Hezekiah Bradley Smith

Hezekiah Bradley Smith (July 24, 1816 – November 3, 1887) was an American inventor and a Democratic Party politician who represented New Jersey's 2nd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives for one term from 1879 to 1881. He was not re-elected to the 47th United States Congress; however, it is likely that his defeat was a result of the changing winds of American politics and not a reflection on the electorate's opinion of his bigamy, as that year James A. Garfield's Republican Party dominated the election. Smith later served as a member of the New Jersey Senate, from 1883 to 1885.

Death, burial and aftermath Smith died in Smithville, Burlington County, New Jersey, on November 3, 1887. He was buried next to his second wife, in the Saint Andrews section of the Pine Street Cemetery in Mount Holly, New Jersey. Upon the death of his mother, in 1897, Elton Smith, Hezekiah's oldest son, went to Mount Holly in an attempt to remove his father's remains. He wanted them transported to Woodstock to be buried next to his mother. Hezekiah had anticipated any attempts to move his body, and had been interred in an iron coffin encased in an iron cage that had been set in concrete. Elton then had the statue of his father's second wife toppled, broken into pieces, ground to dust and scattered along Rancocas Creek, using workers from the family business.

Legacy Smith's papers are archived at Rutgers University, in Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries, New Brunswick, New Jersey. Smith's great-great-great-grandson is former Congressman Jim Marshall of Georgia.

Patents April 17, 1849; H.B. Smith; Mortiser for window-blind stiles January 10, 1854; H.B. Smith; Mortising-machine October 9, 1855; H.B. Smith; Mortising machine June 30, 1857; H.B. Smith; Mortising machine mortising machines July 6, 1858; H.B. Smith; Balanced head for molding machine August 23, 1859; H.B. Smith; Mortising machine September 26, 1865; H.B. Smith; Improvement in planing-machines October 24, 1865; H.B. Smith; Improvement in planing-machines January 23, 1866; H.B. Smith; Improvement in tenoning-machines April 22, 1873; H.B. Smith; Improvement in scroll-saws February 26, 1889; H.B. Smith; Steam-powered Tricycle