James A. Smith : 無料・フリー素材/写真
James A. Smith / jajacks62
| ライセンス | クリエイティブ・コモンズ 表示-改変禁止 2.1 |
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| 説明 | Co. F, 17th ILL. InfantryPortrait and Biological Record of Southeastern Kansas, Containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens of the Counties, Together with Biographies and Portraits of all the Presidents of the United States and The Governors of the State of Kansas. Chicago, Biographical Publishing Co. 1894. James A. Smith. Gibbon has said that every man has two educations, one which is given him, and the other and most important, that which he gives himself. Sir Walter Scott emphasized this statement when he said: “The best part of a man’s education is that which he gives himself.” The mind has been endowed with no more powerful ambition than that of self-improvement. The self-made man carries with him his own capital—a capital unaffected by monetary crises, an investment whose interest is not regulated by success of speculation—a treasure which none can dispute, and of which no one can deprive him. As a representative of the class who have attained success in life solely through their own exertions, and whose knowledge has been acquired by virtue of their own untiring labor in its pursuit, we mention the name of James A. Smith, one of the early settlers of Crawford County and an attorney-at-law residing in Girard. He was born near the city of Monmouth, Ill., on the 5th of May, 1840, and is a son of Seth and Catharine (Tuttle) Smith. The mother was a native of Boston, Mass. The father was born in Connecticut, but was reared principally in Boston, Mass., where he conducted mercantile pursuits in South Boston until 1838, when he removed to Illinois and located near Monmouth. The early education of our subject was acquired in Monmouth. Although his advantages were limited, he improved his opportunities, and by a steady course of reading has always kept himself well informed upon current events. On the 17th of April, 1861, he enlisted in the Union army, becoming a member of Company F, Seventeenth Illinois Infantry, serving in the said regiment until June, 1864, and in the commissary department until October 17, 1865, when he was honorably discharged at Ft. Scott, Kan. While in active service, he commenced reading law under the preceptorship of General Blair, and was admitted to the Bar in the fall of 1866, before Judge Valentine, at Ft. Scott. Immediately after his admission to the Bar, Mr. Smith came to this strip of land, which he aided in organizing under the name of Cherokee County. For a time he served as attorney for Mutual Cherokee Strip, and was the first attorney for Cherokee County. For ten years he officiated as Probate Judge, occupying that position for four successive terms—from 1876 to 1884. He is now serving his second term as Justice of the Peace. He has been a member of the Common Council of the city of Girard, and has held other positions of prominence and trust. In the various positions he has filled he has been elected by unprecedented majorities, which fact is due to his sterling worth and high character. In the practice of law he makes a specialty of probate business, his experience as Probate Judge having given him a thorough knowledge of that line of practice. He has an extensive general practice, extending throughout Crawford and the surrounding counties. In his social relations Mr. Smith is identified with the Masonic fraternity and the Knights Templar, and is also a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. He has been especially active in the Masonic order, and has held all the offices in the lodge, including that of High Priest. In the Grand Army of the Republic he has served as Commander and Adjutant. In the Republican party he is one of the most prominent leaders in the county, and has served as Chairman of the Republican Central Committee. In the early days of the settlement of Kansas Mr. Smith was an active participant in the league troubles, and on several occasions was arrested. He contributed toward the sending of a delegate to Washington in order to have the matter satisfactorily adjusted. He was one of the parties who started the position for the organization of the Strip, and narrates many interesting incidents connected with that important affair, as well as the general history of this section of Kansas. Few men are more widely known that he, and as one of the honored pioneers of Crawford County he justly merits the high esteem in which he is held. September 1, 1869, Mr. Smith and Miss Carrie Stearns were united in marriage. She is the daughter of Henry Stearns, a native of New York. Of this union there are three children: Helen, Grant and Catharine C., all at home and bright, intelligent children.Pages 619-621 from A Twentieth century history and biographical record of Crawford County, Kansas, by Home Authors; Illustrated. Published by Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, IL : 1905. James A. Smith, lawyer, ex-county attorney and ex-probate judge, and often known as the "father of the Crawford