Green Clay Smith
| Green Clay Smith | |
|---|---|
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| 2nd Territorial Governor of Montana | |
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In office July 13, 1866 – April 9, 1869 |
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| Preceded by |
Thomas Francis Meagher Acting Territorial Governor |
| Succeeded by | James Mitchell Ashley |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Kentucky's 6th district |
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In office March 4, 1863 – July 13, 1866 |
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| Preceded by | George W. Dunlap |
| Succeeded by | Andrew H. Ward |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
July 4, 1826 Richmond, Kentucky |
| Died | June 29, 1895 (aged 68) Washington, D.C. |
| Political party | Unconditional Unionist, Prohibitionist |
| Profession | Politician, Lawyer, Pastor |
| Religion | Baptist |
Green Clay Smith (July 4, 1826 – June 29, 1895) was a United States soldier and politician. Elected to the Kentucky state house before the American Civil War, he was commissioned as a Union officer when he volunteered, advancing to the rank of major general before he resigned the next year to go to Congress. He was elected to the US Congress from Kentucky in 1862 representing the Unionist Party, serving until 1866.
That year, Smith was appointed as the Territorial Governor of Montana, serving from 1866 to 1869. He returned to Washington, DC, where he was ordained as a Baptist minister and became active in the temperance movement.
Smith was born in 1826 in Richmond, Kentucky to John Speed Smith and his wife Elizabeth Lewis (Clay) Smith (1798-1887) as the third of seven children. He was named for his maternal grandfather, Green Clay, a very wealthy planter and slaveholder in Kentucky and a prominent politician. His siblings included Sally Ann Lewis (1818-1875), named for her maternal grandmother; Curran Cassius, Pauline Green, Junius Brutus (never married), Mary Spencer (never married), and John Speed, Jr.
Smith's father was elected to the Kentucky legislature and the U.S. House of Representatives. His mother's younger brothers, Brutus J. Clay and Cassius M. Clay, both became state politicians and were later elected as members of the Unionist Party to the US Congress from Kentucky during the American Civil War. Cassius became known as an abolitionist before the war.
As a young man, Green Clay Smith pursued academic studies. When the U.S.-Mexican War began, he enlisted in the Army and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the First Regiment of the Kentucky Volunteer Infantry on June 9, 1846.
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