Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 09.djvu/431

 SMITH

SMITH

the Consolidated Railroad of Vermont was formed, of which road he became president in 1873. He was one of the originators of the Northern Pacific railroad, and its president, 1866- 72. He was a Republican member of the state senate, 1858-59 ; a member of the Vermont house of representatives, 1860-62, serving as speaker the last two years, and was governor of Vermont, 1863-65. He frequently de- clined nomination for the United States senate ; was a delegate-at-large to the Re- publican national convention at Chicago, June 3, 1884, and repeatedly president of the Republican state conven- tions. During the administration of Gov. Erastus Fairbanks (q.v.), in 1861, he acted as his confiden- tial counsel and was associated v/ith him in prose- cuting the war and in organizing troops. He re- ceived the honorary degree of LL.D. from the University of Vermont in 1871. He was president of the Welden National bank, the People's Trust company and the Franklin County Creamery as- sociation. He gave .$7,000 to the Congregational church of St. Albans for remodeling its edifice, and in 1888 presented the village with a bronze fountain to be placed in the public park. In his will he bequeathed $10,000 to St. Albans for a public library, $5,000 for a soldiers' monument and $3,000 to the Congregational church. He died at St. Albans, Vt., Nov. 6, 1891.

SMITH, John Lawrence, chemist, was born in Charleston, S.C, Dec. IT, 1818 ; son of Ben- jamin Smith. He attended Charleston college and the University of Virginia, 1836-38 ; was assistant engineer on the construction of the railroad between Charleston and Cincinnati ; and was graduated from the Medical College of South Carolina in 1840. He studied in Paris, 1840-41, and made a special study of chemistry in Germany and Paris. In 1844 he began practice at Charleston, and was appointed state assayer of the gold received from Georgia and the Carolinas. He made careful investigations of the marble beds of Charleston and vicinity, and of the con- ditions affecting the growth of cotton. In 1846, on the invitation of the Sultan, he went to Turkey to teach cotton culture in Asia Minor, but the scheme proving impracticable, he was appointed mining engineer by the Turkish government and explored the mineral resources of Turkey, dis- covering large chrome ore and coal deposits, and the emery deposits in Asia Minor. He returned to the United States in October, 1850, and com- pleted his inverted microscope, which he had be- gun in Paris. He was professor in the University of New Orleans ; professor of chemistry. Univer- sity of Virginia, 1852-54 ; removed to Louisville,. IX. — 27

Ky., in 1854, and was married to Sarah Julia, daughter of James Guthrie (q.v.). He was pro- fessor of chemistry in the medical department of the University of Louisville, 1854-66 ; was super- intendent and president of the Louisville gas works, and was associated with Dr. Edward R. Squibb in the manufacture of rare pharmaceuti- cal pi'eparations. He was chevalier of the Legion of Honor of France ; received the order of Nichan Iftabar and that of Medjideh from the Turkish government and that of St. Stanislas from the Russian government. He was elected president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1874, and of the American Chemical society in 1877 ; an original member of the National Academy of Sciences ; and was elected corresponding member of the French Academy of Sciences in 1879. He was a U.S. commissioner to the World's Fair in Paris in 1867, and at Vienna in 1873 ; and one of the judges of chemical arts at the Philadelphia Centennial exhibition of 1876. His remarkable collection of meteorites was purchased by Har- vard university for |8,000, which money was transferred by Mrs. Smitli to the National Academy of Sciences to found the Lawrence Smith medal, awarded biennially to the person making the most original investigations of meteors. Professor Smith is the author of numerous reports and scientific papers. He died in Louisville, Ky., Oct. 12, 1883.

SMITH, John Walter, governor of Maryland, was born at Snow Hill, Md., Feb. 5, 1845 ; son of John Walter and Charlotte (Whittington) Smith ; grandson of Samuel R. and Charlotte Smith, and of Judge William Whittington. He was educated under private tutors and at Wash- ington academy, Md. He was married, June 2, 1869, to Mary Frances, daughter of David Rich- ardson, of Snow Hill, Md. He was a member of the state senate, 1890-98, being president in 1894; chairman of the state Democratic committee in 1895 ; was elected to the 55th congress in 1898, and in 1899 was elected governor of Maryland for the term expii-ing Jan. 8, 1904.

SMITH, Jonathan Bayard, delegate, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., Feb. 21, 1742 ; sou of Samuel (a prominent merchant) and Mar}- (Harrison) Smith ; grandson of Capt. Thomas and Mary (Corwin) Smith of Boston, and of Joseph and Mary (Vanlevening) Harrison of Philadelphia, and a descendant of Capt. Thomas Smith, Sr., merchant of Boston (1645-1689), whose second wife was Hannah Eliot, daughter of John Eliot, the apostle to the Indians, and whose father, Thomas Smith, died before 1664, and was sup- posed to be of Dutch ancestry. Jonathan B.Smith, was graduated from the College of New Jersey, A.B., 1760, A.M.. 1763, and engaged in mercan-