{{short description|American politician (1842–1908)}} {{About||other people with the same name|Charles Smith (disambiguation)|the American football player|Emory Smith}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2021}} {{Infobox officeholder |name = Charles Smith |image = Charles Emory Smith.jpg |office = 39th [[United States Postmaster General]] |president = [[William McKinley]]<br />[[Theodore Roosevelt]] |term_start = April 21, 1898 |term_end = January 8, 1902 |predecessor = [[James Albert Gary]] |successor = [[Henry Clay Payne]] |office1 = [[United States Ambassador to Russia|United States Minister to Russia]] |president1 = [[Benjamin Harrison]] |term_start1 = May 14, 1890 |term_end1 = April 17, 1892 |predecessor1 = [[C. Allen Thorndike Rice]] |successor1 = [[Andrew Dickson White]] |birth_name = Charles Emory Smith |birth_date = {{birth date|1842|2|18}} |birth_place = [[Mansfield, Connecticut]], U.S. |death_date = {{death date and age|1908|1|19|1842|2|18}} |death_place = [[Philadelphia]], Pennsylvania, U.S. |party = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] |education = [[Union College]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]]) |signature = Signature of Charles Emory Smith.png }} '''Charles Emory Smith''' (February 18, 1842 – January 19, 1908) was an American [[journalist]] and political leader.
==Early life== [[File:Mrs Charles Emory Smith.jpg|thumb|left|Mrs. Charles Emory Smith]]
Charles Emory Smith was born in [[Mansfield, Connecticut]] on February 18, 1842.<ref name=Cyclopaedia>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wW9GAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA17 |title=The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography |volume=XI |publisher=James T. White & Company |pages=17–18 |year=1909 |access-date=2021-01-05 |via=Google Books}}</ref> In 1849 his family removed to [[Albany, New York]], where he attended the [[Public school (government funded)|public schools]] and [[The Albany Academy]]. He graduated from [[Union College]] in 1861, was a recruiting officer on the staff of [[Brigadier general (United States)|Brigadier General]] [[John F. Rathbone]] (1819–1901) in 1861-1862, taught in the Albany Academy in 1862-1865, and was editor of the ''Albany Express'' in 1865-1870. He joined the staff of the ''[[Albany Journal]]'' in 1870, and was [[editor-in-chief]] of this [[newspaper|paper]] from 1876 to 1880. In 1879-1880 he was a regent of the [[University of the State of New York]]. From 1880 until his death he was [[editing|editor]] and part proprietor of the ''[[Philadelphia Press]]''.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Smith, Charles Emory |volume=25 |page=259}}</ref><ref name=Cyclopaedia/>
==Career== He was active as a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] in state and national politics; was chairman of the Committee on Resolutions of the New York State Republican Conventions from 1874 to 1880 (excepting 1877), and was president of the convention of 1879; and was a delegate to several [[Republican National Convention]]s, drafting much of the Republican [[political platform|platform]]s of 1876 and 1896.<ref name="EB1911"/>
In 1890 to 1892 he was United States minister to [[Russia]], and during that period had charge of distributing among the Russian [[famine]] sufferers five shiploads of food and other supplies, valued at an estimated $750,000. In November 1892, he gave a speech "addressing the problem of immigration" to the Patria Club. He expressed concern over the changing trends in immigration to the United States, and specifically called for the acceptance of Anglo-Saxon immigrants over Slavic immigrants.<ref>{{Cite news |title=IMMIGRATION PROBLEMS; EARNEST ADVOCATES OF RADICAL CHANGES IN THE LAWS. MEMBERS OF THE PATRIA CLUB LISTEN TO CHARLES EMORY SMITH, FREDERIC TAYLOR, AND SENATOR CHANDLER -- DANGERS OF THE PRESENT SYSTEM FULLY SET FORTH. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1892/11/26/104154759.html |access-date=2024-08-28 |work=The New York Times |language=en |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
He was [[United States Postmaster General|Postmaster General]] in the cabinet of [[President of the United States|President]]s [[William McKinley|McKinley]] and [[Theodore Roosevelt|Roosevelt]] from April 1898 until January 1902, and did much to develop the [[rural delivery service|rural free delivery]] system.<ref name="EB1911" /><ref name="Cyclopaedia" />
He died at his home in [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|Philadelphia]] on January 19, 1908.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/66967762/noted-man-dies-part-1/ |title=Noted Man Dies |newspaper=Pittston Gazette |location=Philadelphia |pages=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/66968004/noted-man-dies-part-2/ 6] |date=1908-01-20 |access-date=2021-01-05 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> He is buried at [[West Laurel Hill Cemetery]] in [[Bala Cynwyd]].
==Notes== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Portal|Biography|Politics}} {{wikisource|works=or}} * [https://archive.org/stream/menofmarkinamerica00gate#page/n367/mode/2up Men of Mark in America] Biography & Portrait * {{Find a Grave|16634933}}
{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{U.S. Cabinet official box | before= [[James Albert Gary|James A. Gary]] | after= [[Henry C. Payne]] | years= April 21, 1898 – January 8, 1902 | president= [[William McKinley]], [[Theodore Roosevelt]] | office= [[United States Postmaster General]]}} {{s-dip}} {{s-bef|before=[[C. Allen Thorndike Rice]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[List of United States Ambassadors to Russia|United States Minister to Russia]]|years=February 14, 1890 – April 17, 1892}} {{s-aft|after=[[Andrew D. White]]}} {{end}} {{USPostGen}} {{McKinley cabinet}} {{T Roosevelt cabinet}} {{US Ambassadors to Russia}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Charles Emory}} [[Category:1842 births]] [[Category:1908 deaths]] [[Category:United States postmasters general]] [[Category:Union College (New York) alumni]] [[Category:Politicians from Philadelphia]] [[Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Russia]] [[Category:American newspaper editors]] [[Category:Theodore Roosevelt administration cabinet members]] [[Category:20th-century American politicians]] [[Category:McKinley administration cabinet members]] [[Category:19th-century American politicians]] [[Category:Regents of the University of the State of New York]] [[Category:19th-century American diplomats]] [[Category:New York (state) Republicans]] [[Category:The Albany Academy alumni]]