SMITH, William Nathan Harrell, a Representative from North Carolina; born in Murfreesboro, N.C., September 24, 1812; attended the common schools in Murfreesboro, N.C., Kingston, R.I., and Colchester and East Lyme, Conn.; was graduated from Yale College in 1834 and from Yale Law School in 1836; was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Murfreesboro, N.C., in 1839; held several local offices; was a member of the State house of commons in 1840, 1858, 1865, and 1866; served in the State senate in 1848; solicitor of the first judicial district of North Carolina for eight years; elected as an Opposition Party candidate to the Thirty-sixth Congress (March 4, 1859-March 3, 1861); unsuccessful candidate for Speaker, lacking one vote of election; served in the Confederate Congress 1862-1865; delegate to the Democratic National Convention at New York City in 1868; chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court 1878-1889; died in Raleigh, N.C., November 14, 1889; interment in Oakwood Cemetery.
(Source: Biographical Directory of the United States 1774-present.)

SMITH, WILLIAM NATHAN HARRELL, lawyer, state senator, congressman, was born Sept. 24, 1812, in Murfreesboro, N. C. In 1840 he was elected a member of the state house of commons; and in 1848 was elected to the state senate. He was solicitor of the first judicial district for eight years. In 1858 he was again elected to the House of Commons, but resigned his seat; and was elected a representative from North Carolina to the thirty-sixth congress. He took part in the rebellion of 1861 as a member of the so-called confederate congress; and was a delegate to the Philadelphia national union convention of 1866, and the New York convention of 1868. He died Nov. 14, 1889, in Raleigh, N. C.
[Herringshaw's encyclopedia of American biography of the nineteenth century; Edited by Thomas William Herringshaw; Publ. 1901; Donated and Transcribed by Andrea Stawski Pack]