USA > New York > Erie County > Our county and its people : a descriptive work on Erie County, New York, Volume II > Part 5
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89
Doctor Potter was elected a permanent member of the American Medical Association in 1878, and was chairman of its section of obstet- rics and diseases of women in 1890. He is a permanent member of
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BIOGRAPHICAL.
the Medical Society of the State of New York and was its president in 1891 ; a member of the Medical Society of the County of Erie and presi- dent in 1893; and a member of the Buffalo Medical and Surgical Associa- tion and its president in 1886. He was secretary of the American Asso- ciation of Obstetricians and Gynecologists from 1888 to 1898, president of the Buffalo Obstetrical Society in 1884-86, president of section of gynecology and abdominal surgery of the first Pan-American Medical Congress in 1893, and president of the National Confederation of State Medical Examining and Licensing Boards in 1895, 1896, 1897 and 1898. On March 11, 1891, the Regents appointed to represent the Medical Society of the State of New York the following named examiners: For three years, Dr. William Warren Potter, of Buffalo, Dr. William S. Ely, of Rochester, and Dr. Maurice J. Lewi, of Albany; for two years, Dr. William C. Wey, of Elmira, and Dr. George Ryerson Fowler, of Brooklyn; for one year, Dr. Eugene Beach, of Gloversville, and Dr. Joseph P. Creveling, of Auburn. These appointees met at Albany, September 1, 1891, and organized as a board of medical examiners by electing Dr. William S. Wey, president, and Dr. Maurice J. Lewi, sec- retary. Doctor Wey died June 30, 1897, and Doctor Potter acted as president during that year, having been reappointed by the Regents in 1894 and again in 1897 as a member of the board; on January 24, 1898, he was elected president. He has been examiner in obstetrics since the organization of the board. Doctor Potter is also consulting gynecologist to the Buffalo Woman's Hospital and a companion of the military order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.
He has been a voluminous and valued contributor to medical and surgical literature, and has written many unpublished papers for medi- cal societies and other bodies. He has been the managing editor of the Buffalo Medical Journal since July, 1888, and also edits the annual volume of Transactions of the American Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Among his published writings may be mentioned the following:
" Umbilical Hernia in the Adult, with the report of a successful operation," Buf- falo Medical Journal, January, 1879; " Epithelioma of the Cervix Uteri," Transac- tions of the Medical Society of the State of New York, 1881; " The Genu-pectoral Posture in Uterine and Ovarian Displacements," Transactions of the Medical So- ciety of the State of New York, 1882; " The Gynecic Uses and Value of the Genu- pectoral Posture," Transactions of the American Medical Association, 1882; "In- duction of Premature Labor in Puerperal Eclampsia," Transactions of the Medical
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
Society of the State of New York, 1883 (second paper); "Address to the Alumni of Buffalo Medical College," delivered in St. James Hall, February 23, 1875; " Treat- ment of Postpartum Hemorrhage," Buffalo Medical Journal, 1884; " Pelvic Abscess in the Female," idem, July, 1885; "Observations on the Uterine Sound," idem, July, 1886; " Remarks on Pelvic Inflammations and the Management of their Residues," idem, July, 1888; "Dermoid Cyst of the Left Ovary," idem, December, 1889; " Field Hospital Service with the Army of the Potomac," idem, October and November, 1889; "The Essential Interests of the Society," idem, February, 1893, being the presi- dential address to the Medical Society of the County of Erie, delivered January 10, 1893; " The Induction of Premature Labor in Puerperal Eclampsia," American Jour- nal of Obstetrics, July, 1879; " Rectal Alimentation for the Relief of Obstinate Vomit- ing in Pregnancy," idem, January, 1880; " What is the Present Medico-legal Status of the Abdominal Surgeon?" idem, July, 1890; "A Medico-legal Aspect to Pelvic Inflammation," idem, December, 1891; "Posture in Obstetrics and Gynecology," idem, November, 1892; " Remarks on Rectal Feeding in Disease," New York Med- ical Record, April 11, 1880; " Dysmenorrhea: Its Treatment by Dilatation," idem, February 9, 1884; "How Should Girls be Educated? A Public Health Problem for Mothers, Educators and Physicians," presidential address to the Medical Society of