Alexander Smart

Alexander Smart (1842 – 1892) was born in Scotland, but came to Andover as an infant, where his father Hugh was a flax dresser in the Smith & Dove mill. Smart moved to Merrimac, Massachusetts to work in the carriage mills just before the beginning of the War. He enlisted as an eighteen-year-old sergeant in the Amesbury Company that became Co. E of the 1st Massachusetts Heavy Artillery. He was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant in November 1862 and attached to the staff of the regiment’s Major Nathaniel Shatswell. In July 1864, his hand was shattered by a minie ball while he was attempting to deliver a message to a field officer during an engagement. His was the third attempt to deliver the message, the other messengers having been killed in the effort. His three-year enlistment expired while he was in the hospital, and he was refused reenlistment on account of his injury. He married Elizabeth W. Miller of Andover, described as a “refined and educated lady of Scottish descent,” at Andover’s Free Christian Church in October 1864.

After the war, he became a partner in a prosperous Merrimac carriage business. Active in town affairs, he served as Merrimac’s postmaster and was chairman of the Board of Selectmen when Merrimac was set off as an individual town from Amesbury.   In 1888, he was elected as a Massachusetts State Representative.