Joseph Showalter Smith

Joseph Showalter Smith (June 20, 1824 – September 28, 1884) was an American lawyer and politician who served one term as a Representative from the U.S. state of Oregon from 1869 to 1871.

Early life Born in Connellsville, Pennsylvania, Smith moved with his farmer parents to Ohio and Indiana, where he attended the common schools. In 1844, at the age of 20, he was one of the early traveler on the Oregon Trail to Oregon, arriving in the spring of 1845 and settling in Salem, where he taught school, studied law, and was admitted to the bar. In 1853, he moved to Olympia, Washington, and was elected to the Washington territorial house of representatives in 1856 and served as speaker. and was interred in Portland's River View Cemetery.