William Smith

William Smith (1768–1846) was an American ship captain and Revolutionary War veteran. He is the only known Revolutionary War veteran buried in the state of California.

Early life

William Smith was born in 1768 in Flowerdew Hundred Plantation in Virginia.

Military and career

When Smith was 11 years old he joined the Virginia Navy alongside his father. Together, the two served on the Tartar and the Manly. The Albatross shipwrecked in the Pacific Northwest and Smith lost all of his belongings. He returned briefly to Boston in 1819 and then returned to California, where he settled in Sonoma, California in the 1840s.

Death and legacy

Smith died on May 5, 1846, at the home of Jacob P. Leese in Sonoma. Leese informed the United States Consulate in Monterey, California about Smith's death in a letter dated May 8. In the letter, Leese said that Smith was buried "on the South Cide of the Sonoma Mountain North of the Town in a verry Noted Place." The exact location of Smith's grave was unsuccessfully sought by the Sons of the American Revolution, who created a monument near the presumed site at Mountain Cemetery in Sonoma. He is the only veteran of the American Revolution believed to be buried in California.