William Russell Smith

William Russell Smith (1815-1896) was a writer, attorney, and politician who wrote the first professionally performed play in Alabama and served three terms in the U.S. Congress. He founded the newspaper The Mirror in Tuscaloosa and was the city's mayor in 1839. Smith also was a state house representative and a judge of the seventh judicial court. He served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War and was a representative in the Confederate Congress.