William "Extra Billy" Smith - Extra Billy's Life

Extra Billy's own words are in bold print while other's quotes are in quotation marks " ". Some quotes have been edited without changing the meaning. The pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them with your mouse

William Smith was born in King George County, on Virginia's Northern Neck, on September 6, 1797, probably at his Grandfather's plantation at Office Hall. The house is no longer standing although the detached kitchen (left) and smokehouse remain. This photo is from the 1930's. Since then the wood shed connecting the two buildings has disappeared and the buildings have deteriorated. He received most of his education at home, although in 1811, upon his mother's death, he was sent to the Plainfield Academy in Connecticut. The following year, when war broke out with the British, he asked his father to use his influence to obtain for him a commission as a navy Midshipman. Smith senior not only refused to get Billy a commission, he also ordered young Smith to return home where his father could keep an eye on the 15 year boy with the dream of Naval glory. When his father died in 1814 Billy went to school in Hanover, Va., for a year then began the study of law: first with Judge Green in Fredericksburg, then with Mr. Littleton Moore in Warrenton, and finally at the law offices of General Winder in Baltimore.

In 1818 he completed his studies and established a law practice in Culpeper, Va., where he married Elizabeth Bell and build this home in downtown Culpeper. The Smiths would have 11 children, 7 who survived to adulthood. Two blocks away lived a young lad about the age of Extra Billy's oldest sons, future Confederate general A.P. Hill. After the family moved to Warrenton in 1843 this house served as a private residence then as a Female Academy before becoming a hospital in 1861. When General U.S. Grant joined the Army of the Potomac in 1864 prior to the start of the overland campaign he made his headquarters in this building.

The building was torn down in the early 1930's and a post office building (which is now a Culpeper County government building) was build on the site.

The front columns (made of hollow medal) were re-used as part of a school building several blocks away.

The detached kitchen was moved several hundred feet and is now, with additions, a private residence.

The Smith and Bell families were strongly linked. Billy Smith's marriage to Elizabeth Bell started a trend; Billy's brother James married Elizabeth's sister Mary and Billy's sister Marthe married Elizabeth's brother William. Elizabeth's brother John served for a short time on Extra Billy's staff during the war and was Billy's biographer and another brother, Peter Bell (pictured here), went to Texas, fought as a private at the battle of San Jancinto and served as Inspector General of the army of the Republic of Texas. He then joined the Texas Rangers (at this time a military, not a law enforcement, organization) and commanded a regiment of Rangers during the War with Mexico. He was governor of Texas from 1849 to 1853 and then served two terms in in the US House of Representatives after which he moved to North Caroline where he married and lived until his death in 1898. Bell County, Texas, and Billy's son, Peter Bell Smith, were named for him

In 1826 he began a stage line from Washington City to Culpeper which grew into the Piedmont Mail Line, running 654 miles from Washington to Milledgeville, Ga., a trip which took 9 days and cost $45 one way. He obtained a contract to carry the US Mail to Culpeper, but as the line expanded he received additional payments to carry the mail over the longer distances. During an 1834 investigation of the Post Office Department Senator Benjamin Leigh made reference to what he termed the extra payments for Billy Smith. From this Smith acquired his nickname "Extra Billy". During this period he was also involved in other stage and steamship lines. He also operated a spur line from Lynchburg to the Virginia mountain spas, ending at Lewisburg, Va. (now WV).

Entering the political arena as a supporter of Andrew Jackson, Smith was elected to the Virginia State Senate in 1836 where he chaired a committee investigating the banking industry in the Commonwealth. He was re-elected in 1840 but resigned the following year to run for the US House of Representatives,

In the 1841 election for the House of Representatives his opponent, Lynn Banks, polled four more votes then Billy, but due to reports of irregularities the results were referred to the House's Committee on Elections. The election was re-run and Smith emerged victorious by a margin of several hundred votes. In order to prevent his re-election in 1843 his Whig opponents in the General Assembly redistricted Culpeper County into a neighboring solidly Whig district, resulting in Billy's defeat.

