was born in 1792 at Buckfield in western Maine. He graduated in Bowdoin College’s class of 1818 and went on to establish Maine’s first daily newspaper, the Portland Courier.
Smith created Major Jack Downing, a character he used in his quest to satirize the American political class. He was an advocate for Maine statehood, using his wit and pen to promote the cause.
According to Neil Rolde,
Smith’s dry, satirical wit was a model for other 19th century writers like Maine’s William Patttangall (“The Meddybemps Letters”), the Waterford, Maine native “Artemus ward” (real name Charles Farrar Browne) and the Chicago columnist Finley Peter Dunne (“Mr. Dooley”) who summered in York Harbor–all of whom poked incessant fun at politicians.
Seba Smith married 16-year old Elizabeth Oakes Prince, a Maine girl born near North Yarmouth and barely half his age of 30. She became a prolific author.
Some of Seba Smith’s publications include the following:
Dew-drops of the nineteenth century: gathered and preserved in their brightness and purity. New York, NY. J. K. Wellman. 1846, c1845.
John Smith’s letters, with ‘picters’ to match : containing reasons why John Smith should not change his name; Miss Debby Smith’s juvenile spirit; together with The only authentic history extant of the late war in our disputed territory. New York, NY. S. Colman. 1839.
Letters of Major Jack Downing of the Downingville Militia. “The Constitution is a Dimmycratic machine…or it won’t run at all!”–Major Jack Downing to Lincoln. New York, NY. Bromley and Co., J. F. Feeks. 1864.
Letters written during the President’s tour “Down East.” Freeport, N.Y. Books for Libraries Press. 1969.
The life and writing of Major Jack Downing [pseud.] of Downingville, [microform] away down East in the state of Maine. Written by himself. Boston, Ma. Lilly, Wait, Colman & Holden. 1834.
My thirty years out of the Senate. By Major Jack Downing [pseud.] New York, NY. Oaksmith & Company. 1859.
Powhatan; a metrical romance, in seven cantos. New York, NY. Harper & Brothers. 1841.
The select letters of Major Jack Downing : of the Downingville militia, away down East, in the state of Maine / written by himself. Philadelphia, Pa. Printed for the publisher. 1834.
‘Way down East: or, Portraitures of Yankee life / by Seba Smith, the original Major Jack Downing. Philadelphia, Pa. Potter. 1854.
Additional resources
Hofferth, Micah. “Seba Smith and the Birth of American Political Satire.” http://splitsider.com/2012/10/seba-smith-and-the-birth-of-american-political-satire/ (accessed January 8, 2014)
Rickels, Milton and Patricia Rickels. Seba Smith. Boston, Ma. Twayne Publishers. c1977.
Rolde, Neil. Maine: A Narrative History. Gardiner, Me. Harpswell Press. 1990. p. 151.
Wyman, Mary Alice. Two American pioneers: Seba Smith and Elizabeth Oakes Smith. New York, NY. Columbia University Press, 1927.