George Baldwin Smith

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19th century American lawyer and politician

title: "George Baldwin Smith" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1823-births", "1879-deaths", "people-from-parma,-new-york", "lawyers-from-madison,-wisconsin", "democratic-party-members-of-the-wisconsin-state-assembly", "wisconsin-attorneys-general", "mayors-of-madison,-wisconsin", "district-attorneys-in-dane-county,-wisconsin", "19th-century-american-lawyers", "19th-century-mayors-of-places-in-wisconsin", "burials-at-forest-hill-cemetery-(madison,-wisconsin)", "19th-century-members-of-the-wisconsin-legislature"] description: "19th century American lawyer and politician" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Baldwin_Smith" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary 19th century American lawyer and politician ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
name	George B. Smith
image	George Baldwin Smith.png
order	4th
office	Attorney General of Wisconsin
term_start	January 2, 1854
term_end	January 7, 1856
governor	William A. Barstow
predecessor	Experience Estabrook
successor	William Rudolph Smith
order1	3rd and 16th
office1	Mayor of Madison, Wisconsin
term_start1	April 1, 1878
term_end1	April 7, 1879
predecessor1	Harlow S. Orton
successor1	John R. Baltzell
term_start2	April 5, 1858
term_end2	April 1, 1861
predecessor2	Augustus A. Bird
successor2	Levi Baker Vilas
state3	Wisconsin
state_assembly3	Wisconsin
district3	Dane 5th
term_start3	January 13, 1869
term_end3	January 12, 1870
predecessor3	Levi Baker Vilas
successor3	Alden Sprague Sanborn
term_start4	January 13, 1864
term_end4	January 11, 1865
predecessor4	George Hyer
successor4	James Ross
state_assembly5	Wisconsin
district5	Dane 6th
term_start5	January 12, 1859
term_end5	January 11, 1860
predecessor5	Alexander A. McDonell
successor5	Cassius Fairchild
party	Democratic
birth_name	George Baldwin Smith
birth_date
birth_place	Parma Corners, New York, U.S.
death_date
death_place	Dane County, Wisconsin, U.S.
restingplace	Forest Hill Cemetery
Madison, Wisconsin
spouse	Eugenia Weed Smith
children	{{unbulleted list
father	Reuben Smith
mother	Betsy (Page) Smith
profession	lawyer, politician
::

|name = George B. Smith |image = George Baldwin Smith.png |caption = |order = 4th |office = Attorney General of Wisconsin | term_start = January 2, 1854 | term_end = January 7, 1856 | governor = William A. Barstow | predecessor = Experience Estabrook | successor = William Rudolph Smith |order1 = 3rd and 16th |office1 = Mayor of Madison, Wisconsin | term_start1 = April 1, 1878 | term_end1 = April 7, 1879 | predecessor1 = Harlow S. Orton | successor1 = John R. Baltzell | term_start2 = April 5, 1858 | term_end2 = April 1, 1861 | predecessor2 = Augustus A. Bird | successor2 = Levi Baker Vilas |state3 = Wisconsin |state_assembly3 = Wisconsin |district3 = Dane 5th | term_start3 = January 13, 1869 | term_end3 = January 12, 1870 | predecessor3 = Levi Baker Vilas | successor3 = Alden Sprague Sanborn | term_start4 = January 13, 1864 | term_end4 = January 11, 1865 | predecessor4 = George Hyer | successor4 = James Ross |state_assembly5 = Wisconsin |district5 = Dane 6th | term_start5 = January 12, 1859 | term_end5 = January 11, 1860 | predecessor5 = Alexander A. McDonell | successor5 = Cassius Fairchild |party = Democratic |birth_name = George Baldwin Smith |birth_date = |birth_place = Parma Corners, New York, U.S. |death_date = |death_place = Dane County, Wisconsin, U.S. |restingplace = Forest Hill Cemetery Madison, Wisconsin |spouse = Eugenia Weed Smith |children = {{unbulleted list | James S. Smith | Anna (McConnell) | 3 others (died young) |father = Reuben Smith |mother = Betsy (Page) Smith |relatives = |residence = |alma_mater = |profession = lawyer, politician |signature = George Baldwin Smith (May 22, 1823September 18, 1879) was an American lawyer and Democratic politician. He was the 4th Attorney General of Wisconsin, and the 3rd and 16th mayor of Madison, Wisconsin.

