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Addison T. Smith

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Addison T. Smith
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Idaho's 2nd district
In office
March 4, 1919 – March 3, 1933
Preceded byHimself (from At-Large)
Succeeded byThomas C. Coffin
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Idaho's At-Large district
In office
March 4, 1913 – March 3, 1919
Preceded by(new seat)
Succeeded byHimself (to 2nd District)
Personal details
Born
Addison Taylor Smith

September 5, 1862
Cambridge, Ohio, U.S.
DiedJuly 5, 1956(1956-07-05) (aged 93)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Resting placeRock Creek Cemetery
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
Mary Fairchild Smith
(m. 1889; died 1947)
[1]
Children3 sons:
Hugh Fairchild Smith
Benjamin Taylor Smith
Walter Shoup Smith
Residence(s)Twin Falls, Idaho, U.S.
Alma materGeorge Washington University Law School, 1895
ProfessionAttorney

Addison Taylor Smith (September 5, 1862 – July 5, 1956) was a congressman from Idaho. Smith served as a Republican in the U.S. House for ten terms, from 1913 to 1933.[1]

Born in Cambridge, Ohio, Smith began his political career in 1891 in Washington, D.C. as a secretary for Republican U.S. Senator George L. Shoup of Idaho. He graduated from George Washington University Law School in 1895 and served on Shoup's staff until the senator's 1900 election defeat. In 1903 Smith joined the staff of U.S. Senator Weldon B. Heyburn, another Idaho Republican. Smith also served as secretary of the Idaho Republican Party.[2]

By 1905 Smith established a residence in Idaho at Twin Falls.[3] He was appointed as registrar of the United States Land Office in Boise in 1907.

Congress

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In 1912, Idaho added a second seat in the U.S. House, and Smith was elected as one of two at-large members from Idaho, representing the entire state. Beginning with the 1918 election, the state was separated into two districts and he represented the 2nd district. During his House tenure he chaired several committees, including the Committee on Alcohol Liquor Traffic, the Committee on Irrigation of Arid Lands and the Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation.

Election results

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U.S. House elections (Idaho at-large, seat B):
Results 1912–1916
Year Democrat Votes Pct Republican Votes Pct
1912 Addison Smith
1914 Addison Smith (inc.)
1916 Addison Smith (inc.)
U.S. House elections (Idaho's 2nd district): Results 1918–1932
Year Democrat Votes Pct Republican Votes Pct 3rd Party Party Votes Pct
1918 C.R. Jeppesen 18,827 36.8% Addison Smith (inc.)^ 32,274 63.2%
1920 W.P. Whitaker 29,130 37.0% Addison Smith (inc.) 49,642 63.0%
1922 W.P. Whitaker 19,875 28.6% Addison Smith (inc.) 33,206 47.8% Dow Downing Progressive 16,450 23.7%
1924 Asher Wilson 13,470 16.6% Addison Smith (inc.) 44,365 54.5% William Shuldberg Progressive 23,357 28.7%
1926 Mary George Gray 11,259 16.7% Addison Smith (inc.) 40,960 60.6% H.F. Fait Progressive 15,368 22.7%
1928 Ralph W. Harding 29,422 35.4% Addison Smith (inc.) 53,236 64.1% George Hibner Socialist 362 0.4%
1930 W.F. Alworth 27,004 36.8% Addison Smith (inc.) 46,342 63.2%
1932 Thomas Coffin 58,138 55.0% Addison Smith (inc.) 46,273 43.8% William Goold Liberty 1,201 1.1%

Source:[4] ^ Incumbent when he won seat with new designation in 1918.

After Congress

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Smith, age 70, was defeated for re-election in 1932 by Democrat Thomas C. Coffin. In 1934, Smith was appointed to the Board of Veterans Appeals of the Veterans Administration, and served in that capacity until 1942. In 1937 he became director of the Columbia Institution for the Deaf (now Gallaudet University) in Washington, D.C., a position he held until his death.

Smith died at age 93 from lung cancer in 1956 and is buried in Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington, D.C. Addison Avenue, a major east–west thoroughfare in Twin Falls, is named after him.[5]

Notes

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Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

  1. ^ a b "Former solon Addison Smith succumbs at 93". Lewiston Morning Tribune. July 6, 1956. p. 1.
  2. ^ Biographical Directory of the United States Congress Accessed 29 June 2007
  3. ^ Twin Falls Weekly News Reference Access Index Archived July 3, 2007, at the Wayback Machine Accessed 29 June 2007
  4. ^ "Office of the Clerk: Election statistics". U.S. House of Representatives. Retrieved March 12, 2013.
  5. ^ Matthews, Mychel. "BLOG: Addison T. Smith and His Legacies in Twin Falls", Times-News, December 31, 2014. (accessed 21 June 2015)
[edit]
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by
(new seat)
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Idaho's at-large congressional district

March 4, 1913–March 3, 1919
Succeeded by
At-large seats eliminated
Preceded by
(new district)
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Idaho's 2nd congressional district

March 4, 1919–March 3, 1933
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Chairman of the United States House Committee on Arid Lands
April 6, 1922–March 3, 1925
Succeeded by
(committee dissolved)
Preceded by
(committee formed)
Chairman of the United States House Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation
December 7, 1925–March 3, 1931
Succeeded by
Robert S. Hall
Mississippi