GEORGE WILLIAM SMITH was born at Bathurst in Essex County, Virginia. He was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates in 1790, 1791, 1792, 1793, 1801, 1802, 1807 and 1808. He entered the Virginia Privy Council–or Council of State–in 1807. As President of the Council, he served as acting governor for just a few days prior to the election of James Monroe, but assumed the governorship again three months later after Monroe resigned to become Secretary of State. Although he won election by his own right via joint ballot of the state legislature on December 5, 1811, he died just three weeks later in a fire that destroyed the Richmond Theater. Smith and the many other victims of the fire were buried beneath a marble monument in the portico of the Monumental Church erected on the site of the burned theater.

*Note: exact date of birth is not known.