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History and Government—Congressional Biographies—IndianaCaleb Blood SMITH
(1808-1864)
SMITH, Caleb Blood, a
Representative from Indiana; born in Boston, Mass., April 16, 1808;
moved with his parents to Ohio in 1814; attended Miami University,
Oxford, Ohio, 1825-1826; studied law; was admitted to the bar in
1828 and commenced practice in Connersville, Fayette County, Ind.;
founded and edited the Indiana Sentinel in 1832; member of the
State house of representatives 1833-1837, 1840, and 1841, and
served as speaker in 1836; unsuccessful candidate for the
Twenty-seventh Congress in 1841; elected as a Whig to the
Twenty-eighth, Twenty-ninth, and Thirtieth Congresses (March 4,
1843-March 3, 1849); chairman, Committee on Territories (Thirtieth
Congress); appointed by President Zachary Taylor a member of the
board to investigate claims of American citizens against Mexico;
moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, and practiced his profession; member of
the peace convention of 1861 held in Washington, D.C., in an effort
to devise means to prevent the impending war; appointed Secretary
of the Interior in the Cabinet of President Lincoln and served from
March 5, 1861, to January 1, 1863, when he resigned to become judge
of the United States District Court for the District of Indiana, in
which capacity he served until his death in Indianapolis, Marion
County, Ind., January 7, 1864; interment in the City Cemetery,
Connersville, Ind.
Bibliography
Bochin, Hal W. “Caleb B. Smith’s Opposition to the
Mexican War.” Indiana Magazine of History 69 (June
1973): 95-114; Thomas, Richard J. “Caleb Blood Smith: Whig
Orator and Politician Lincoln’s Secretary of Interior.”
Ph.D. diss., Indiana University, 1969.
Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present
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