Smith was a physician and early settler in Texas, often called the “Father of Texas Medicine.” He was born in Connecticut in 1805 and studied at Yale College, earning multiple degrees including an M.D. He also studied medicine in Paris and worked during the cholera epidemic there, learning much about the disease and its treatment. He returned to the US and opened a practice in North Carolina. James Pinckney Henderson convinced Smith to come to Texas in 1837 and became close friends with Sam Houston. He was appointed surgeon general of the Texas Army and treated the sick during the Yellow Fever outbreak in Galveston in 1839, later publishing treaties on how to treat the disease. Smith also served as a diplomat for Texas, accepting an appointment from Houston as the Texas charge d’affaires to England and France from 1842-1844. He later served as Secretary of State under Anson Jones and negotiated the treaty of recognition from Mexico that made him unpopular among the majority of Texans who favored annexation. Smith continued promoting the practice of medicine in Texas, helping form the Texas Medical Association and serving as an early president of Texas Medical College in Galveston. He was also a charter member of the Philosophical Society of Texas, one of the commissioners who established the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, now Prairie View A&M University, and the Stuart Female Seminary in Austin. He also published numerous speeches, articles, and monographs on a variety of topics, including his book Reminiscences of the Texas Republic in 1876. He died in 1886.
Identifier: NF-SmithAshbel