William Redwood Smith

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Kansas Supreme Court Justice William Redwood Smith in 1905

William Redwood Smith (1851 – October 18, 1935) was an Associate Justice of the Kansas Supreme Court from January 9, 1899 to July 1, 1905.

Early life, education, and career[]

Born in Illinois, Smith came to Kansas with his parents in 1858 and settled on a farm in Jefferson County. Two years later the family moved to Atchison, Kansas.[1] Smith graduated from Kenyon College in Ohio, in 1872, and from the University of Michigan Law School in 1874. He then opened a law office at Atchison, and built up a lucrative practice,[1] also serving for a time as the county attorney.[2] In 1892 he moved to Kansas City, Kansas, and with two other prominent lawyers, also formerly of Atchison, opened the law office of Mills, Wells & Smith. When Wells retired, it became Mills, Smith & Hobbs, until Smith retired from practice in 1898 to take a position on the state supreme court.

Judicial service and later life[]

Smith was nominated for a seat on the Kansas Supreme Court by the Kansas Republican Party, at the Hutchinson convention of 1898, without any opposition to speak of. He won the general elected by a large majority,[1] and in 1904 was re-elected to another term,[1] "by the biggest vote ever given a state officer in Kansas".[3] He resigned from the court in 1905 to become the general counsel for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.[3][2] Governor Edward W. Hoch replaced Smith on the court with Silas Wright Porter, reasoning that because Smith was from Wyandotte County, his successor should be appointed from that county.[3]

Smith remained in that position with the railway company until his retirement in 1933, necessitated by declining health.[2]

Personal life and death[]

Smith was a lover of cats, owning so many that at one point a neighbor persuaded the Topeka City Council to enact a limit on the number of cats allowed in one household. Smith fought the ordinance, which was eventually invalidated by the state supreme court.[2]

Smith died in his home in Topeka, Kansas, at the age of 84.[2]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e "William Redwood Smith", The Iola Register (October 22, 1935), p. 4.
  2. ^ a b c "W. R. Smith Is Out", The Topeka State Journal (June 30, 1905), p. 1.

Attribution[]

Text on this page was adapted from The Medico-legal Journal, Vol. 18 (1900), a work in the public domain.

Political offices
Preceded by Justice of the Kansas Supreme Court
1899–1905 		Succeeded by
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