J. Joseph Smith

Who was J. Joseph Smith?

John Joseph Smith was a U.S. Representative from Connecticut.

Born in Waterbury, Connecticut, Smith attended the public schools before attending Yale University, from which he received his B.A. degree in 1925. Two years later, he received his LL.B. degree from Yale Law School. Smith was a Research Fellow at Yale Law School from 1927 to 1928.

He was admitted to the bar in 1927 and started practice in Waterbury, Connecticut. He served in the Field Artillery Reserves 1925-1935.

Smith was elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-fourth Congress. He was re-elected to the three succeeding Congresses and served from January 3, 1935, until his resignation on November 4, 1941, having been appointed a United States district judge for the district of Connecticut.

He was appointed judge for the Second Circuit Court of the United States on September 2, 1960, and served until November 6, 1971, when he retired to become a senior judge. He presided over a court in West Hartford, Connecticut, until his death in Waterbury on February 16, 1980.

He was interred in Calvary Cemetery, Waterbury.