Thomas Francis Smith Explained

Thomas Francis Smith
Image Name:Thomas F. Smith (NY).jpg
State:New York
Constituency: (1917–1919)
(1919–1921)
Party:Democratic Party
Term Start:April 12, 1917
Term End:March 3, 1921
Preceded:Michael F. Conry
Succeeded:William Bourke Cockran
Birth Date:24 July 1865
Birth Place:New York City
Death Place:New York City
Occupation:Attorney
reporter
Alma Mater:Manhattan College
New York Law School

Thomas Francis Smith (July 24, 1865 – April 11, 1923) was a lawyer, newspaperman, and politician from New York. From 1917 to 1921, he served two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Biography

Smith was born in New York City on July 24, 1865. He attended St. Francis Xavier College, Manhattan College, and the New York Law School from 1899 to 1901. He subsequently became a reporter on the staff of the New York World and the New York Tribune, and then a clerk of the city court in 1898–1917. Smith was admitted to the bar in 1911 and commenced practice in New York City.

Political career

Smith began his political career as a delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1915 and to the Democratic National Convention in 1916. He was elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-fifth United States Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Michael F. Conry, and was reelected to the Sixty-sixth, to serve from April 12, 1917, to March 3, 1921. Smith was not a candidate for renomination in 1920.

Later career and death

After Congress, Smith became the public administrator of New York from April 1, 1921, until his death in a taxicab accident in New York City on April 11, 1923. Smith was interred in Calvary Cemetery, in Long Island City, New York.