the State of New York, delivered at Albany, February, and published in the Trans- actions of the society for that year, also in the New York Medical Journal, March 21, 1891; "A Case of Pyosalpinx; Recovery without Operation," Journal of the Amer- ican Association, August 6, 1887; "Gynecic Uses of Boric Acid," idem, July 13, 1889; "Address of Chairman of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women," idem, May 31, 1890; " Double Ovariotomy during Pregnancy-Subsequent Delivery at Term," Transac- tions of American Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, 1888; "Ovarian and Ligamentary Cyst Co-existing in the Same Patient," idem, 1890; "Pelvic In- flammation in Women-a Pathological Study," American Gynecological Journal, December, 1891; "Asepsis and Antisepsis as Practised in the Lying-in Chamber," Medical News, July, 1892; "Specialism in Medicine as Related to Surgery and Gynecology," New York Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics, January, 1893; " Puerperal Sepsis, its Prevention and Cure," Annals of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Pediatrics, April, 1893, also Transactions of the Medical Society of the State of New York, 1893; "The Prevention of Disease: a Problem for all Physicians," read be- fore the New York Academy of Medicine, February 1, 1894; New York Medical Journal, April 14, 1894; " Fifty Years of Medical Journalism in Buffalo: a Historical Reminiscence," Buffalo Medical Journal, August, 1895; "What is True Conservatism in Gynecology?" American Journal of Obstetrics, November, 1894; "The Relations of Medical Examining Boards to the State, to the Schools and to Each Other," presi- dential address before the National Confederation of State Medical Examining and Licensing Boards, at Atlanta, May 4, 1896, Buffalo Medical Journal, July, 1896; "Puerperal Eclampsia: its Etiology and Treatment," read at the ninety-first annual meeting of the Medical Society of the State of New York, Albany, January 26, 1897; " Reciprocity in Medical Licensure: A Plea for Interstate Endorsement," presiden- tial address before the National Confederation, etc., at Philadelphia, May 31, 1897; and the chapter on the medical profession in Erie county which appears in these volumes.
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BIOGRAPHICAL.
Dr. Potter was married on the 23d of March, 1859, to Miss Emily A. Bostwick, of Lancaster, N. Y., daughter of the late William H. Bostwick, a lineal descendant of Ethan Allen of Revolutionary fame.
PART III.
PERSONAL REFERENCES.
And they assembled all the congregation together, and they declared their pedigree after their families by the home of their fathers .- Numbers 1: 18.
Now when William had come to Yarrow he sent forth men into all his do- mains to gather into one volume the names of all those in the land, showing their kinship among themselves, their intermarriages, dates covering births and deaths, and times of those given in wedlock. This did he not alone for himself and his own day and period, but that posterity might know of a certainty con- cerning those who had gone before them. And the list made a noble and goodly array in a bulky volume .- Hume's History of England.
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PERSONAL REFERENCES.
To enumerate all of the old and prominent families in Erie county would in itself make a large and pretentious volume, while it would be practically impossible to give a genealogical sketch of each family. We have been compelled, owing to lack of space, to limit these references to those only who have felt and manifested an interest in preserving the records of their ancestors. Sketches of many of the early settlers will be found in connection with Part I, containing the history of the county and its respective towns. In this section biographical notices have been collected and printed of those whose descendants to-day form the business and social life of the stated localities.
Seaver, Joseph V., Buffalo, has been prominent at the bar and on the bench of Western New York for nearly twenty-five years. He was born and reared in Buf- falo, and early evinced a desire to study law, and accordingly entered the office of Judge John L. Talcott and Delevan F. Clark, where he remained until admitted to the New York bar in Buffalo in 1873. In January, 1889, he was elected county judge for the term of six years. Judge Seaver, while on the bench, decided many im- portant cases, always to the best of his ability and satisfaction of the general pub- lic. From the end of his period of service he has been engaged in the active prac- tice of his profession.
