Picture
Portrait of Governor John Cotton Smith
33" H X 27.5" W
Oil on canvas portrait of Governor John Cotton Smith (1765-1845) by Ammi Phillips (1788-1865), painted c. 1825-1830.
John Cotton Smith was the 23rd Governor of Connecticut (1812-1817) and the state's last Federalist governor. His father, Cotton Mather Smith (1731-1806), was the third minister of the Sharon Congregationalist Church, where he served for 52 years (1754-1806). Cotton Mather Smith was also the founder of the Sharon Literary Club in 1778, where John Cotton Smith served as secretary at age 13. Five years later, in 1783, John Cotton Smith graduated from Yale College (where he was a classmate of Noah Webster) and was admitted to the bar in 1786. The following year, he began practicing law in Sharon. He later married Margaret Evertson of New York (1764-1837). The couple had one son, William Mather Smith (1787-1864).
Smith was elected as a representative of the town of Sharon to the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1793, becoming clerk of the State House in 1799 and eventually speaker of the State House in 1800. Initially a supporter of the French Revolution, Smith grew disillusioned during the Reign of Terror and feared that French Revolutionary policies might influence American politics.
After his service in the Connecticut General Assembly, Smith was elected to the Sixth U.S. Congress, filling the vacancy caused by the resignation of Jonathan Brace. He was re-elected to the Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Congresses (during which time he was chairman of the Committee on Claims), serving from November 17, 1800, until his resignation in August 1806.
In October 1806, Smith was again elected to the Connecticut State Legislature and chosen as speaker. He remained in this role until May 1809, when he was elected as a member of the Connecticut Council. Several months later, in October 1809, Smith was appointed as an associate judge of the Superior Court and Supreme Court of Errors from 1809 to 1811. From 1811 to 1812, he served as Connecticut's 27th Lieutenant Governor. After the unexpected death of Governor Roger Griswold on October 25, 1812, John Cotton Smith became the Governor of Connecticut, during which he led the state during the War of 1812 (1812-1815). In 1813, he was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society and the Massachusetts Historical Society. Smith retired from politics after his defeat by former U.S. Treasury Secretary Oliver Wolcott Jr. in the 1817 Connecticut Gubernatorial Election.
After his political career, John Cotton Smith remained active in the community. In addition to being a member of the Connecticut Historical Society, Smith served as a Vice President of the American Bible Society before being selected as its President in 1831, a position he held until his death on December 7, 1845. In July 1836, Smith became a member of the Royal Nordic Society of Antiquaries, based out of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Smith lived and grew up at Weatherstone (also known as the Governor Smith Mansion), which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Smith, his son, William Mather Smith, and grandson John Cotton Smith (1810-1879) are buried together at Hillside Cemetery in Sharon, Connecticut.
The Smith family also has an impressive ancestry of Puritan ministers. Cotton Mather Smith (1731-1806) was the first cousin twice removed of Cotton Mather (1663-1728), linked by their common ancestry to Richard Mather (1596-1669), a Puritan minister in colonial Boston. Richard was the grandfather of Cotton Mather and the great-great-grandfather of Cotton Mather Smith.