Jonathan Smith Collection

Background on Jonathan Smith

The February 1812 act that authorized the incorporation Hampden County out of the southeastern part of Hampshire County failed to make adequate provision for a sheriff, leaving the appointment to lame duck Governor Elbridge Gerry, who had recently been denied reelection by the opposition's gerrymandering of state senatorial districts. Among his last acts in office was the appointment of Jonathan Smith, Jr., of West Springfield to the ill-defined office, doing so however, prior to the formal creation of the county.

A prominent local politician, Smith was born July 31, 1757, and had held several offices, including serving as town moderator, state representative, selectman, and Justice of the Peace. The partisan appointment as sheriff, however, was to be immediately contested and brief. Smith died in Boston on February 5, 1820.