Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/623

Rh SMITH. Seba, journalist, b. in Buckfield. Me., II Sept., :?!>2; d. in Patchogue, L. I., 29 July, isiis. Ho was graduated at Bowdoin in 1818, and subsequently settled in Portland. Me., as a jour- nalist, vheiv lie edited the " Ka-tern Argus." the Family Recorder." and the Portland Daily ( '. mrior.'" During the administration of President Jackson he wrote a series of humorous and satiri- cal letters under the pen-name of " Major Jack Downing," which attained wide celebrity. They vere subsequently collected and published (Port- land, 1833), and passed through several editions. II, > removed I" New York eii in Is I.', where he continued his profession of journalism until shortly before his death. His other publications include - Powhatun," a metrical romance (New York, 1841) ; " New Elements of Geometry," an ingenious but paradoxical attempt to overturn the common definitions of geometry (1850): and "Way Down Kast, or Portraitures of Yankee Life" (1855). His wife, Elizabeth Oakes, author, b. in Yar- mouth. Me.. 12 Aug.. 1806 ; d. in Hollywood, X. C., 15 Nov.. 1893, was educated in her native town, married Mr. Smith, and aided him in the editorship of several papers. For three years she was in charge of the " Mayflower," an annual published in Bos- ton, Mass. She removed with her husband to New York city in 1843, and engaged in literary pur- suits. She was the first woman in this country that ever appeared as a public lecturer. She also preached in several churches, and at one time was pastor of an independent congregation in Canastota, Madison co., N. Y. Her books include Itiehes without Wings" (Boston, 1838); "The Sinless Child" (New York, 1841); "Stories for children" (Boston, 1847); "Woman and her Needs" (1851); "Hints on Dress and Beauty" (1852): "Bald Eagle, or the Last of the Rama- paughs " (London, 1867) ; " The Roman Tribute," a tragedy (1850) ; and " Old New York, or Jacob Leisler," a tragedy (1853).

SMITH, Sidney, Canadian statesman, b. in Port Hope, Upper Canada, 16 Oct., 1823. His grandfather, Elias, adhered to the cause of the crown during the American Revolution, and, re- moving to Canada, founded what is now the town of Port Hope. Sidney was educated at Cobourg and Port Hope, studied law, and was admitted to the liar in 1844. He began practice at Cobourg, in 1853 was elected warden of the united counties of Northumberland and Durham, in 1854 was elected to the legislative assembly for the west riding of Northumberland, and was twice re-elected for this constituency. Till 1856 he supported the coalition of which Sir Allan MacNab was the. head, but he then went into opposition. He afterward travelled in Germany for his health, and on 2 Feb., 1858, was appointed "postmaster-general with a seat in the cabinet, which office he held till the resig- nation of the government in 1862, with the excep- tion of the period of the ministerial crisis in 1858, when he became president of the council and minister of agriculture. From 1858 till 1862 Mr. Smith was a member of the board of rail- way commissioners, and in 1858 he introduced and carried through parliament the consolidated jury act for Upper Canada, which is still the law with a few unimportant changes. While postmaster- general he succeeded in forming arrangements with the United States, France, Belgium, and Prussia for the conveyance of mail matter across the Atlantic in Canadian steamers, and through Cana- da on the Grand Trunk railway. In 1860 Mr. Smith secured the abolition of Sunday labor in the post-offices in Upper Canada. In 1861 he was elected to the legislative council, but he resigned in 1863, and unsuccessfully contested Victoria for the house of assembly. In 1866 he^was appoint- ed inspector of registry offices for Upper Canada, which post he still holds.

SMITH, Sidney Irving, biologist, b. in Nor- way. Me., 18 Feb., 1843. He was graduated at the Sheffield scientific school of Yale in 1867, and was assistant in zoology from that time till 1876, ivhen he was chosen professor of comparative anatomy. He had charge of the deep-water dredging that was carried on in Lake Superior by the U. S. lake survey in 1871, and by the U. S. coast survey in the region of St. George's banks in 1872. Prof. Smith has also been associ- ated in the biological work of the U. S. fish com- mission on the New England coast since 1871. He is a member of various scientific societies, and in 1884 was elected to the National academy of sciences. His papers have been published in the " Reports of the U. S. Fish Commission," " Reports of Progress of the Geological Survey of Canada," and other government reports, and he has also contributed memoirs on his specialties to the trans- actions of scientific societies of which he is a mem- ber, and to technical journals.

SMITH, Solomon Franklin, actor, b. in Nor- wich, Chenango co., N. Y., 20 April, 1801 ; d. in St. Louis, Mo., 20 April. 1869. After spending three years as a clerk in Albany, N. Y., he was ap- prenticed to a printing establishment in Louisville, Ky. He joined Alexander Drake's dramatic com- pany in 1820, withdrew at the end of the season, studied law in Cincinnati, Ohio, and in 1822 be- came the editor of the "Independent Press," a Jacksonian Democratic organ, and at the same time a manager of the Globe theatre. The latter enter- prise proved unsuccessful; but he travelled with his company the next year and gained wide repu- tation as a low comedian, his principal roles being Mawworm in " The Hypocrite," Sheepface in " The Village Lawyer," and Billy Lackaday in " Sweet- hearts and Wives." He abandoned theatrical man- agement and the stage in 1853, settled as a lawyer in St. Louis, and was a member of the Missouri state convention in 1861. He was an uncondi- tional Union man, and bore an active part in form- ing a provisional government for the state. He published " Theatrical Apprenticeship " (Philadel- phia, Pa., 1845); "Theatrical Journey Work" (l*.-)4); and an "Autobiography" (New York, isiisi. His son. Marcus, actor, b. in New Orleans, La., 7 Jan., 1829 ; d. in Paris, France, 11 Aug., 1874, made his debut in New Orleans in 1849 as Dig- gory in " Family Jars." He then connected him- self with Wallack's theatre, New York city, where he became widely popular, subsequently playing suc- cessful star engagements in the principal cities in this country. He visited England in 1869. where he was favorably received. When Edwin Booth opened his theatre in New York city in February, 1869, Smith became his manager and was a mem- ber of his company for several years. His last public appearance was in London, where he was connected with St. James's theatre.

SMITH, Stephen, physician, b. in Onondaga county, N. Y., 19 Feb.. 1823. He was educated in the public schools and at Cortland academy, Homer, N. Y., and, after attending lectures at Geneva and Buffalo, N. Y., medical college, was graduated at the New York college of physicians and surgeons in 1850, became a resident physician at Bellevue hospital, and afterward settled in New York city. He became an attending surgeon to Bellevue in 1854, was professor of surgery there in