William W. Smith
William W. Smith, Poughkeepsie’s "Mr. Trade," was a businessman and Prohibition Party politician. He was born in Quebec, Canada in 1830. His father, James Smith, was a Scottish immigrant and businessman. In 1836, his younger brother Andrew was born. By 1847, the Smith family had immigrated to the United States, and settled in Poughkeepsie, New York.
James Smith opened a restaurant/ ice-cream and candy shop. In 1852, the Smith family began producing and selling cough drops as part of their business. After the death of their father, William and Andrew establish the Smith Brothers Cough Drop company in Poughkeepsie. The company became a major producer of cough drops in the country. From the trademarked design of their cough drop boxes, which featured the images of the brothers, along with the words Trade and Mark, the two brothers gained the nicknames Trade (William) and Mark (Andrew) Smith. The two brothers would run the company, until Andrew’s death in 1895. William continued to run the company until his death in 1913, and the company was passed on to his son Arthur.
William Smith was a strong prohibitionist and ran as a Prohibition Party candidate for several offices. He was involved in prohibitionist activist at least as early as 1886, when he had delivered a speech, titled “Prohibition in Poughkeepsie”, at Poughkeepsie Temperance Meeting. In 1887, he ran as the Prohibition Party candidate for state treasurer. In 1890, Smith ran as the Prohibition Party candidate for New York’s 16th Congressional District. He was the sole challenger to incumbent Republican Congressman John H. Ketchum. Smith ran as a prohibitionist, while he also reached out to local Democrats, who lacked a candidate of their own party. He received 4,428 votes and received 24.74 of the total vote.
In 1891, Smith was the Prohibition Party candidate for state Comptroller. He received 31,520 (2.71%) votes and came in third place. In 1894, he ran for mayor of Poughkeepsie. In 1895, he was the party’s candidate for New York Secretary of State. He received 25,239 (2.16%) votes, and came in third place. In 1896, he was the Prohibition Party candidate for governor. He received 17,449 (1.22%) votes, and came in 5th place.
Smith was one of the prominent delegates from New York to attend the 1896 Prohibition Party national convention in Pittsburgh. The 1896 convention was affected by disputes between the broad-gauge and narrow-gauge factions of the party. The narrow- gauge faction wanted the party platform and approach to focus almost exclusively on the issue of Prohibition. The broad-gauge wanted the party platform and approach to continue to include positions on other issues, and include positions, such as support for the free coining of silver. After the narrow-gauge faction won at the convention and Joshua Levering was nominated for president, some in the broad-gauge faction temporarily broke from the party and nominated a rival presidential ticket, with Charles Bentley as its presidential candidate.
It is unknown which faction Smith had sided with, but the New York State Party recognized Levering as the Prohibition Party presidential candidate. The factional division was later reconciled, and the broad-gauge faction’s general approach to the party platform ended up winning out in the long run.
In 1908, Smith ran as the Prohibition Party candidate for state senate for state senate district 21. He received 790 votes (1.80%), and came in third place. In 1911, he ran for supervisor of Poughkeepsie’s sixth ward. By the time Smith died in 1913, he had left a legacy in business and politics in Poughkeepsie and New York State at-large.
Sources:
“1896 Prohibition Party Platform”. Partisan Prohibition Historical Society. Prohibitionists.org. Accessed, May 2, 2019. http://www.prohibitionists.org/Background/Party_Platform/party_platform.html
“1908 Prohibition Party Platform”. Partisan Prohibition Historical Society. Prohibitionists.org. Accessed, May 2, 2019. http://www.prohibitionists.org/Background/Party_Platform/party_platform.html
“A List of Candidates on the Various Tickets”. New York Times. November 7, 1891. Accessed, May 2, 2019. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1887/11/07/106186060.pdf
Andersen, Lisa M. F.. The Politics of Prohibition : American Governance and the Prohibition Party, 1869–1933. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013. Accessed May 2, 2019. ProQuest Ebook Central. “Election Expenses”. Poughkeepsie Eagle News. (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.). November 18, 1911. Accessed, May 2, 2019. https://www.newspapers.com/image/114051100/?terms=william%2Bsmith%2Bprohibition
Levine, David. “A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Poughkeepsie’s Cough Drop History”. Hudson Valley Magazine. January 28, 2019. Accessed, May 2, 2019. http://www.hvmag.com/HudsonValley-Magazine/November-2014/Poughkeepsies-Cough-Drop-History/
Lloyd, Will L. The Red Book: An Illustrated Legislative Manual of the State. Albany: James B. Lyon, 1892. “Nominations in the City of Poughkeepsie”. Poughkeepsie Eagle News. (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.). October 30, 1894. Accessed, May 2, 2019. https://www.newspapers.com/image/114660726/?terms=william%2Bsmith%2Bprohibition
“Other Past Candidates: New York”. Partisan Prohibition Historical Society. Prohibitionists.org. Accessed March 29th, 2018. http://www.prohibitionists.org/Candidates/candidates.html
“Political Notes”. Poughkeepsie Eagle News. (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.). November 1, 1890. Accessed, May 2, 2019. https://www.newspapers.com/image/114832156/?terms=william%2Bsmith%2Bprohibition
“Political Notes”. The Sun. (New York City, N.Y.). February 15, 1896. Accessed, May 2, 2019. https://www.newspapers.com/image/51916859/?terms=william%2Bsmith%2Bprohibition
“Prohibition presidential/vice-presidential candidates 1872 – present”. Partisan Prohibition Historical Society. Prohibitionists.org. Accessed, May 2, 2019. http://www.prohibitionists.org/History/votes/votes.html
“Signs of Harmony: Peace Promised at the Prohibition Convention Today”. Middletown Daily Argus. (Middletown, New York). May 28, 1896. Accessed, May 2, 2019. https://www.newspapers.com/image/9033492/?terms=william%2Bsmith%2Bprohibition
“Temperance Meeting”. Poughkeepsie Eagle News. (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.). November 6, 1886. Accessed, May 2, 2019. https://www.newspapers.com/image/115103439/?terms=william%2Bsmith%2Bprohibition
“To the Voters of Erie County”. The Buffalo Commercial. (Buffalo, N.Y.). October 30, 1896. Accessed, May 2, 2019. https://www.newspapers.com/image/270491631/
"We Are the History of the Cough Drop." Smith Brothers Cough Drops. Accessed May 02, 2019. http://thesmithbrothers.com/about/.
"William W. Smith." Our Campaigns. Accessed May 02, 2019. https://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=50269.
William W. Smith. Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Prohibition candidate, Governor of State, 1896. F.A. Ringler Co., 1896. Poster Collection. Hoover Institution Library and Archives. https://digitalcollections.hoover.org/objects/39104/william-w-smith-poughkeepsie-nyprohibition-candidate;jsessionid=61425627C92C57B2AA354ED4273797F5?ctx=35136c9b-46fa42a5-96f9-731cc065344c
-- Contributed by Jonathan Makeley
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