Early Life
Smyth was the third of five children born to Stephen and Dolly Rowe Smyth of Candia.
Around 1838, he and Thomas Wheat began running a country store in Candia under the name of Wheat and Smyth. The store was owned by Wheat's father. They soon left to attend Phillips Andover Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. Financial difficulties forced them to leave Phillips Academy after one term.
Smyth moved to Manchester, New Hampshire, where he found a job working for George Porter in Porter's general store and mercantile business. After three years, Smyth was made a partner in the business.
On December 11, 1844, Smyth married Emily Lane of Candia, daughter of John Lane and Nabby Emerson. Emily Lane Smith died on January 14, 1885. Smyth's second wife was Marion Hamilton Cossar of Manchester, daughter of James Cossar and Jessie Finlay. They were married on February 22, 1886 at Carmichael, Lanarkshire, Scotland.
He continued to be a merchant until 1849, when he sold his share of the business following his election to the post of Manchester city clerk, at the age of 30.
He was reelected to that post in 1850 and 1851. In 1852, he was elected to his first term as mayor of Manchester. He was reelected in 1853 and 1854.
Many of the decisions he made as mayor remain today, including many "firsts", such as overseeing the construction of the city's first highways, the first water and sewer systems, the first sidewalks, and streetlights. He is credited with the idea to plant trees along city streets to provide shade and maintain the natural beauty of the city.
In 1857 and 1858, he was a member of the New Hampshire General Court, representing Manchester's Ward 3.
He was active in the New Hampshire Agriculture Society, serving as treasurer for 10 years. He was a director in the American Agriculture Society and a vice-president of the American Pomological Society. He served as one of the commissioners on the part of the General Government of New Hampshire at the International Exhibition of 1862, in London.
When Abraham Lincoln visited the state in 1860, Smyth introduced him to a crowd as the "next president of the United States".
Read more about this topic: Frederick Smyth (New Hampshire)
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