Having accepted my defeat as the final close of my political career… concluded to move to Fauquier, a fine field for my profession, and where superior advantages for the education of my children existed. On the outskirts of Warrenton he build a new home, "Monte Rosa", which is still a private residence. There was more to the story of his move then just the job and the kid's schooling. During his term in the Senate and House his business and law practice had declined to the point that he was forced to sell two country properties (about 200 acres each) and two lots in Culpeper, one of which contained a carriage factory and the other his home.

I devoted myself to my profession and was prosecuting it with ardor and success, when walking on the Main street of Warrenton, having just returned from Prince William Court, a friend addressed me as Governor Smith. I asked him what he meant by addressing me by such a title. He said he had so addressed me, because I was the Governor-elect of Virginia. Without his knowledge, the Legislature had indeed elected Extra Billy as Governor for a three year term (in 1851 the law was changed to provide for popular election for a four year term). Having just gotten back on his feet financially, he was worried that his absence in Richmond for three years would lead to more financial reverses.

Governor Smith was inaugurated on January 1, 1846. Among the accomplishments during his term was legislation allowing counties to establish free public school systems receiving state funds, encouraging the development of railroads and canals linking the different sections of the state, and, on a more personal note, the installation of indoor plumbing in the Executive Manson.During his term the U.S. went to war with Mexico and the Secretary of War called on Virginia to provide a regiment for service. The response was so great that Governor Smith convinced the Secretary to allow the regiment to consist of thirteen companies instead of the usual ten. As Governor, Smith was responsible for issuing commissions for the officers of the regiment, among which were future Confederate generals Jubal Early (as Major) and Montgomery Corse (as Captain). Although the regiment arrived in Mexico after the fighting was over, it did suffer almost a hundred deaths due to illness and accidents.

My term of office having expired on the 31st of December, 1848, I returned to my residence in Fauquier. My situation was one of great embarrassment and required prompt action. With but little delay I resolved to try my fortune in California. Smith borrowed $2000 from friends to finance his trip and to provide for the family members being left behind. Shortly before he left for California his 9 year old son, Littleton, passed away. Extra Billy joined his two oldest sons, William and James Caleb, in San Francisco in late May, 1849.In the fall of 1850 his oldest son, William, was lost at sea near the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) while on a trading voyage to China. Billy stayed in California until December, 1852, when he returned home, having greatly improved his financial situation through the practice of law and real estate ventures. He was involved in the Democratic Party in California and served as chairman of the state party convention. At one point there was conflict within the party between Smith and Judge David Broderick. The Judge made some inflamitory comments about Smith, which Extra Billy let pass. Billy's son, James Caleb, however, took exception to Broderick's remarks and called him out. The two were scheduled to face off in a duel to be held across the bay in Oakland. On the day of the duel a large crowd, estimations very between 5,000 and 10,000, gathered for the event (this was, of course, before the NFL, NBA, and Major League Baseball so this was a big sporting event). The opponents were armed with five shot Colt's revolvers. According to a eye witness, Dutch Charlie Duane, on the first shot Broderick missed while Caleb's bullet struck the Judges' pocket watch, inflicting a slight wound and drawing some blood. Each fired four more times but no hits were registered. Honor having been satisfied, and blood having been shed, the seconds conferred, the principles expressed mutual regrets, and the dual was over. In 1890 when John Bell wrote his "Memoirs of Governor William Smith of Virginia" he included an account of the dual. By then the story had gotten better (as stories have a tendency to do). According to Bell all five of Broderick's shots missed (so far so true) but in this account Caleb hit Broderick's watch with all of his first four shots and then cut the watch chain with the final bullet.This would be the Hollywood version.

On his return home Billy used some of his California wealth to build the California Building in downtown Warrenton for use as a law office. After the war John Mosby and General Eppa Hunton opened Their law practices in the building. It is still full of lawyers. After Extra Billy's death his daughter, Mary Amelia, made her home here until her death in 1911. His son Austin left home shortly after Billy's return to join his brother, James Caleb, in California. James, who had become a judge for the Superior Court in San Francisco, died of a fever in 1856 while inspecting land in Nicaragua. This was during the time that the filibuster, William Walker, had taken over Nicaragua and was fighting a war against several of the neighboring countries. I suspect, but really have no definite information, that James may have been involved with Walker.

