William Lyman Smith I (February 12, 1878 – November 11, 1964) was a Canadian American educator, businessman, and Republican politician from Neillsville, Wisconsin.
[1] He also served as private secretary to Wisconsin governor Walter J. Kohler Sr. Smith was born February 12, 1878, on a farm in Sunbury County, New Brunswick, Canada.
[2] Smith was elected to the Assembly in 1916 for the Clark County district to succeed fellow Republican Emery Crosby, receiving 3482 votes to 1201 for Democrat Alvin Foster.
He was assigned to the legislature's joint committee on finance, serving alongside another William L. Smith, a Socialist barber from Milwaukee.
In 1920, Smith was elected from the 24th State Senate district (Clark and Wood Counties) to succeed fellow Republican Isaac P. Witter, with 11,700 votes to 2,791 for Socialist Robert A. Steinbach and 1,580 for Democrat Alphonsus B. Sutor.