Ray B. Smith

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Ray Burdick Smith (December 7, 1867 – December 28, 1939) was an American lawyer and politician from New York. Born in Cuyler, NY, he moved with his family to Lincklean as a child. He studied at DeRuyter Academy and Cazenovia Seminary, then spent a year at Syracuse University before Yale University, where he edited the Yale Literary Magazine, won the John Addison Porter Prize, and earned a BA in 1891. He studied law at Cornell Law School, finishing in Syracuse and being admitted to the bar in 1893. He practiced law and led several firms, and also served as president of multiple companies.

In public service, Smith held various roles in New York state government. He was clerk for the 1894 Constitutional Convention, Clerk of the Committee on General Laws in the NY State Senate (1894-1895), town supervisor of Syracuse's 14th ward (1896-1900), Assistant Clerk of the NY State Assembly (1898-1907), and Clerk of the Assembly (1908-1910). He was a delegate to the 1915 Constitutional Convention and was active in the Republican Party, including leadership positions in Onondaga County and the state committee. In 1922 he co-authored a six-volume history, Political and Governmental History of the State of New York.

Smith belonged to several fraternal orders, including the Masons and Shriners, and held membership in other organizations. He married Nellie King Reilay in 1891, and they had a son, Willis King. He died in Philadelphia in 1939 at age 72 and was buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Syracuse.