caption death_date death_place birth_date spouse image article_title name occupation
smith circa 1890 august 16 , 1915 seattle , washington , united states 1830 mary -lrb- phelan -rrb- smith henry a. smith 1890.jpg henry a. smith
 henry a. smith physician
henry a. smith

dr. henry a. smith -lrb- 1830 -- august 16 , 1915 -rrb- was a physician , poet , legislator and early settler of seattle , best known today for his flowery translation of a speech by chief seattle -lrb- or sealth -rrb- that is still in print .
in 1852 , dr. smith traveled from wooster , ohio to portland , oregon territory in a wagon train with his mother -lrb- abigail teaff smith , b. 1792 -rrb- and sister .
in 1853 , he settled at the north end of elliott bay , at what came to be known as `` smith 's cove '' -lrb- later smith cove -rrb- , deciding that it was a likely spot for docks and that the flat area was a terminus for the perennially rumored transcontinental railroad .
his mother staked the next claim north .
smith built a cabin and , the next year , an infirmary at what is today grand boulevard -lrb- dravus street -rrb- and 15th avenue w. seattle was at the time hilly and heavily forested ; the only route to the main settlement was by small boat or canoe until smith cut a trail through the woods .
he is said to have known the local indians well and had some command of local language .
at the time of the battle of seattle -lrb- 1856 -rrb- , the smith cove settlers fled for the safety of seattle 's block house .
their homes was burned and stock taken , except , according to some accounts , for dr. smith 's cabin , apparently a result of his friendship with the locals .
smith joined the territorial legislature as a republican , and lobbied for a railroad .
he farmed , invested in a general store , logging camps , and fruit orchards , and developed in land as far north as smith island , at the mouth of the snohomish river .
he made house calls throughout most of the puget sound area , often by canoe , and was appointed official physician for the tulalip indian reservation .
in 1862 , smith married mary phelan ; they had seven children .
she died in 1880 .
in 1887 , with the arrival of the seattle , lake shore and eastern railway company , smith sold most of his land , including about near queen anne hill , and invested in buildings such as the london hotel at the foot of pike street , and the smith block -lrb- the 1900 block of 1st avenue ; not to be confused with seattle 's smith tower -rrb- .
he also served as the first superintendent of king county public schools .
in the 1890s , smith 's railroad dreams bore fruit when the great northern railway built a depot at smith 's cove .
seattle 's pier 91 and related facilities now cover smith 's cove .
wealth from this and other ventures made smith at one time king county 's largest taxpayer .
he died in 1915 , in the company of his five surviving daughters .
