William Mather Smith

William Mather Smith (1787-1864) was the only son of Connecticut governor and congressman John Cotton Smith (1765-1845), of Sharon, Connecticut. William was a precocious boy, entering Yale at the age of twelve and graduating in the class of 1805. A lay preacher, Smith founded one of the nation’s first Sunday schools, which he ran for fifty years. He also conducted services in the Sharon church for three decades. This miniature was painted the year Smith married Helen Livingston, and was probably to commemorate that milestone in his life. Her miniature, painted by an unknown artist, is also in this collection [see 1944.7.3].