Share:
Richard Smith
Biography
1769 -
1823
Brother of state Senator, Dr. William R. Smith, and the son of the Rev. William and Rebecca (Moore) Smith, born in Philadelphia in 1769; in 1790, replaced his brother, Thomas Duncan Smith, as a trustee for the new county of Huntingdon (1787); studied law; was admitted to Philadelphia bar in 1792, and the Huntingdon bar, 1795; elected to the Senate in 1796, served one term, and retired to Huntingdon, where he practiced law until he died in 1823.
His father was Dr. William Smith, the proprietor, at that time and for many years thereafter provost of the University of Pennsylvania, called the town "Huntingdon" in honor of Selina, countess of Huntingdon, in England, a lady of remarkable liberality and piety, who, at the solicitation of Dr. Smith, had made a handsome donation to the funds of the University.