Rockwell, John S., counselor at law, Buffalo, was born at Pike, Wyoming county, N. Y., April 20, 1854, and was educated in the Pike Seminary and the University of Rochester. After teaching school for a few years he determined to study law and entered the office of Augustus Harrington, of Warsaw, N. Y., where he re- mained for three years, and was admitted to the bar in 1879. For two years after admission he was acting editor of the Western New Yorker at Warsaw. He then formed a copartnership with Hon. Byron Healey, practicing for a short time only, when he removed to Allegany county and engaged in special work in connection with parties engaged in the oil business. He afterwards removed to Angelica and
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
accepted a position in the office of F. S. Smith, acting as managing clerk, and was tax agent for the W. N. Y. & P. R. R. from 1883-88, and has been since 1886 real estate and tax agent for the B., R. & P. R. R. In 1886 he formed a partnership with F. S. Smith and D. D. Dickson, under the firm name of Smith, Rockwell & Dickson, which copartnership continued until October, 1895, when he removed to Buffalo and the firm of Simmons & Rockwell was formed, of which he is still a member. He was married December 7, 1882, to Miss Helen E. Comstock, daughter of the late Harlow L. Comstock, of Canandaigua, N. Y. He was for some years a director and attorney for the Central New York and Western Railroad Company, and attorney for the Lackawanna and Pittsburg Railroad Company and its receiver. He has been a director of the Bank of Angelica several years.
Orcutt, William H., Buffalo, was born at Boston, Mass., November 15, 1847, where he had the benefit of a thorough training in the public schools of his native city and the neighboring city of Cambridge. Educated under the very eaves of Amer- ica's greatest university, it was quite natural that he should enter Harvard College, where he took rank with the best scholars in his class, graduating eighth in a class of 108. This high standing made him eligible for a membership in the Phi Beta Kappa society. After completing his classical course Mr. Orcutt entered the Law School of the university, and at the end of two years received the degree of LL. B. In 1875 he was admitted to the bar of Massachusetts, and at once began to practice for himself in Boston, where he was engaged in the duties of his profession con- tinuously until 1882, when he was appointed by Governor Long judge of the Dis- trict Court in the county of Middlesex. This position he held until 1889, when he resigned his office and removed to Buffalo and became a member of the law firm of Roberts, Alexander, Musser & Orcutt, one of the largest legal firms in Western New York. In June, 1889, he was married to Leafie Sloan of Buffalo.
Foote, Robert B., jr., Buffalo, son of Robert B. and Mary (Kingscott) Foote, was born at Armor, N. Y., October 26, 1869. He was prepared for college at Hamburg and was graduated from Cornell University in 1891. He began the study of law the following year at the Buffalo Law School and also read law in the office of Par- ker & Hotchkiss during his term at the Law School. While in college he was a member of the Delta Tau Delta and while attending the Law School of the Phi Delta Phi fraternities. He was admitted to the bar in October, 1894, and immedi- ately began his practice in Buffalo:
Steele, Frank B., Buffalo, son of Charles G. and Harriet (Snyder) Steele, was born March 28, 1864, in Buffalo, N. Y. He was educated in the public schools and was graduated from the Normal Academic department in 1883. He then began the study of law, entering the office of Clinton & Clark. He finished his studies, how- ever, in the office of Green & Marcy, acting as managing clerk until admitted to the bar in January, 1887. He immediately began practice, continuing until 1892, when he was appointed deputy clerk of the Superior Court of Buffalo, remaining in that position until January 1, 1896, when he was transferred to the Supreme Court. On March 1, 1896, Mr. Steele was appointed assistant deputy county clerk, which posi- tion he now holds.
Hart, Louis B., Buffalo, was born in Medina, Orleans county, N. Y., March 30,
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PERSONAL REFERENCES.
1869. He first engaged in business as a clerk in the office of E. M. & F. M. Ashley at Lockport, where he remained nearly two years. He was then appointed private secretary to Hon. D. H. McMillian, who was at that time senator from the Thirty- first District of New York. He afterwards began the study of law in the office of Elsworth & Potter of Lockport, and was admitted to the bar June 3, 1892. In Janu- ary, 1894, he was appointed managing clerk in the office of William Kenefeck, dis- trict attorney, and in 1896 was appointed clerk of the Surrogate Court, which posi- tion he now holds.
