Biography

03/07/1815 - 02/16/1894

Abraham Herr Smith (Whig7) Lancaster and Lebanon Counties, 1846-1848

Early Life:

Abraham Herr Smith, born March 7, 1815, near Millersville, Manor Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania; son of Jacob and Elizabeth Herr Smith; parents died when he was eight years old and he and his sister were raised by his paternal grandparents; attended Professor Beck's Academy, Lititz, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania; Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, 1840; studied law; admitted bar, 1842; commenced law practice, Lancaster, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania; elected, Whig, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1844-1845; elected, Whig, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1846-1848; elected, Republican, United States House of Representatives, 1873-1885; resumed, law practice; bachelor; died, February 16, 1894, (age 78 years, 346 days), Lancaster, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania; interment, Woodward Hill Cemetery, Lancaster, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

Professional titles; business ownership; board memberships; local government; club memberships:

A strong Methodist. Dickinson College trustee, 1847-1892; member, board, Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster; His surviving sister, Miss Eliza E. Smith, who had become a well-known philanthropist in Methodist and Lancaster causes, on his death donated $10,000 to dedicate in the new Denny Hall building the A. Herr Smith Memorial Hall for the use of the Union Philosophical Society.  

Pennsylvania Politics:

Elected, Whig, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1844-1845.

Elected, Whig, Pennsylvania State Senate, 7th District, Lancaster and Lebanon Counties, 1846-1848. 

Continued Government Service/National Politics:

Elected, Republican, Forty-third Forty-fourth, Forty-fifth, Forty-sixth, Forty-seventh, Forty-eighth, Congresses, 1873-1885; chairman, Committee on Mileage (Forty-seventh Congress); committee assignments, War Claims for six years, Appropriations; unsuccessful for renomination, 1884. 

Pennsylvania House of Representatives Biography:

Not available currently 

Legacy: 

Inscription: The eternal God is thy refuge.

The A. Herr Smith Memorial Hall, Denny Hall building, Union Philosophical Society at Dickinson College named in his honor.

Cited:

Cox, Harold. "Senate Members S". Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.

Abraham Herr Smith (1815-1894) | Dickinson College

Abraham Herr Smith (1815-1894) - Find a Grave Memorial