county bar," has lived a life of extreme usefulness and honor, and nearly forty years of it have been passed in this part of the great Sunflower state. He has made his mark both as a soldier and as a civilian, has found a worthy part to play in every sphere of activity where he has been called, and to-day no citizen is more honored and respected in Crawford county than this veteran lawyer and soldier. Mr. Smith was born in Warren county, Illinois, May 5, 1840, a son of Seth and Catherine P. (Tuttle) Smith. His father was a native of Connecticut, born January 1, 1812, but was reared in Boston, and came out to Illinois in 1838. He was a farmer by occupation, and came to Kansas in 1868 and bought land and made a farm near Fort Scott. He lived a retired life in Girard from 1888 until his death, April 7, 1901, at the great age of eighty-nine years. His wife, who was born February 5, 1814, died five days later, on April 12, 1901, so that they had traveled a common way in life for over sixty years. They were members of the Congregational church, and most esteemed and worthy people. He was elected and served as sheriff of Warren county, Illinois in 1858, the same year in which Lincoln and Douglas made their famous canvass for the United States senate. After the war he was city marshal of Monmouth, Illinois, for several terms. He was quite prominent in local politics. He gave two years of service to the Union cause, and of the seven sons which made up his family of children five were soldiers in the war, and five of the seven are still living. Mr. J. A. Smith attended the public schools of Illinois, and was just entering the junior year at Monmouth College when the Civil war called him into the ranks. He enlisted, April 17, 1861, in Company F, Seventeenth Illinois Infantry, being sworn in for state service, and on May 25 was enrolled for the three years' service in the United States. He was in the battles at Frederickstown (October 21, 1861), at Fort Donelson, at Shiloh, Corinth, Iuka, at the siege of Vicksburg until the surrender on July 4, 1863, and was afterward detailed for duty in the commissary department until his muster out, June 4, 1864. He then took a position in the commissary department, holding it until the close of the war, first at Cairo, Illinois, then at Columbus, Kentucky, and finally at Fort Scott, Kansas, which brought him to the state of his future career and successes on January 1, 1865. While at Fort Scott he began reading law with General C. W. Blair and later with Judge W. C. Webb, and was admitted to the bar in Fort Scott in the fall of 1866. He then came to Crawford county, or what was then known as the "Neutral Lands," and was elected county attorney on the Neutral Lands. He served until after the division of the county in 1867, and was then chosen attorney of the newly created Cherokee county, in November, 1867, and discharged his duties as the first county attorney until January, 1869. He then went to Wilson county, Kansas, and entered a claim, and during the county-seat war he and his wife published a paper at Altoona. Mr. Smith came to Cherokee, Crawford county, in 1875, and until the fall of the following year practiced law under his own name. He was then elected probate judge of Crawford county, and by successive re-elections served three terms of eight years, and one term at a later date gave him altogether ten years in that office. When not occupied with judicial duties he has been one of the foremost attorneys of the county ever since. He has been a justice of the peace for some ten years, holding that office at present, and has also served on the city council of Girard. His long residence in the county and eminent usefulness as a member of the bench and the bar entitle and secure for him an unusual degree of honor and esteem among all Crawford county citizens. Mr. Smith married, September 1, 1869, Miss Carrie Stearns, who was born in Vermont and reared and educated in Erie county, New York, being a daughter of Henry Stearns. Mr. and Mrs. Smith had three children. Helen, who died June 6, 1899, at the age of twenty-seven, was the wife of Rev. William M. Mason, a Presbyterian minister of Syracuse, New York, and they had one child, Helen Smith Mason. Mrs. Mason was an accomplished musician, a graduate of Girard high school, spent some time under the best of instruction in Boston, and was a successful teacher and one of the best of women. Grant S. Smith, the second child, is in the freshman year of college at Parkvale, Missouri, and Katherine C. is in the sophomore year of the same school. The family all hold membership in St. John's Episcopal church at Girard. Mr. Smith is a member of the blue lodge, chapter and commandery of the Masonic order, and has been master high priest and commander of the commandery. He has also filled all the offices in his Grand Army post. He is a stanch Republican in politics. |
| 撮影日 | 2004-10-17 09:51:42 |
| 撮影者 | jajacks62 , Chanute |
| タグ | |
| 撮影地 | Girard, Kansas, United States 地図 |
| カメラ | COACH 1.0 , Zoran Corporation |
| 露出 | 0.02 sec (1/49) |
| 開放F値 | f/0.03 |