Plumley, Edmund J., Buffalo, was born in Canoga, Seneca county, N. Y., October 7, 1845. His education was obtained from the Middlebury Academy, Genesee Wes- leyan Seminary and Genesee College, now Syracuse University. After completing his college course he engaged in teaching school until the spring of 1867, when he removed to Buffalo and began the study of law in the office of Parker & Chamberlain, finishing his legal studies, however, in the office of Hiram C. Day, which he entered in May, 1868, where he remained until he was admitted to the bar in June, 1871. He remained in this office until February of the following year, when he was offered, without solicitation, the position of deputy city clerk of the city of Buffalo, which he accepted and held for three years, when he began the practice of his profession and has since been engaged in active practice. In May, 1894, he formed a copartnership with Irving W. Cole, under the firm name of Plumley & Cole, which partnership still continues.
Pooley, Charles A., Buffalo, son of William and Mary A. Pooley, was born Novem- ber 17, 1854, in Buffalo, N. Y., where he has always resided. He attended the pub- lic schools, graduating from the Central High School in the class of 1873, and then entered the lumber business, in which he continued three years. Not finding this employment strictly congenial, and being ambitious to adopt a profession, he began the study of law on January 1, 1876. Devoting himself diligently to Blackstone and Kent, he was admitted to the full privileges of the bar in April, 1879. He began at once the active practice of law in connection with the firm of Lansing, McMillan & Gluck, having completed his studies in the office of the late Senator A. P. Laning, and has continued with that firm through its various changes-Green, McMillan & Gluck, McMillan, Gluck & Pooley, and McMillan, Gluck, Pooley & Depew-to the present time. Mr. Pooley was a trustee of the Buffalo Library for three years, and is a prominent 32° Mason, being a member and past master of De Molay Lodge No. 498, F. & A. M., and a member of Buffalo Chapter, R. A. M. He was district deputy grand master of Masons in 1894. June 4, 1884, he was married to Carrie Adams, daughter of the late Hon. S. Carey Adams, of Buffalo.
Perkins, Franklin R., Buffalo, was born in Cazenovia, Madison county, N. Y., May 6, 1841, where he received his education at the district schools and the Oneida Conference Seminary at Cazenovia. In 1862 he began the study of law in the office of Charles Stebbins, jr., where he remained until he was admitted to the bar at Binghamton, N. Y., in the fall of 1863. At this time the Rebellion had broken out and there was a call for volunteers. Mr. Perkins received a commission from Governor Seymour to raise a company for the 22d Regiment of N. Y. Volunteer Cavalry, then being organized at Syracuse and Rochester. A company of one hundred
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
and four men was raised, which became Co. E, with Mr. Perkins as captain, where he served for one year. In the spring of 1865 he returned to Hamilton, N. Y., and entered the law office of Judge Joseph Mason, where he remained upwards of a year. In 1866 he removed to Buffalo and began the practice of his profession. In 1869 he entered into copartnership with Henry W. Bex, and the firm of Bex & Perkins con- ducted a successful business for eleven years, when it was dissolved. Since that time Mr. Perkins has conducted a general practice of law at Buffalo, part of the time with a partner, but generally alone, and has always done a successful business, which still continues.
Allen, Henry F., Buffalo, was born in the town of Collins, Erie county, N. Y., May 6, 1837, and was educated in the public schools of his native town and the vil- lage of Gowanda. He then began the study of law and was admitted to the bar in November, 1859. He practiced his profession in Gowanda until 1882 when he re- moved to Buffalo, becoming a member of the law firm of Goodyear & Allen. This firm was dissolved in 1883 and Mr. Allen formed a copartnership with Messrs. Wilcox & Movius, under the firm name of Allen, Movius & Wilcox, which copartner- ship continued until 1891, since which time Mr. Allen has been engaged in the prac- tice of his profession alone. Mr. Allen is a Democrat and was elected to and served in the Assembly of 1878, and from June 1, 1883, to January 1, 1892, he was a member of the New York State Board of Claims, appointed by Governor Cleveland.
