Worthington Curtis Smith

Worthington Curtis Smith (April 19, 1823 – January 2, 1894) was an American politician and railroad president. He served as a U.S. representative from Vermont, and was the son of John Smith, of Vermont, a U.S. representative from Vermont.

Early life Smith was born in St. Albans, Vermont, to John Smith and Maria Curtis Smith. He pursued classical studies and was a member of the Lambda Iota Society at the University of Vermont where he graduated in 1843. Smith studied law with his father but did not practice.

Career Smith was involved in the iron trade, and from 1845 until 1860 he engaged in the manufacture of railroad supplies in the iron foundries located in Plattsburgh and St. Albans. During the Civil War, Smith assisted in raising the 1st Vermont Infantry Regiment.

Smith served as a member of the Vermont House of Representatives in 1863. He was a member of the Vermont State Senate in 1864 and 1865, and was unanimously elected President pro tempore in 1865. He was the president of the Vermont National Bank from 1864 until 1870. In Congress he served as chairman of the Committees of Banking and Currency, Manufactures and Weights and Measures.

Smith served as president of the St. Albans Foundry Company. He was director, and later president, of the Vermont and Canada Railroad, and vice-president of the Central Vermont Railway. From 1868 until 1892 he was a member of the corporation of the University of Vermont.

Smith's daughter Katherine Maria Smith (1851-1935) was the wife of businessman William Walker Scranton (1844-1916). Their son Worthington Scranton (1876-1955) was the father of William Scranton, who served as Governor of Pennsylvania. The genealogical line for William Scranton runs from John Smith (great-great-grandfather) to Worthington C. Smith (great-grandfather) to Katherine Maria Smith Scranton (grandmother) to Worthington Scranton (father) to William Scranton. He was buried at Greenwood Cemetery in St. Albans.