John Smilie (1741-30 December 1812) was a member of the US House of Representatives (DR-PA) from 1793 to 1795, from PA-11 from 1799 to 1803 (succeeding William Findley and preceding John Baptiste Charles Lucas), and from PA-9 from 1803 to 1812 (succeeding Andrew Gregg and preceding Isaac Griffin).
Biography[]
John Smilie was born in Ireland in 1741, and he emigrated to the Thirteen Colonies in 1760, settling in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania before moving to Fayette in 1780. He served in the US House of Representatives from 1793 to 1795 and from 1799 to 1812, and he was one of the most outspoken opponents of the evils of slavery, arguing that all slaves illegally imported after 1808 should be freed and their traders executed. He died in 1812.