died in Washington, D. C., 6 December, 1835, also studied law with Judge Reeve, of Litchfield, and, moving to New Haven, became one of the most distinguished advocates in New England. He was a member of the legislature for many years, and took an active part in dissolving the connection between church and state in Connecticut and in moulding the new state constitution that was adopted in 1818. As an earnest member and councillor of the Episcopal church, he advocated successfully her claims to an equal recognition with all other religious bodies, and was one of the founders and incorporators of Washington (now Trinity) college. He was for several years United States district attorney, and in 1825 the opponent of Oliver Wolcott for the governorship, but was defeated. In May, 1832, he was elected senator to succeed Samuel A. Foote. He at once took an active part in the debates of the senate, and at his death, which took place suddenly, was even more conspicuous for his private virtues than for his public services. It was said that at his funeral in the senate chamber every prominent public man of the day, including President Jackson and his cabinet, was present.--Truman, senator, a nephew of Nathaniel and Nathan Smith, born in Woodbury, Connecticut, 27 November, 1791 ; died in Stamford, Connecticut, 3 May, 1884, was graduated at Yale in 1815, studied law, and was a member of the legislature in 1831-'4, of congress in 1839-'49, and United States senator from Connecticut in 1849-'54, when tie suddenly resigned from weariness of public life. He was "remarkable for his wide, though silent, influence in national politics, having taken a decisive part in the nomination of General Zachary Taylor for president in 1848. He conducted that presidential campaign as chairman of the Whig national committee, and was offered a post in President Taylor's cabinet, which he declined. He was, in conjunction with Daniel Webster, the foremost opponent of the "spoils system" in congress. He strenuously combated the views of Stephen A. Douglas in the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill. After resigning from the senate, Mr. Smith practised law in New York until he was appointed by President Lincoln in 1862 judge of the court of arbitration, and afterward of the court of claims. He was also legal adviser to the government in many questions arising out of the civil war. He wrote one book, "An Examination of the Question of Anaesthesia" (Boston, 1859), published as "An Inquiry into the Origin of Modern Anaesthesia" (Hartford, 1867), and published many separate speeches. Mr. Smith was a man of giant frame, and lived to be nearly ninety-three years old.--Perry, senator, of the same ancestry, born in Woodbury, Connecticut, 12 May, 1783; died in New Milford, Connecticut, 8 June, 1852, studied law, and made his residence in New Milford, where lie lived during the remainder of his days. Becoming well known in his profession, lie was chosen a member of the legislature in 1822-'4, and again in 1835-'6, and in the mean time was judge of the probate court. In 1837 he was elected United States senator from Connecticut, serving till 1843. He resigned the practice of his profession on going to Washington, and never resumed it. He published a "Speech on Bank Depositaries" (1838).--Of Nathan's grandsons, the Reverend CORNELIUS BISHOP SMITH, D. D., has been rector of St. James church, New York city, since 1869, and his younger brother, the Reverend ALEXANDER MACKAY-SMITH (q. v.), was first archdeacon of the diocese of New York.