Nathan Smith was a United States Senator from Connecticut

Connecticut

Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

, and was the brother of Nathaniel Smith

Nathaniel Smith

Nathaniel Smith was a Representative to the United States Congress from Connecticut. He was born in Woodbury, Connecticut on January 6, 1762. He was the brother of Nathan Smith and uncle of Truman Smith....

 and uncle of Truman Smith

Truman Smith

Truman Smith was a politician, lawyer and judge from Connecticut. He was the nephew of Nathaniel Smith and Nathan Smith....

. He was born in Woodbury, Connecticut

Woodbury, Connecticut

Woodbury is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 9,198 at the 2000 census. The town center is also designated by the U.S. Census Bureau as a census-designated place . Woodbury was founded in 1672....

 and received a modest education. He read law, and was admitted to the bar

Bar (law)

Bar in a legal context has three possible meanings: the division of a courtroom between its working and public areas; the process of qualifying to practice law; and the legal profession.-Courtroom division:...

 in 1792 and commenced the practice of his profession in New Haven. Smith was prosecuting attorney for New Haven County from 1817 to 1835, and was a delegate

Delegate

A delegate is a person who speaks or acts on behalf of an organization at a meeting or conference between organizations of the same level A delegate is a person who speaks or acts on behalf of an organization (e.g., a government, a charity, an NGO, or a trade union) at a meeting or conference...

 to the State constitutional convention

Constitutional convention (political meeting)

A constitutional convention is now a gathering for the purpose of writing a new constitution or revising an existing constitution. A general constitutional convention is called to create the first constitution of a political unit or to entirely replace an existing constitution...

 in 1818. In 1825, he was an unsuccessful candidate for governor of Connecticut, and was appointed United States Attorney

United States Attorney

United States Attorneys represent the United States federal government in United States district court and United States court of appeals. There are 93 U.S. Attorneys stationed throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands...

 for the district of Connecticut, serving in 1828 and 1829.

Nathan Smith was elected as a Whig

Whig Party (United States)

The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic...

 to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1833, until his death in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

 on December 6, 1835. Interment was in the Grove Street Cemetery, New Haven.