Woman of the Century/Jeanie Oliver Smith

SMITH, Mrs. Jeanie Oliver, poet and romancist, was born in Troy. N. Y. Her maiden name was Davidson. Her father was of Scottish extraction and was long well known in Troy as a philanthropist, but is now a resident of New York City. Her mother was a member of the Oliver family, conspicuous in southern Scotland. From both strains she inherits poetic and artistic tendencies. JEANIE OLIVER SMITH. When her mother died, the young girl went with an aunt to Scotland, and for five years she lived in Edinburgh, where she was educated thoroughly and liberally. After graduation she returned to the United States. At an early age she became the wife of Hon. Horace E. Smith, dean of the Albany Law School, and since her marriage she has lived in Johnstown, N. Y., and her home is known as a social and literary center. She has cared for her two young daughters and for the large family of her husband by a former marriage. Her time has been filled with literary, society and charitable work, and she is especially interested in religious and educational matters. Her literary productions have been numerous, including poems, tales and sketches of great merit. She has contributed to leading magazines, including the "Magazine of Poetry," "Christian at Work," and many others. She has published recently one volume of poems, "Day Lilies" (New York, 1890), which has passed into its second edition and won her substantial reputation as a poet. She is the author of "The Mayor of Kanameta" (New York, 1891). a story on sociological lines, showing marked powers in the author, also "Donald Moncrieff," a companion book to the former (Buffalo, 1892). Her finest work is done in verse. She has a number of tales in preparation.