Col. Joseph Lee Smith

Joseph Lee Smith (1776-1846) was an American lawyer, soldier, and jurist. He was the father of Confederate States of America General Edmund Kirby Smith.

Born in Connecticut, Smith practiced law in that state until the War of 1812, when he became a lieutenant-colonel in the U.S. Army and served with distinction in combat. At the Battle of Stoney Creek in Ontario, Canada on June 7, 1813 quick thinking and action by Smith saved his 25th Infantry from capture.[citation needed]

After the war, Smith remained in the Army, rising to the position of colonel, when he was placed in command of the 3rd Infantry in 1818. Resigning from the Army shortly thereafter, he returned to his Connecticut law practice, but moved to Florida in 1821. From 1823 to 1832 he was a Territorial judge in that state. Subsequently, he practiced law in St. Augustine. He lived with his family at the Segui House for his entire residency in St. Augustine. After his death, the house served for a time as the St. Augustine Public Library. Today it serves as the St. Augustine Historical Society Research Library.

His oldest son, Ephraim Kirby Smith, was born in Connecticut in 1807. A graduate of the United States Military Academy, he died in combat during the Mexican-American War in 1847.

His youngest son, Edmund Kirby Smith, was born in Florida in 1824, graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1845, and served with his brother in the Mexican-American War. In 1861, he did not join the Confederate Army until his home state of Florida seceded.

Alexander Darnes the son of slave Violet Pinkney was born in Smith's house at 12 Aviles St. in St. Augustine. Darnes who would remain in servitude to the end of the Civil War would become a celebrated and successful physician.

Both Smith and his wife Frances are buried side by side in the Huguenot Cemetery in St. Augustine.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Lee_Smith

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Joseph Lee Smith (May 28, 1776 – May 24, 1846) was an American lawyer, military officer, judge, veteran of the War of 1812, and the father of Confederate States Army General E. Kirby Smith (1824–1893).

Life

Joseph Lee Smith was born in New Britain, Connecticut, the son of Elnathan (1738-1826) and Chloe (née Lee) Smith (1746-1825). He was a descendant of 1st Duke of Somerset. His maternal grandfather, Colonel Isaac Lee, Jr. (1717-1802), was a veteran of the American Revolutionary War and was a member of the Connecticut General Assembly in 1776, 1778 to 1781, and 1783 to 1791.

Smith practiced law in Connecticut until the War of 1812, when he became a lieutenant-colonel in the United States Army and served with distinction in combat. At the Battle of Stoney Creek in Ontario, Canada on June 7, 1813, his quick thinking and action saved the 25th Infantry Regiment from capture.[citation needed] After the war, he remained in the Army, rising to the rank of colonel, when he was placed in command of the 3rd Infantry Regiment in 1818. Resigning from the army shortly thereafter, he returned to his Connecticut law practice.

Smith and his family moved to Florida Territory in 1821, when it became part of the United States. From 1823 to 1832 he was a territorial judge. On February 3, 1825, Richard K. Call, Delegate from Florida introduced a resolution calling for the U.S. House Judiciary Committee to investigate Smith on the charge that he took bribes and kickbacks. The resolution was adopted. The investigation went on for years, with the last reference to it being in 1830, but did not lead to articles of impeachment.

Subsequently, Smith practiced law in St. Augustine where he lived with his family at 12 Aviles Street. After his death, the house served for a time as the St. Augustine Free Public Library. It currently houses the research library of the St. Augustine Historical Society. Alexander Darnes, son of slave Violet Pinkney, was born there. Darnes, who would remain enslaved until the end of the American Civil War, would become a celebrated and successful physician, the first Black physician in Florida. Smith and his wife Frances are buried at the Huguenot Cemetery in St. Augustine.

Family

On August 25, 1806 in Litchfield, Connecticut, Smith married Miss Frances Kirby, daughter of Connecticut politician Ephraim Kirby and his wife, Ruth Marvin Kirby. She died in 1875. His son, Ephraim Kirby Smith, was born in Litchfield on June 17, 1807. A graduate of the United States Military Academy, he died in combat on September 11, 1847, during the Mexican–American War.

Ephraim's wife, Mary Isaacs (nee Jerome) Smith, was a second cousin, twice removed of Winston Churchill, and following her husband's death, she married General Amos Beebe Eaton on September 7, 1870. Ephraim and Mary had three children: Joseph Lee Kirby Smith, who was killed in action during the American Civil War in 1862 in Corinth, Mississippi; Emma Jerome Smith Blackwood; and George Geddes Smith, a veteran of the American Civil War who committed suicide while serving in the United States Army and posted at Fort Russell, Wyoming.

Smith's son Kirby was born in Florida in 1824, graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1845, and served with his uncle in the Mexican–American War. He was one of seven full generals of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. They also had two daughters: Frances Marvin Smith (b. 1809) who married Lucien Bonaparte Webster, and Josephine Lee Smith (1818-1835). His grandson is Joseph Lee Kirby-Smith.