1895, and 1897, and at the special session of 1898, he was chosen president of the senate ; the state having no lieutenant-governor, he presided over the senate and over joint conventions of both houses.
SKERBETT, Joseph Salathiel, naval officer,
b. in Cliilicothe, Ohio, 18 Jan., 1833 ; d. in Wash-
ington, D. C, 1 Jan., 1897. lie was appointed
to the navy from Oliio on 13 Oct., 1848, seeing his
first service on the razee Independence in Medi-
terranean waters, and became lieutenant in 1855.
At the breaking out of the civil war he was on the
sloop •' Saratoga" off the coast of Africa, and, re-
turning to this country in the summer of 1862, he
was made lieutenant-commander on 16 July. For
a year he served on ordnance duty at the Wash-
ington navy-yard, and then became executive of
the " Shenandoah," but later in 1863 he took com-
mand of the gunboat " Aroostook," attached to
the Western Gulf squadron, taking part in the en-
gagement off Brazos river, Texas. In 1867 he was
promoted commander, in 1889 commodore, and in
1893 rear-admiral. Admiral Skerrett retired vol-
untarily, 8 July, 1894, while in command of the
Asiatic station. For a number of years he was in
charge of the naval home in Philadelphia.
SLATER, James Harvey, senator, b. in San-
gamon county. 111., 28 Dec, 1826. He received
a common-school education, and, having emigrated
to California in 1849, he settled in Oregon in 1850,
where he studied law, and was admitted to the
bar four years afterward. He served as clerk of
the district court for Benton county, 1853-'6 ; was
a member of the territorial assembly, 1857-'8, and
of the state assembly immediately after the ad-
mission of Oregon into the Union. Mr. Slater was
a presidential elector in 1868, a member of the42d
congress, and represented the state of Oregon in
the U. S. senate from 1879 until 1885.
SLICER, Thomas Roberts, clergyman, b. in
Washington, D. C, 16 April, 1847. 'lie was edu-
cated in Baltimore, studied theology, and was for
ten years in the Methodist ministry in Maryland,
Colorado, and New York state. He entered the
Unitarian church in 1881, and became pastor of
churches in Providence, R. I., and Buffalo, N. Y.
In the autumn of 1897 he accepted a call to the
Church of All Saints in New York city, for-
merly known as Dr. Osgood's church. He is an
able and forcible speaker, appearing on the political
platform in 1899, and the author of "The Great
Affirmatives of Religion" (Boston, 1898).
SMILEY, Albert Keith, educator, b. in Vas-
selborough, Me., 17 March, 1827. He was gradu-
ated from Haverford college in 1849, receiving
later the degree of A. M., and also from Brown
university. For twenty years Mr. Smiley was the
principal of a successful boarding-school in Provi-
dence, II. I. He then purchased, with his brother,
a large property in Ulster county, N. Y., and es-
tablished a unique hotel at Lake Mohonk in
which there is no wine, no cards, and no dancing
permitted, his twin-brother, Alfred, having a simi-
lar hotel, known as the Minnewaska. the two es-
tates comprising seven thousand acres. In 1879
Mr. Smiley was appointed by President Hayes to
the board of U. S. Indian commissioners, of which
he is still (1900) a member. For seventeen years the
Lake Mohonk annual Indian conference has been
hospitably entertained there, and the many mem-
bers of the arbitration conference at their five an-
nual meetings have also been his guests. Jlr. Smi-
ley 's winter residence is near Red Imnds, southern
California, where he has a large estate, and he re-
cently presented a handsome park and substantial
library building to Red Lands at a cost of $60,000.
SMITH, Edmund Mniiroe, educator, b. in
Brooklyn, N. Y., 8 Dec, 1854. He is a nephew of
Dr. Henry B.Smith, the theologian: was gradu-
ated from Amherst, and also from the law-school
of Columbia as LL. B. in 1877. He continued his
studies in Gottingen university, where he received
the degree of J. U. D. in 1890. Prof. Smith was
instructor in history at Columbia from 1880-'3;
adjunct professor of history, 1833-'90; and since
the latter year has been professor of Roman law
and comparative jurisprudence. He has also been
one of the editors of the " Political Science Quar-
terly" since 1886, and has contributed articles to
Lalor's "Cyclopicdia of Political Science," John-
son's " Universal Cyclopaedia," and IIar|ier's
" Classical Dictionary." He is the author of
"Bismarck and German Unity " (New York, 1898).
SMITH, Georgre Washington, soldier, b. in
Brooklyn, N. Y., 8 Jan., 1837 ; d. in Chicago, 16
Sept., 1898. He was educated at the Albany acad-
emy and was graduated at the law-school of that
city. He entered the Union army as captain of
Illinois infantry in 1862. being promoted succes-
sively as major, lieutenant-colonel, colonel, and
brigadier-general, before being honorably mus-
tered out in May, 1865. During the year 1866-'7
Gen. Smith was State treasurer of Illinois, was
president of the Union league club of Chicago, and
for fourteen years vice-president of the Chicago
historical society. He was also president of the
Chicago industrial school for girls and a member
of the Loyal legion. Gen. Smith married a grand-
daughter of Klias Kent Kane (5. c), who was twice
elected to the U. S. senate from Illinois.
SMITH, Holie, cabinet officer, b. in Newton,
N. C, 2 Sept., 1855, is a son of Dr. Ilildreth H.
Smith, a well-known educator, and Mary Brent
Hoke, from who.se family he takes his name. He
was educated by his father, and at the age of sev-
enteen moved to Georgia and taught school for a
vear, at the same time studying law. Removing
later to Atlanta, he entered upon the practice of
his profession, and became one of the leading anti-
railroad and anti-corporation lawyers of the State.
In 1887 he purchased the " Atlanta Journal," and
when, soon after, Cleveland's tariff message ap-
peared, Mr, Smith ably defended the president's
position. He employed men of talent to conduct
his paper, but controlled its policy and utterances,
and continued to practise law. Much of the credit
for Cleveland's victory in Georgia in November,
, was attributed to the " Atlanta Journal " and
the personal efforts of its proprietor, and in March,
, Mr. Smith was appointed secretary of the
interior in President Cleveland's cabinet.
SMITH, James, Jr., senator, b, in Newark,
N. J., 12 June. 1851. He was educated in the com-
mon schools, and early entered on a business career.
He is at present conducting thelargestmanufaetory
of enamelled and patent leather in the country.
His first office was that of member of the common
council of Newark, to which he was elected in a
Republican district by a larger majority than his
opponent received votes. He wsis nominated for
mayor, but declined, as he did also many other
offices tendered by his party in the state. He was
elected to the U. S. senate as a Democrat to succeed
Rufiis Blodgett. and took his seat 4 March. 1893.
Mr.Smith wasehairman of the committee on organ-
ization, conduct, and expenditure of the executive
ilepartiiu'ut, and a member of other committees.
SMITH, John Augustine. physician, b. in Westmoreland county, Va.. 29 Aug., 1782; d. in New York city, 9 Feb.. 1865. He was graduated at William and Mary in 1800, studied medicine.
