Charles Henry Smith

As printed in 1899

Smith, Charles Henry, surveyor of the port of St. Louis, was born in Cincinnati,

Ohio, November 13. 1855, son of Henry and Anna ( Rinckhoff) Smith, the first named a native of Manchester, England, and the last 11 uned of Hamburg, Germany. His family removed to Xew Orleans during his early childhood, and he was educated in the public ami private schools of that city. Quitting school at an early age. he began work as a butcher's boy, and a little later found employment as a cash boy in the commercial establishment of D. H. Holmes & Co., of New Orleans. At the end of a year he transferred his services to the mercantile house of Wallace & 1 o., then the largest of the wholesale dry.oils houses of Xew Orleans, becoming a clerk in the credit department of that establishment. In [871 he severed his connection with Wallace X Co., and for five years thereafter was connected with a mercantile house at Homer, in Claiborn Parish, Louisiana. He came from there to St. Louis in 1876, and after his arrival here he studied telegraphy, and entered the employ of the Western Union Telegraph Company. After serving that corporation two years he was appointed manager of the Western city office of the American District Telegraph Company, retaining that position until the year 1880. He resigned the managership of the District Telegraph to accept a position with Honorable R. C Kerens, and was in his employ up to the time of his appointment to the office he now holds. An enthusiastic Republican, he 'began taking an active interest in city, State and national politics some years since, and has long been recognized as a leader of the young and progressive element of his party in Missouri. He was appointed to the survivorship of the port May 4, 1897, by President McKinley, was promptly continued by the United States Senate, and entered upon the discharge of his official duties May 15, 1897. He is an Episcopalian churchman, and affiliates with fraternal organizations as a member of the Legion of Honor and the Royal Arcanum. He is also a member of the Mercantile (dub and the Elks' Club, of St. Lntis,.and secretary and treasurer of a number of corporations. December 14. 1881, he married Miss Sophia Hagemann, of St. Louis. Their children are Claude Henry. Richard Lester, and Gladys Amelia Smith.

Smith, Elsworth Fayssoux, physician, was born in St. Louis April 29, 1825, son if John B. and Louisa (McDougal) Smith.

His father, John Brady Smith, was an influential and much respected merchant of St. Louis, who enjoyed the distinction of having been first president of the old State Bank of Missouri, and who was also first collector of the port of St. Louis, and State and county collector in the early history of the State. The mother of Dr. Smith was a daughter of Captain Alexander Me Do u gal, of New York City, and a descendant of General Alexander Mc- Dougal, of Revolutionary fame, and a descendant also of Oliver Ellsworth, the renowned jurist, author of the hill creating the United States judiciary, and Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 796 to 1799, when he resigned. Reared in St. Louis, Dr. Smith received his academic education at St. Charles College and St. Louis University, and was graduated from the classical department of the last named institution in the class of 1845. He then began the study of medicine, and in 1848 received his degree of doctor of medicine from St. Louis Medical College, then medical department of St. Louis University. Soon 'after his graduation from the medical college he entered 'the City Hospital of St. Louis as one of 'the first two interest at that institution, Dr. John T. Hodgen being the other. From 1852 to 1854 he continued his medical and scientific studies in Paris, France, and during the years 1864-5 he again spent some time abroad, adding to his professional attainments through his intercourse with the most renowned physicians of that day and the superior clinical advantages afforded by the French hospitals. Except when pursuing his studies and investigations abroad, his entire professional life was spent in St. Louis, and as a practitioner he was eminently successful, occupying for many years a place among the leading physicians of the city. Early in his career he 'became identified with the educational work of his profession, being made demon state of anatomy at the St. Louis Medical College in 185 1. He was appointed to the chair of physiology and medical jurisprudence in the same institution in 1868, and two years later was made professor of clinical medicine and pathological anatomy. This chair he continued to occupy until 1885, when he tendered his resignation of the professorship. In recognition, however, of the valuable services Which he had rendered to the institution and to the general public in that connection, his alma water made him emeritus professor of clinical medicine and pathological anatomy after his resignation of the active duties of the position Which he had filled for fifteen years, and this honorary position he continued to hold until his death. As an educator he was no less distinguished than as physician, and was known to the profession as an able teacher, having the happy faculty of entertaining and instructing at the same time those who came under his preceptonshlp. The degree of doctor of laws was conferred upon him in recognition of his scholarly attainments and his ability as a medical educator. As a consulting physician, he was widely known throughout the country adjacent to St. Louis, and he enjoyed to the fullest extent the confidence both of his profession and of the general public. While visiting his daughter, Mrs. Crosby, in 1896, he accidentally sustained severe burns, which occasioned his death, at Fort Missoula, Montana, August 19th of that year. His professional life had been one of intense activity, and he had filled many important positions in St. Louis, and rendered valuable services to his native city alt various times. During the Civil War he was acting assistant surgeon of the United States Army, having charge of the military small-pox hospital in this city, and serving also as surgeon to Eliot General Hospital. From 1866 to. 1869 he was surgeon to the United States Marine Hospital in St. Louis. His high courage in the face of great danger and his chivalrous devotion this calling was made manifest during epidemics of cholera and small-pox, which prevailed in St. Louis while he was in the active practice of his profession, and on more than one occasion his heroic services called forth the warmest praise from his fellow-citizens, many of whom still hold him in grateful remembrance. He was first health officer of St. Louis, serving from 1857 to 1863, and was also a member of the first regular board of health created by act of the Legislature, serving as third president of that board. His nature was philanthropic, and for many years he gave his professional services free to the public and charitable institution's of the city in the capacity of consulting physician. His religious affiliations were with the Episcopal Church until shortly before his death, when he embraced the Roman Catholic faith. In 1860 he married Miss Isabelle Chenie, daughter of Antoine Leon and Julia (De Mun) Chenie, and his wife and five children are the surviving members of his family. The children arc Dr. Elswortfh Smith, Jr., of St. Louis;. I )c Mini Smith and J. Sheppard Smith, business men of this on; Julia P. Smith, now the wife of Dr. William D. Crosby, a surgeon in the United States Army; and Emilie De Mun Smith. Through her father Mrs. Smith, the widow of Dr. Ellsworth F. Smith, is a descendant of the founder of St. Louis, and is related also to the Ohenie family of Canada, representatives of which achieved distinction in the ( canadian Rebellion of 1837.