Legal and political career

Smith was admitted to the federal bar in to Southport, Wisconsin Territory, (present-day Kenosha, Wisconsin) in 1843. In 1845, he moved to the territorial capital of Madison, where he was appointed district attorney for Dane County in January 1846. He served in this role until 1852. He was elected to represent Dane County at the 1846 Wisconsin Constitutional Convention.

Smith was elected Attorney General of Wisconsin in 1853, serving from 1854 to 1856; he declined a re-nomination in 1855. After leaving office, his name was drawn into the scandal involving the fraudulent re-election of William A. Barstow in 1855.

He then served as mayor of Madison from 1858 to 1861. He represented the city in the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1859, 1864, and 1869. The Democratic Party selected him as their candidate to run for his district's congressional seat in 1864 and 1872, but he failed to win both times. Smith was also the unsuccessful Democratic candidate for Senate in 1869, losing to Matthew H. Carpenter.

In 1876 he helped to supervise the canvass of electoral votes in Louisiana in the heavily-disputed 1876 presidential election. He was re-elected as mayor of Madison in April 1878, and served until just a few months before his death, in Madison, in 1879.

Personal life and education

Smith was born in Parma Corners, New York to Reuben Smith and Betsy Page Smith; his mother died ten weeks after his birth. His family moved to Cleveland, Ohio, in 1825, then to Medina, Ohio, in 1827. Smith studied law with attorneys in Medina and Cleveland before moving with his father to Wisconsin in 1843.

Smith married Eugenia Weed in 1844. They had five children, two of whom survived to adulthood: James and Anna.

Electoral history

Wisconsin Attorney General (1853)

Madison Mayor (1858)

Wisconsin Assembly Dane 6th District (1858)

Madison Mayor (1859, 1860)

Wisconsin Assembly Dane 5th District (1863)

U.S. House of Representatives (1864)

Wisconsin Assembly Dane 5th District (1868)

U.S. House of Representatives (1872)

Madison Mayor (1878)

References

"[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9A03E4D81F3FE63BBC4A51DFBF668382669FDE A Loss to Wisconsin: Death of Gen. George B. Smith, a leading lawyer and Democratic politician]" ''New York Times'', September 22, 1879, at 2. Reprinting article from the ''[[Milwaukee Sentinel]]'', September 19, 1879.
"[https://web.archive.org/web/20131103103929/http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/dictionary/index.asp?action=view&term_id=2697&term_type_id=1&term_type_text=People&letter=S Smith, George Baldwin]", ''Dictionary of Wisconsin History''
Gen. [[David Atwood]], Speech to the Wisconsin Historical Society, November 10, 1879. Reprinted ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Jz8UAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA111&dq=george+b+smith+wisconsin Report and Collections on the State Historical Society of Wisconsin for the years 1877, 1878 and 1879]'' vol. VIII. Madison, Wisconsin:David Atwood, 1879, p. 111–120.
(September 25, 1879). "Gen. George B. Smith". Waukesha Daily Freeman.
(September 25, 1879). "George B. Smith". Green Bay Advocate.
link. (June 10, 2011 , Wisconsin Historical Society)
(December 10, 1853). "The Official Canvass". [[Wisconsin State Journal]].
(March 2, 1858). "The City Election". [[Wisconsin State Journal]].
(November 10, 1858). "Dane County Complete - Official". [[Wisconsin State Journal]].
(March 8, 1859). "The City Election Yesterday". [[Wisconsin State Journal]].
(April 4, 1860). "Six Majority for G. B. Smith!". [[Wisconsin State Journal]].
(November 12, 1863). "Dane County Official". [[Wisconsin State Journal]].
"Wisconsin U.S. House Election Results". Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs.
(November 4, 1868). "Democrats Again Carry Madison". [[Wisconsin State Journal]].
(April 3, 1878). "Gen. George B. Smith Elected Mayor, Without Opposition". [[Wisconsin State Journal]].

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