The Monticellonian., 1902-07-11

should end today"
 The above note, found on a table In his room at Little Rock
 hotel. explained the manner of death
 of Col J. N. Smithee. one of the best known newspaper writers in the southwest On the bed lay the body of Col. Smithee, in his right hand clasped a 38-calibre revolver, with one
 chamber empty, the leaden missile
 having went straight through his
 temple, entering the right side. Col.
 Smithee was last seen alive on the af-
 ternoon of the 4th, and his body was
 not discovered until about twenty
 hours after death and his many friends were dumbfounded at the news
 About two months ago Col. Smithee,
 while in New York city, fell on slip
 pery pavement and sustained frae- ture of the right ankle, which caused him intense suffering He returned
 to Little Rock apparently on the road to recovery, when he was stricken with fever few weeks spent at Hot Springs greatly benefited him, but he
 was still a sufferer from the accident that befell him in New York. His
 was such a character that would not permit of appeals to friends for aid. under the circumstances, and he deliberately planned to take his own life Col. Smithee was native or 1 Arkansas. and numbered among his personal friends her most prominent citizens, and to all of them 1t would have been a pleasure to have rendered him assistance had they but known of his circumstances.
 A longtime associate of the de-
 ceased, referring to his life. says:
 The tragic death of Col. J. N. Smithee has unneryed all his friends.
 Every person who knew him-and | thousands knew him-should be his 1 friend, for he never did aught, in his
 long career in which he held position
 that gave him opportunity, to exercise | influence against the individual. He l had an affection for Arkansas that
 know no bounds. If all the money that he had contributed to relieve the pressing wants of the mendicant,' the | tramp and cripple were available 1t
 would pay for the most costly monu,
 ment that marks the resting place of
 any dead citizen of Arkansas. The
 worst blow that Smithee ever struck
 his friends was administered when he
 touched the trigger of the weapon
 which sent the leaden missile through | his manly brain. He died like a
 philosopher it is true. but he inflicted
 more sorrow in this world by that
 single act than most men, even the
 most aggressive, do in lifetime"
 | Biographical.
 l Col. James Newton Smithee born iI | sharp county. Arkansas, January II, 1S42. "i | Scotch-Iri percentage. and his paturnal grand | father was soldier in the revolutionary war | His father. native of Tennessee. was farm | CT by occupation and his mother was a native | of Illinois and daughter of Rev. John Wood | rum, of Virginia prominent Baptist minister | The sons education consisted Of three months | attendance ut country school. and until his
 twelfth year he worked his fathers farm
 He then apprentieed to the publisher of | country new spaper. the Des Are Citizen anC | for four years worked for his board and clothes | learning the trade of printer and compositor | When about IS years of age he purchased
 half interest in the Prairie County Democrat l of Brownsville, and conducted 1t in support oi | Breckinridge and Lane in the presidential cam | pagn of 1S61. On the secession of south Car | olina he sold his interest in the paper and ar l dently espOused the southern cause. In Feb | ruary, 1851, he aided in the seizure of tn, | United states arsenal Ut Little Rock. and il | March with the expedition which captures | Fort Smith. When Arkansas seeded he wa,
 mustered into the Confederate service , | and in May, 1S65 he surrendered being at tha
 time first lieutenant and adjutnnt in Blocker | Trans Mississippi battalion of artillery. II,
 participated in all the leading battles of tha | department and was wounded at Helena, Jul,
 his trade of typesetting in Memphis, but Il | November. 1866, he returned to Little Reel
 and became the foreman in the office of tn, | Daily Arkansas Gazette During the eigh | succeeding years he connected with tn,
 paper, becoming city editor managing editor
 and finally proprietor He took nn active par | in the celebrated Brooks Baxter war. in Apri
 and May lsi4, serving on the stan ot ,'os | upon the overthrow ot the Brooks faction ant Ipointcd commissioner nf state lands He wa, | twice reelected the post and accomplishe, many notable reforms during his tenure Hay l the Arkansas Democrat which be ably con | ducted for several months. and then, dsposinl of it, embarked in the real estate business. He | committee from fSIS isS2. and wss an un
 successful candidate for the democratic ncmina l tiOn for governor in 1880. During President | clevelands first term Col Smithee served as | special land agent of the general land office | III toicrduo and New Mexico, with headquar ters at Sante fe. but fin 1890 he removed tc Denver, Col, and accepted an editorial posi- tioh on the Rocky Mountain News He re- | turned to Little Rock in May. lSl6, and becom. | ing owner of majority of its stock was elect ed president of the Gazette Publishing Com l pnny and editor of the Gazette but retired from | that position in 1s9s. For twenty years prior to 1883 he was prominent in the history of Arkansas. and occupied many positions of honor and responsibility. He the first pres | ident of the Arkansas Press Associa tion sery. | ing three terms as such He wrote history of the Arkansas press and several widely dis. tributed pamplets the resources of the state. He was for ten years the agent of the | Associated Press at Little Rock, being the first person appointed to the position. Colonel | E., daughter of Addison J. II. Cowgirl of Lit. | tie Rock. and great granddaughter of Benjamin Harrison, signtr of the declaration of inde- pendence. Eight Children hnru In ham