Smith, Huntington, was born March 15, 1N47, in Louisville. Kentucky. His father was Honorable Hamilton Smith, who graduated from Dartmouth College in his young manhood, studied law under William Wirt, and.afterward practiced his profession for main years in Louisville, where he was also prominent as a financier and man of affairs. The elder Smith was for twenty-five years president of the American Cannel Coal Company, which was one of the pioneer coal-mining enterprises of Kentucky. He was also a conspicuous figure in politics during a portion of his life; served as 'a member of the Indiana Legislature while residing in that State: was a delegate to the National Democratic Convention held in Chicago in [864, and also attended as a delegate the Democratic Xational Convention held in Xew York in 1868, where he was recognized as the confidential friend and spokesman of Salmon P. Chase, who was regarded by many leading Democrats as an available candidate for the presidency at that time. The family to which Mr. Smith belongs was planted in New England early in the colonial era, his immigrant ancestor, George Smith, having been recorder of die Dover Plantation— which afterward became Xew Hampshire from [640 to [653. 1 >ne of the sons of this ancestor was joseph Smith, who was a large landowner in Xew Hampshire, and the line of descent to Huntington Smith is through John Smith, selectman and town surveyor; Benjamin Smith, who was a selectman and held other offices in New Hampshire; Lieutenant John Smith, selectman; Honorable Valentine Smith, town surveyor, town clerk, member of the Legislature Of Xew Hampshire, and chief justice of the Court of Sessions < if Strafford (omit v. and Honorable Hamilton Smith, of whose career dental mention has already been made.

The mother of Huntington Smith was Louise Rudd before her marriage, and she was a daughter of Dr. Christopher Rudd, of Kentucky, a descendant of one of the old Catholic families which came to America with Lord I baltimore. Closely allied with the Rudd family also, by marriage and otherwise, were the ( arrolls, of Maryland, and the Palmers, an old Huguenot family of South Carolina. Huntington Smith entered the Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, February 26, 1863, and was graduated from that institution. He was commissioned an ensign in the United States Navy July 22, 1869, and master July 12, 1870. He made his first visit to St. Louis in 1872, while still an officer in the navy, and May 15, 1873, resigned, with the intention of making this city his home. In 1873 'le entered upon a business career as a partner in the real estate firm of Andrew McKinley & Co., and in 1876 engaged on his own account in the real estate business, which he has since conducted, becoming well known as a man of affairs. While in the United States Navy, he served first in the European Squadron, next with the Asiatic Squadron, and afterward on the United States ship "Michigan" in the Great Lakes, having had the experience of circumnavigating the globe before he was twenty-three years of age. Some years after his coming to St. Louis he began taking an active interest in local military affairs, and was an officer of the Police Reserve Regiment from 1877 to 1882. At the beginning of the year 1882 he wras commissioned a captain in the National Guard of Missouri by Governor T. T. Crittenden, but resigned his captaincy before the close of the year. He has been prominent in the club circles of St Louis, and has been treasurer of the University Club since January, 1881. November 15. [871, he married, in Terre Haute, Indiana, Miss Laura Griswold, daughter of Honorable William D. Griswold, of whom extended mention is made elsewhere in these vi ilumes. Their children are Griswold. Hamilton and Ralph Smith, and Huntington Smith, Jr.

As printed in Encyclopedia of the history of St. Louis, a compendium of history and biography (v. 4) (1899). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.