Having reached home hopeful and happy, and mixed awhile among old constituents and friends, I soon found a disposition rife among them to restore me to my former position in the Federal Congress. It was not my wish to go to Congress. It was but little better then a bear garden in the House. But I was not left free to consult my will. Billy writes that his wish was to return to the Virginia Senate where at least I would be among gentlemen. This is, of course, the State Senate he had left in 1841 to run for the House of Representatives. He would be re-elected in 1855, 1857, and 1859.

FOR EVENTS OF 1861 - 1865 SEE THE NEXT PAGE: "EXTRA BILLY'S WAR"

After the war Extra Billy returned to a life of semi-retirement at his home in Warrenton where he would live until his death with his wife (who died in 1879) and three of his children: P. Bell, who was killed in an accident in 1865, and Thomas and Mary, both of whom survived their father.

In 1877 He was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates. The other delegate from Fauquier was a much younger man who had previously served in the House, so Extra Billy took great pleasure, at age 80, in being referred to as the "junior member from Fauquier". Following his term in the house he ran for the US Senate but was defeated. In 1877 the US Government brought suit for $21,000 in state funds which Governor Smith had withdrawn on April 2, 1865, and used for state expenses following the evacuation of Richmond (see "The Governor's Odyssey" at the end of the next page - Extra Billy's War). A jury found that his expenditure of these funds was proper and within his power as governor.

On May 18, 1887, after a brief illness, he passed away at his home in Warrenton. The body was taken to Richmond where it lay in state in the Capital followed by burial in Hollywood Cemetery. In 1906 the Commonwealth erected a statue in Capital Square to William "Extra Billy" Smith, one of Virginia's native sons who had served the Old Dominion in a number of capacities over a long and active life.

He was survived by three of his eleven children. Three (Ellen, Catherine, and John Bell) had died as infants, one (Littleton Moore) died at the age of nine in 1849, William Henry died at sea in 1850, James Caleb died in Nicaragua in 1856, Austin was killed at Gaines Mill in spring of 1862, Peter Bell was killed in a shooting accident (although it may have been suicide) in October, 1865, and Elizabeth, his wife of 58 years, died in 1879. Two children, Thomas and Mary Amelia, lived with Extra Billy until his death.

Mary Amelia Smith, who was one of the founders of the Warrenton chapter of the UDC, sold the family home after Extra Billy's death and moved into the California building (the large building in the left of the photo), where she lived until she passed away in 1911. She was buried with Extra Billy and his wife in their crypt in Hollywood Cemetery. In fact, she has the central position in the crypt, between Extra Billy and Elizabeth. Her birth year kept changing during her lifetime. In 1850 she told the census taker that she was 20 years old. In 1860 she claimed an age of 28, in 1870 she was 35, and in 1880 she gave her age as 42, The 1910 census lists her age as 8? (the second digit is obscured by an ink blot). Since her tombstone gives her death year as 1912 and her age as 87, she was probably born in 1825,

Thomas, who commanded a brigade under Jubal Early in the Shenandoah in 1864, practiced law and was a judge in Fauquier County. During Grover Cleveland's first term as President he was appointed to the post of Federal Attorney for New Mexico Territory. When Cleveland was defeated for re-election Thomas lost that position, but four years later when Cleveland was again elected Thomas was back in his old job in New Mexico. He returned to Fauguier where he died in 1918 and was buried in the Smith plot in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond.

The youngest child, Frederick, moved west after the war and was operating a hotel in New Mexico in 1880. The move west may have been caused by the fact that in May, 1865, a resident of Chambersburg, Pa., posted a $1000 reward for his capture because Fred had commanded the detachment that burned the man's property when the Confederates raided Chambersburg in 1864. At the end of the war Fred was serving with Mosby's command, which disbanded instead of surrendering, so he was not covered by the terms of Lee's surrender at Appomattox. In the 1880's he emigrated to South Africa where he married and may have had a child or children. In 1912 he and his wife moved back to the US and were living in Washington, DC, in 1920. The following year they returned to South Africa where Fred died in 1928.