as a court commissioner and master of chancery in Milwaukee. In 1859, he was offered the Republican Party nomination for Wisconsin State Senate, but declined. Public office In 1862, when James Henry Howe resigned his office to volunteer with the Union Army, Smith's former law partner, Governor Edward Salomon, appointed him to fill the vacancy as Attorney General of Wisconsin. Smith was elected to remain in office for a full term in 1863, and left office in January 1866. As Attorney General, Smith settled the decade old case of the Milwaukee and Rock River Canal Company's claims against the state, which arose from an abandoned canal plan on lands granted from the United States to the Wisconsin Territory. It involved extensive research and litigation, and was culminated in a negotiated agreement at Washington, D.C. The American Civil War also loomed over his term as Attorney General, as he had to defend the constitutionality of the draft, and the Governor's powers to enforce it. There had been draft riots in Milwaukee and Ozaukee counties, and Smith successfully argued to the Wisconsin Supreme Court in favor of Governor Salomon's acts to imprison these dissenters at a military camp in Madison, Wisconsin. He returned to private practice after 1866, and, in 1869, formed a partnership with Joshua Stark, known as Smith & Stark. In 1871, he was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly from Milwaukee County's 7th district on the Republican ticket, though he did not actively pursue the office. In the 1872 session, he was chairman of the committee on the judiciary. His chief legislative accomplishment was the passage of a law which enabled the state school trust fund to loan money to the city of Milwaukee for the construction of water works, thus putting money to use that was otherwise sitting idle in state accounts, and enabling an important public improvement in the city. He was also a supporter of an increased appropriation to the University of Wisconsin, and an act which enabled soldiers serving outside the state to cast votes in state elections. Later years After leaving the Assembly, Smith determined to remain in private practice and refused several opportunities for further public office. He declined the United States District Court judgeship in the Eastern District of Wisconsin in 1872, on the retirement of Judge Andrew G. Miller, and again in 1875, on the resignation of Judge James Henry Howe.