Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/597

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SMITH
SMITH

cargo of coolies, was wrecked nlf the coast of Japan, and. under Mr. Smith's advice, the 230 wrecked Chinamen were detained by the Japanese t;iivrrninent. The case was submitted to thr arbi- tration of the emperor of Russia, and under his decision, Mr. Smith representing the Japanese government, lh<- coolies were sent back to China, with the result of breaking up the trade. Mr. Smith published a "Manual of Political Economy" (New York, 1853), in refutation of the theories of Ricardo and Malthus. It is "an attempt to con- struct a skeleton of political economy on the basis of purely physical laws, and thus to obtain for its conclusions that absolute certainty that belongs to the positive sciences." In this regard the work is wholly original, and has largely affected the work of later economists. It has been translated into French. Mr. Smith contributed a word to the English language in suggesting, through the Al- bany " Kvening .Journal," the use of "telegram" in p'lace of cumbrous phrases, such as " telegraphic message " and " telegraphic despatch." He re- turnee? from Japan in 1876.


SMITH, Erminnie Adelle, scientist, b. in M.-uvellus, X. Y., 26 April, 1836 ; d. in Jersey City, N. J., 9 June, 1886. Her maiden name was Platt. She was educated at Mrs. Willard's seminary in Troy. N. Y., and in 1855 married Simeon H. Smith, of Jersey City, X. J. She early devoted herself to geology, and made one of the largest private col- lections in the country. She spent four years in Europe with her sons," studying science and lan- guage, during which period she was graduated at the School of mines, Freiberg, Saxony, and after her return gave frequent courses of lectures. She organized and became president of the JEsthetic society of Jersey City, whose monthly receptions from '1879 to 1886 were widely known. In 1878 she undertook ethnological work under the au- spices of the Smithsonian institution, and ob- tained and classified over 15,000 words of the Iro- quois dialects. To facilitate her work in this direction, she spent two summers with the remnant of the Tuscaroras in Canada. She published nu- merous papers on scientific subjects, and was a member of the Historical society of New York, of the London scientific society, and the first lady fellow of the New York academy of sciences. At the meeting of the American association for the advancement of science in 1885 she was secretary ot the section of geology and geography. Her Iroquois-English dictionary was in course of print- ing at the time of her death. A volume of essays and poems by the ^Esthetic society, written and delivered under her direction, was issued in 1883. In 1888 a geological prize was founded at Vassar college in her honor.


SMITH, Ethan, clergyman, b. in Belchertown, Mass., 19 Dec., 1762 ; d. in Ponipey, N. Y.,29 Aug., 1849. He was apprenticed to the leather trade in his boyhood, was a private in the Continental army in 1780-'!, was graduated at Dartmouth in 1790, and the same year licensed to preach. From 1791 till 1832 he was pastor of Congregational churches in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont, and he served as city missionary in Bos- ton from the latter date until his death. He was a founder of the New Hampshire missionary society, its secretary for sixteen years, and the author of numerous sermons: "Dissertation on the Prophe- cies " (Concord, N. H., 1809) ; " Key to the Figura- tive Language of the Prophecies " (1814) ; " A View of the Trinity" (1824); "A View of tin- He- brews," designed to prove that the aborigines of America are descended from the twelve tribes of Israel (Poultney. Vt., 1825) ; " A Key to the Reve- lation " (New York, 1833) ; and a " Prophetic Cate- hism" (1S39).


SMITH. Eugene Allen, geologist, b. in Ala- bama, 27 Oct., 1841. He was graduated at the University of Alabama in 1862, where he was as- sistant in mathematics and Latin in 1863-'5, and then spent three years at the universities of Berlin, Gottingen. and Heidelberg, receiving in 1868 the degree of Ph. D. from the last-named institution. In 1868 he became assistant state geologist of Mis- sissippi, and he held that office until 1871, and in 1873 he was made state geologist of Alabama, which appointment he has since filled. Dr. Smith was called to the chair of mineralogy and geology in the University of Alabama in 1871, and in 1874 the title of his chair was changed to that of chemistry, geol- ogy, and natural history, which he still fills. He was honorary commissioner to the World's fair in Paris in 1878. and during 1880-'2 was special census agent engaged in the preparation of reports on cot- ton-production in Alabama and Florida. In 1885-'6 he was commissioner for selecting lands that had been given to the University of Alabama. Dr. Smith is a member of various scientific societies, has been secretary of the section on geology and geography of the American association for the advancement of science, and is a member of the American committee of the International geologi- cal congress, and its reporter on the marine tertiary in 1886-'8. Besides geological memoirs, his publi- cations include annual " Geological Reports of the Alabama State Survey " (Montgomery, 1874 et seq. also special reports to the U. S. geological survey, the U. S. entomological commission, and the U. S. census bureau.


SMITH, Ezekiel Ezra, educator, b. in Duplin county, N. C., 23 May, 1852. He is of African descent and was born a slave, but enjoyed early educational advantages, studied in the public schools, and became a teacher in 1870. In 1873-'4 he was one of the Jubilee singers that raised $20,- 000 for Shaw university, at which he was gradu- ated in 1878, and in the next year he was licensed to preach. He was principal of the graded school at Goldsborough, N. C., from 1879 till 1883, when he became principal of the State colored normal school at Fayetteville, N. C. He was secretary of the State colored Baptist convention in 1876-'83, commissioned major of the 4th battalion of the North Carolina guards in 1880, and in 1888 was appointed U. S. minister and consul-general to Liberia, Africa. He was a founder of the North Carolina industrial association, and established and edited the " Carolina Enterprise."


SMITH, Francis, British soldier, b. in Eng- land about 1720 ; d. there, 17 Nov., 1791. He be- came captain of the 10th foot in 1747, major in 1758, lieutenant-colonel in 1762, colonel and aide- de-camp to the king in 1775, and the same year commanded the troops that were sent to destroy the American stores at Concord, Mass. He was wounded in the fight at Lexington, became briga- dier-general in 1776, and commanded a brigade in the battles on Long Island in August of that year, and at Quaker Hill in 1778. He was promoted to the grade of major-general in 1779, and lieu- tenant-general in 1787.


SMITH, Francis Henney, soldier, b. in Norfolk, Va., 18 Oct., 1812 ; d. in Lexington, Va.. 21 March, 1890. He was graduated at the U. S. military academy in 1833, and was assistant professor there; also professor of mathematics at Hampden Sidney in 1837-'9, and, on the organization of the Virginia military institute in the latter year, became its su-