Persifor Frazer Smith (politician)

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Persifor Frazer Smith (January 23, 1808 – May 25, 1882) was an American lawyer and politician from Pennsylvania. He served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, representing Chester County from 1862 to 1864, and was a supporter of the Union during the Civil War. Born in Philadelphia to Mary Frazer and Joseph Smith, his grandfather Persifor Frazer fought in the Continental Army. He earned a Master of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania in 1824 and became a lawyer in Chester County in 1829. Smith held several legal positions, including clerk of the Chester County orphans' court, prosecuting attorney for Delaware County, and later practiced before the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1866 he was appointed state reporter of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, a role he held until 1876, and he wrote the legal textbook Forms of Procedure. Politically, he began as a Union Democrat and became a Republican around 1862. He later served as the attorney for the Wilmington and Northern Railroad in Chester and Berks counties. Smith married Thomasine S. Fairlamb in 1833 and had at least three children, including George Fairlamb Smith. He died in West Chester, Pennsylvania, and was buried at Oaklands Cemetery.