William Stephens Smith
William Stephens Smith (November 8, 1755 – June 10, 1816) was a United States representative from New York. He married Abigail "Nabby" Adams, the daughter of President John Adams, and so was a brother-in-law of President John Quincy Adams and an uncle of Charles Francis Adams Sr.
William Stephens Smith
None; district established
November 8, 1755
Suffolk County, Province of New York, British America
4
Military officer, government official
Early life[edit]
Born in Suffolk County, New York, on Long Island, he graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1774 and studied law for a short time.
American Revolutionary War[edit]
Smith served in the Revolutionary Army as aide-de-camp to General John Sullivan in 1776. He fought in the Battle of Long Island, was wounded at Harlem Heights, fought at the Battle of White Plains, was promoted to lieutenant colonel at the Battle of Trenton and fought at the Battle of Monmouth and Newport. He was on the staff of General Lafayette in 1780 and 1781, became an adjutant in the Corps of Light Infantry, then transferred to the staff of George Washington.[1]
William Stephens Smith was the son of John Smith, a wealthy New York City merchant, and Margaret Stephens. His siblings included a sister, Sally, who was married to Charles Adams, the son of John Adams and brother of John Quincy Adams. Sally's daughter, Abigail Louisa Smith, Adams married the banker and philosopher Alexander Bryan Johnson; their son, William's grandnephew, Alexander Smith Johnson, became a judge.
He and his wife, Abigail Adams, had four children:
