Aubrey Henry Smith

Aubrey Henry Smith (October 14, 1814 - April 14, 1891)[1] was a lawyer, U.S. district attorney, and early officer of the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad.

Smith graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1833.[2]

He married Mary Rose (b. 1822?- ),[1] a daughter of Robert C. Grier (1794-1870), who served as a justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1846 to 1870.[3]

On January 4, 1837, he was admitted to the Philadelphia Bar, one of 15 that year.[4]

In 1838, he was assistant treasurer of the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad, which, along with three other railroads, built the first rail link from Philadelphia to Baltimore. His service as an early railroad executive is noted on the 1839 Newkirk Viaduct Monument.

In 1841, he purchased Printz Island, toward the eastern end of Little Tinicum Island in the Delaware River.[5]

He was a member of both the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia and the American Philosophical Society.[6][7]

In 1867, Smith published "On the colonies of plants observed near Philadelphia", the first of several scientific papers about the plants — often introduced from foreign lands — found on ballast heaps in the ports and wharves of New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.[8]

On April 5, 1869, he was appointed U.S. District Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.[9]

In 1876, he published a revised edition of "The Campaign Against Quebec," a history of the Revolutionary War campaign of 1775 by his grandfather, John Joseph Henry.

He was a member of the Union League of Philadelphia at least from 1876-78.[10]

  1. ^ a b Gordon, Scott Paul. "A Henry Family Genealogy (in progress)" (PDF). jacobsburghistory.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
  2. ^ "Penn Undergraduates: Compiled from the January 1832 University Catalog". University of Pennsylvania Archives. Archived from the original on April 23, 2018. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
  3. ^ Historical and Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties. J. H. Beers & Company. 1915. p. 314. Archived from the original on 2024-02-27. Retrieved 2021-04-03.
  4. ^ Brown, David Paul (1868). The Philadelphia Bar: A Complete Catalogue of Members from 1776 to 1868. Review Printing House. p. 22. Archived from the original on February 27, 2024. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
  5. ^ Ashmead, Henry Graham; Hungerford, Austin N. (1884). History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Cornell University Library. Philadelphia, L. H. Everts & co.
  6. ^ Minutes and Correspondence of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 1812-1924. Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. December 2007. ISBN 9781422317815. Archived from the original on February 27, 2024. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
  7. ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Archived from the original on 2021-01-16. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  8. ^ Eisenman, Sasha W.; Katrina Dulatas; Hope Elizabeth Clennon & Lena Struwe. "Poster: Ballast dumps from the late 1800s" (PDF). Ballast dumps from the late 1800s. Department of Plant Biology and Pathology, Rutgers University, NewBrunswick, NJ. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 21, 2010. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
  9. ^ Scharf, John Thomas (1988). History of Delaware: 1609-1888. Philadelphia: L.J. Richards. Archived from the original on 2024-02-27. Retrieved 2021-04-03.
  10. ^ Lathrop, George Parsons (1884). History of the Union league of Philadelphia, from its origin and foundation to the year 1882. J.B. Lippincott & Co. Archived from the original on February 27, 2024. Retrieved January 27, 2014.