Ford, James E., Buffalo, was born in that city, July 11, 1838, and was educated in the public schools. In 1855 he began the study of law in the office of his father, Elijah Ford, and was graduated from the Albany Law School in 1859. He was ad- mitted to the bar the same year, and immediately after his admission to the bar he joined his father in practice, under the firm name of Elijah Ford & Son, which partnership was carried on until the death of his father in 1879. In January, 1881, the present firm of Ford & Ferguson was formed.
Smith, James Murdock .- The history of Buffalo during its municipal existence would be quite imcomplete without a sketch of that one of her favored and favorite citizens whose name stands at the head of this article. Judge Smith cane from New England stock, and brought with him here to this western country, in the early days, a supply of physical, moral and mental health, which have all served him a good purpose and brought him to three score years and ten in the full enjoyment of his faculties unimpaired, and with his zeal and energy still equal to all the numerous calls made upon him for the good of his family and friends and the advancement of his fellow-citizens' interests, both public and private. He was born at East Poultney, Rutland county, Vt., August 23, 1816, being the only son of Hon. Harvey D. Smith and Harriet Murdock Smith, and is a lineal descendant of the Rev. Henry Smith, an English clergyman, who came to America in 1634 and settled in Wethersfield, Conn., in 1636, and was the first minister in that place. That line of descent is as follows: Rev. Henry Smith of Wethersfield, Conn .; Samuel Smith of Northampton, Mass .; Ebenezer Smith of Suffield, Conn .; Nathaniel Smith of Suffield, Conn .; Na- thaniel Smith of Pawlet, Vt .; Harvey D. Smith of Gouverneur, N. Y. ; Hon. James M. Smith, the subject of this sketch. On his mother's side he descends from John Murdock, once a rich merchant of Limerick, Ireland, but who being a staunch Jacobite
PERSONAL REFERENCES.
was impoverished by the Civil war of 1688-90. His son Peter fled to this country in 1696, and settled at East Hampton, Long Island. His son, Major John Murdock, of Saybrock, Conn., was one of the leading men of Connecticut. His son, Rev. James Murdock, was the maternal grandfather of Judge Smith. Mr. Smith also is a descendant from the famous Douglas family of Scotland, through his paternal grandmother, Sarah Douglas, who was sprung from the Loch Leven Douglases. And thus there came together, in the subject of this sketch, the clergyman and the merchant; a good commingling of morals, religion, letters, finance, judgment and affairs, exceedingly well exemplified in the life and character of James M. Smith. Mr. Smith's father was a merchant and held a prominent position in business and official life in his town, which he represented several times in the Vermont' Legisla- ture. In 1824 he moved to Gouverneur, St. Lawrence county, N. Y., where he passed the remainder of his life and died in 1864, full of years and honored, respected and lamented by a large community over which he had exerted an active influence for good, and in which he had filled the offices of supervisor, justice of the peace, surro- gate, and special county judge. Mr. Smith's education began in the village school and was continued at the Gouverneur Academy, and having graduated from that institution he began the study of law in the office of Bishop & Thompson, at Gran- ville, in Washington county. In 1835 he went to Albany and entered the office of Hon. Edward Livingston, then the district attorney of that county, and he remained there as managing clerk for two years. In November, 1837, he was admitted to the bar as an attorney in the Supreme Court and solicitor in chancery. It was in Feb- ruary, 1888, that Mr. Smith, a young and enterprising lawyer with his own way to make in the world, moved to Buffalo, then a city of very small proportions, and strug- gling to recover from the great financial disasters of 1836, which, bad enough every where, had fallen with crushing force on the infant city. He formed a partnership with Henry W. Rogers and John J. Leonard, but this was speedily dissolved with the retirement of Mr Rogers, and Leonard & Smith continued the business a year or so longer, when Mr. Leonard removed to Detroit and Mr. Smith became associated with Mr. James Smith, esq., and so continued till 1840, when the firm became dis- solved. Mr. Smith again went into partnership with Henry W. Rogers, who had been for some years the district attorney of Erie county, and so continued for a num- ber of years after. This firm became noted and prosperous, and conducted a very large law business, and one which gave scope to Mr. Smith's abilities and talents and brought him prominently before the business men of the growing city, who soon learned to appreciate his sound legal attainments and his