Historic West Street Cemetery / Governor Israel Smith

Historic West Street Cemetery was first used in 1810, with the interment of Governor Israel Smith. This city cemetery replaced the North Main Street Cemetery, which dated to the 1780s. With the establishment of the Evergreen Cemetery in 1861, West Street Cemetery received fewer interments, and by the end of the 19th century, was no longer used. Eventually, many interments were relocated to Evergreen Cemetery. Among the more than 600 graves are the final resting places for veterans of the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Mexican-American War, and Civil War, as well as the 4th governor of Vermont. (continued on other side) Governor Israel Smith was buried at the West Street Cemetery. Smith served in the state legislature and as a delegate to the Vermont Constitutional Convention, which ratified the US Constitution. When Vermont became a state in 1791, he was elected for the first time to Congress. Smith was named Chief Judge of the Vermont Supreme Court in 1797. In 1803, he served in the US Senate, serving until he was elected Vermont’s 4th governor in 1807. He said at his inaugural “Our duty as legislators is to provide wholesome laws for the promotion of virtue, happiness, and prosperity among the people over whom the laws are to operate. The end of all government is to teach each individual of the community the necessity of self-government.”