Background
Smith, Sylvester Clark was born on August 26, 1858 in Henry County Iowa. Son of Edward and Celia W. (Shockley) Smith.
Smith, Sylvester Clark was born on August 26, 1858 in Henry County Iowa. Son of Edward and Celia W. (Shockley) Smith.
Born near Mount Pleasant, Iowa, Smith attended the district schools and Howe"s Academy at Mount Pleasant.
He taught school in Winfield, Iowa. He moved to California in 1879 and engaged in agricultural pursuits. He taught school in Colusa and Kern Counties in 1883.
He studied law.
He was admitted to the bar in 1885 and commenced practice in Bakersfield, California. Edited the Kern County Echo. He resumed the practice of law.
He was an unsuccessful candidate for election in 1902 to the Fifty-eighth Congress.
Smith was elected as a Republican to the Fifty-ninth and to the three succeeding Congresses and served from March 4, 1905, until his death in Los Angeles, California, January 26, 1913. He was interred in Union Cemetery.
Member California Senate, 1895-1903. Member 59th to 62d Congresses (1905-1913). 8th California District.
Married Maria J. Hart, May 7, 1882.