careful, shrewd advice, not only in matters of law but in matters of business and finance. This partnership continued till 1848, when, Mr. Rogers having become collector of customs for the port of Buffalo, the firm was dissolved and Mr. Smith associated himself with the late Solomon G. Haven, who had been till that time a partner of Millard Fillmore. The firm of Haven & Smith was a successful one and had a large and lucrative practice, and Mr. Smith made himself still more acceptable to the solid financiers of Buffalo, and was recognized as a man peculiarly adapted to banking and business; and finally became so necessary to certain men of capital that in 1856 he was persuaded to aban- don the law and to take charge of White's Bank as its cashier, and a year later, when the Clinton Bank was started by some of the ablest and soundest men in Buffalo and New York, he became its cashier. The financial disasters of that well remembered
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
season did not wreck the Clinton Bank, as they did many others, but made serious inroads upon its capital, which, however, in the four years following, were entirely made good. Then the war broke out, and financiers were uncertain and money was scarce, and the men who had faced the panic of 1857 feared for the future, and it was decided to wind up the Clinton Bank and pay both depositors and stockholders in full; and this was done, and in 1861 Mr. Smith was again at liberty. The Hon. John Ganson, who then occupied a very deservedly high position at the bar of New York, and had perhaps the largest practice in Buffalo, sought Mr. Smith as his as- sociate, and on January 1, 1862, the firm of Ganson & Smith was formed, a firm which at once attained, and during its existence held a wide reputation in State and national courts. No lawyers in Buffalo probably ever did a larger or more profitable business, or had a greater success in the management of an exceedingly extended practice. Their advice was sought by individuals and corporations, and the calen- dars of all the courts were filled with their cases, while matters of vast importance were conducted to favorable and judicious settlement without the intervention of the courts. In all matters of contract, of trusts, of real estate and of wills, Mr. Smith was and is pre-eminently an authority, and to this day his guiding hand is seen in the disposition of numerous large estates, which have been from time to time dis- tributed to generous testators. In 1873 Hon. Isaac A. Verplanck, one of the judges of the Superior Court of Buffalo, died, and Mr. Smith was appointed by the governor and Senate to fill the vacancy, and in 1874 he was elected his own successor for the term of fourteen years. Judge Smith ascended the bench with the hearty approval of all classes of citizens-even his political opponents congratulating themselves that a man so pre-eminently qualified for judicial position should have been made the nominee of his party and the choice of the people. He brought to his position a vigorous mind, clear perceptions, with a happy faculty of expressing his ideas in terse, strong language, calculated to instruct jurors in their duties and to lead them to a clear understanding of the real points in the case before them, and his firm, strong manner in his charges could not fail to give evidence of his own views as to the justice of the case in hand, while his fairness left everything to the jury which of right belonged to them to pass upon. His large experience and great industry made him an exceedingly strong member of the court which had in the city of Buffalo a jurisdiction equal to the Supreme Court of the State, and the number of cases which he tried and the opinions he wrote show what labor an industrious judge, with health and strength of mind and body, can accomplish. On the 1st of January, 1887, Judge Smith, having reached the constitutional limit of years, was retired from the bench which he had adorned and occupied, to the great satisfaction of the bar and litigants, and in testimony of the respect and love they bore him, the lawyersof Buf- falo invited him to a complimentary banquet, and distinguished men then took oc- casion to express their appreciation of the patience, the conscientiousness and courage with which he had presided over the court of which he had lately been chief judge. Though greatly engrossed with the cares of his profession and with the unusual num- ber of private trusts, Judge Smith always found time or made time to give attention to public matters of interest and value to his fellow citizens. He was, until he went upon the bench, chairman of the commissioners who built the City and County Hall, which stands a monument of honest work and money well and faithfully expended, an achievement which is unfortunately too rare in our own time and country. He
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