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-