Delazon Smith

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Delazon Smith (1816 - 1860) was a Democratic politician who briefly represented the state of Oregon in the U.S. Senate in 1859; he served for less than one month (February 14 to March 3), making his term among the shortest on record in the Senate.

Smith was born in New Berlin, New York on October 5, 1816; he graduated from Oberlin College in 1837, began the study of law soon after and was quickly admitted to the bar. In 1838 he established the New York Watchman in Rochester, New York, editing the paper for two years; he also edited the True Jeffersonian and the Western Herald in Rochester for a time in 1840. In 1841 he founded the Western Empire in Dayton, Ohio.

Smith's career in politics began when he was appointed a special United States commissioner to Quito, serving in this capacity from 1842 to 1845; he moved to the Iowa Territory in 1846 and became a minister. In 1852 he moved to the Oregon Territory and began editing the Oregon Democrat, becoming a member of the Territorial House of Representatives from 1854 to 1856; he was a delegate to the state's constitutional convention of 1857. Upon Oregon's admission to the Union, Smith was elected to the Senate, serving from February 14 to March 3, 1859; he was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection.

He died in Portland less than two years later, aged 44 on November 19, 1860; he is buried in Albany, Oregon.

[edit] Further reading

http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=S000526 - Congressional biography, with picture

Preceded by: Position Created (Statehood)

U.S. Senator (Class 3) from Oregon 1857-1859

Succeeded by: Edward D. Baker