SMITH. 260 SMITH. and discovery among the Indians, and dis- tinguished hiinself by the ability with which he conducted them. After the first trip of discov- ery he was, in June, 1G07, admitted to the Coun- cil. It was on one of these occasions, in De- cember, 1607, that he was captured by the Indian chief Powhatan (q.v.). The story which he relates of the young Indian maiden Poca- hontas, the daughter of Powhatan, who, when he was condemned to death by the savage chief- tain, saved his life by her interposition, is now discredited by perhaps a large majority of care- ful historians. (See Pocahontas.) After a period of turbulence and disaster. Smith's in- fluence became paramount in Jamestown. Dur- ing another of his journeys, in the summer of 1608, he explored Chesapeake Bay as far as the Patapsco, and made a map of the bay and the ad- joining country. He w'as elected president of the Council iii September, 1608, and several times seems to have saved the colony from ruin by his decision, sagacity, and force of char- acter. In his dealings with the Indians he showed himself an astute and unscrupulous poli- tician, and a valiant soldier, who became at once an adept in all the peculiarities of Indian war- fare. His services were not sufficiently appre- ciated, and upon the grant of a new charter and the reorganization of the government, he re- turned to England at the close of 1609, broken in health and poor in purse. He was sent out on various voyages of discovery, and in 1614 made a fairly complete exploration of the New England coast from the Penobscot to Cape Co(f. To the same end he twice sailed in 1615. the first time being driven back by bad weather and the second time being captured by the French. He was given the title of 'Admiral of New Eng- land,' and made ineffective efforts to secure means to enable him to plant a colony in New England. After this his attention was directed chiefly to literary pursuits. He died in London, and was buried in the choir of Saint Sepulchre's Church. His two really historical works are his True Relation, published in 1608 (the best edition be- ing that edited by Charles Deane, Boston. 1867), and his General Historie of Virginia, New Eng- land, and The >S'»m>»er Isles, published in 1624. Three other works of importance are his Maps of Virginia (1612). his Description of New Eng- land (1616), and his Neie Englatid's Trials (1620). The only comprehensive edition of Smith's Works is that bv E. Arber (Birming- ham. 1884; Westminster," 1895). Charles Dud- ley Warner has written a short study of Smith's L'ife and Writings (New York, 1881). SMITH. John (1618-52). One of the founders of the Cambridge Platonists. See Cambridge Platonists. SMITH, .John Laweence (1818-8.3). An American chemist. He was born in Louisville, Ky., and was educated at the University of Vir- ginia, the Medical College of South Carolina (M. D. 1840). in Germany, under Liebig. and in Paris, under Pelouze. In 1844 he began the practice of medicine in Charleston, and estab- lished the Medical and Surgical Journal of South Carolina . In 1846 he was appointed by the Turkish Government to report on the mineral resources of that country. For four years he continued in that work, discovering coal, chrome ore, and the famous emery deposits of Naxos. He returned to the United States, and in 1852 was made professor of chemistry in the Uni- versity of Virginia. In 1854 he resigned and settled in Louisville, Ky., where he was pro- fessor of chemistry in the medical department of the university. His specialty was mineralog- ical chemistry: his collection of meteorites was the finest in the United States, and on his death passed to Harvard. His published papers were more than 150 in number, and the more impor- tant of them were collected and published as Mineralogy and Chemistry, Original Researches ( 1873, enlarged with biographical sketches, 1884). The sum of .$8000 paid by Harvard for his meteorite collection was by Mrs. Smith transferred to the National Academy. SMITH, John Pte (1774-1851). An English Congregational scholar. He was born in Shef- field, and spent the early years of his life in the shop of his father, a bookseller. In his 22d year he entered an independent academy at Eoth- erham, became classical tutor in the Homerton Theological School (Congregational) 1800, divin- ity tutor 1806. and held the position till 1850. His principal works are: Scripture Testimony to the Messiah (1818-21: 4th ed. 1847) ; The Sac- rifice and Priesthood of Christ (1828; 3d ed. 1847) ; On the Principles of Interpretation as Applied to the Prophecies of Holy Scripture (1829); but especially Relation Between the Holy Scriptures and Some Parts of Geological Science (1839). Consult his Life by Medway (London, 1883). SMITH, Joseph, Jr. (1805-44). The founder of Mormonism. He was born in Sharon, Vt., December 23, 1805. Of illiterate and neuropathic ancestry and dissatisfied with the 'clash of creeds' in Palmyra, N. Y., whither his par- ents had removed in 1815, Smith at fourteen claimed to receive a series of visions concerning the founding of a new Church and the writing of a religious history of the aborigines of America. The 'translation' of this Book of Mormon began in 1827 ; the various 'witnesses' to the book formed the nucleus of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which was founded in 1830 and of which Smith was successively first elder, prophet, seer, and revelator. (For a de- scrijition of the origin of the Book of Mormon, see MoKMONS. ) In 1831 Smith moved with his followers to Kirtland, Ohio, where he absorbed the Church Joint Stock Corapan.v of Sidne.v Rigdon (q.v.), an ex-Campbellite minister. The prophet succeeded in neither his comnuuiity store-house nor the Kirtland Safety Societ.v Bank, and fled to Independence, Mo., where he founded the cit.v and temple of Zion. Charac- teristic alike of Smith's activity and his ambi- tion were his putting himself at the head of the first presidencv of the Church in 1834. his choice of his own adherents as the Twelve Apostles in 1835, his prosel.vting in the East in 1838, his assisting the persecuted saints to escape from Missouri in 1839, and finally his running for President of the United States in 1844. Driven from Missouri on the charge of fostering polyg- amy. Smith, as Mavor of Nauvoo. 111., and head of the Nauvoo Legion, was accused of attempting to found a military Church. He was indicted for perjury and adulterv and was murdered in Carthage jail on June 27, 1844. In spite of
