The Portland daily press., 1880-05-13
Obituary.


Died at Brooklyn, N. Y, May LIST, 1880, ia
cob S. Smith, formerly of Gorham, Me-, aged
"a years and days.
Many of the old residents of Portland and
its vicinity will remember the subject of this
notice. Mr.. Smith was born on the 2Sth of
April, 1856, at Durham, N HI. His father,
Eben Smith, was lawyer, and during his
Students course, was employed in a confden-
tial capacity in the Office Of Mr.. Madison in
Philadelphia, and frequently had occasion to
visit the camp of Washington with dispatches
where he was kindly received. The mother of
Mr.. Smith was Miss Mehitable, daughter of
principal merchant east of Boston, having a
large capital Invested in shipping interest, and
residing at Portsmouth, N. lei.
He entered Phillips Exeter Academy in
1799 and Harvard College in 1901. The then
President Willard, having married his moth
er's sister, watched carefully over his useful
days, he graduated in fair standing in 1906,
at the age of 10. He read law with his father,
and was admitted to the STAFFORD bar in 1SOS
In the sautumn of that year he removed to
Gorham, Me-, during the fatal embargo that
Frustrated all the merchants engaged in navi-
cation. Through the influence of the Hon.
Stephen Longfellow, he was at once admitted
to the Cumberland bar, without the usual pro-
baton required of young attorneys from anoth-
er state. The sudden and premature death of
Mr.. Little, the prominent lawyer of Gorham,
whom Mr.. Smith had been assisting during
his short illness, at once placed considerable
business in his hands, and he entered on
more extensive practice than he would have
attained under ordinary circumstances. He
was on intimate terms of friendship with the
prominent members of the bar, then noted for
its able lawyers, such as Longfellow, Mellen,
Whitman, Orr, Emery, Greenleaf Fessenden,
and a host of others, brilliant lights of the
profession However, the practice of law was
never congenial to his taste, and in 1888 he re-
tired from his profession, and removed to his
farm in the vicinity to pursue the even tenor
of his way in peace, surrounded by pleasant
friends and neighbors, and his hospitable
home was open with warm welcome to his
friends far and near.
In 1866 finding himself again alone in the
world, and the difficulty of obtaining suitable
help, he removed to Brooklyn, N. Y, to pass
the remainder of his days with his son,
Lothrop Lewis Smith, since deceased, and has
continued to reside with shis daughter-in-law,
where he was kindly cared for, and tenderly
nursed in his declining years.
Lis memory OF past events was remarkably
tenacious, and he could until quite recently
readily recall nearly all the people with whom
he came in contact in his profession or friend
ship during his long and happy life.
He was a consistent Christian, having been
a member of the Congregational church of
Gorham for fifty years, nerved by that old
fashioned stern integrity, never swerving from
the direct path to the right Or the left.
In 1918 Mr.. Smith married Mary, daughter
of Hon. Lothrop Lewis, and granddaughter
of Judge Stephen Longfellow of Gorham,
who died in 1920, leaving two sons, Lothrop
Lewis and Samuel Longfellow, both now de-
ceased; Samuel unmarried, Lothrop leaving
four sons, since grown to manhood In 1921,
he married Tabitha Stephenson. with whom
he lived happily till her death in 1857 In
1872 Mr.. Smith commanded the Gorham Light
Infantry, but as no enemy approached the
troops were soon disbanded, and the usual
rapid march of our national reward and JUS
tice, two years ago. passed pension law
granting ssmall pittance to the remaining
few, L presume all the politicians could spare.
Thus has passed away another of the few re-
naming links, that connected us with the close
of the last and beginning of the present GEN.
fury. How few remain to recall the light of
days long past. May their example not be lost,
and the memory of their pure walks in life
abide with us still. His remains were
taken to Gorham, and inferred in the family
plot. FS