Ray Burdick Smith

Ray Burdick Smith (December 7, 1867 – December 28, 1939) was an American lawyer and politician from New York.

Early life Smith was born on December 7, 1867, in Cuyler, New York. He was the son of farmer Willis Smith and Emily Burdick.

When he was a child, Smith moved with his parents to Lincklean. He attended DeRuyter Academy and Cazenovia Seminary, graduating from the latter in 1886. He then attended Syracuse University for a year, after which he attended Yale University. While in Yale, he edited the Yale Literary Magazine and won the John Addison Porter Prize. He was also a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Psi Upsilon, and Chi Delta Theta. He graduated with distinction, and a degree in Bachelor of Arts, in 1891.

After graduating from Yale, Smith attended Cornell Law School, where one of his professors was future New York governor and Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes. He then moved to Syracuse, where he finished his law studies and passed the bar in 1893.

Career He quickly started the law firm Woods & Smith, later called Thomson, Woods & Smith. He was Clerk of the Committee on General Laws in the New York State Senate in 1894 and 1895. He served as town supervisor of the Syracuse 14th ward from 1896 to 1900. He was appointed Assistant Clerk of the New York State Assembly in 1898, 1899, 1900, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, He was elected Clerk of the New York State Assembly by the Assembly in 1908, 1909, and 1910. He was a delegate to the 1915 New York State Constitutional Convention. He was the vice-chairman and chairman of the Onondoga County Republican Committee, and from 1906 to 1907 he served as assistant secretary of the New York State Republican Committee.

Smith belonged to the Onondaga County Bar Association and the New York State Bar Association.

Personal life Smith married Nellie King Reilay in 1891. They had a son, Willis King. He was buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Syracuse.