ALEXANDER SMITH 



By William. A. Notes 



Alexander Smith was born at No. 4 Nelson Street, Edinburgh, Scotland, on September 11, 

 1865. His grandfather, Alexander Smith, was a sculptor. His father, also Alexander Smith, 

 studied modeling in clay in the school of art in Edinburgh and was awarded a first prize for 

 his work. He also studied music and became a musician and a teacher of singing. At least 

 one very noted American chemist is the son of an artist, and in his ancestry and in that of 

 Alexander Smith we may find strong evidence that the spirit of science is very closely akin 

 to the spirit of art. His uncle, John Smith, was interested in paintings, and his aunt, Mary 

 Smith, in church work. His paternal grandmother's maiden name was Jane Stewart. 



His mother, Isabella Carter Smith, was the daughter of Andrew Carter. Her sister mar- 

 ried John Bryce. They had nine chddren, of whom five were sons, all of whom engaged in 

 business. One is a farmer in Dakota, another is in Australia. 



He has one sister, Isabella Carter Smith, now Mrs. James Rae, of Edinburgh. 



Alexander Smith married Sara Bowles, . of Memphis^- Tenn., February 16, 1905. Her 

 grandfather was born in Kentucky and was one of the earliest settlers of Memphis. Her 

 father, William Bowles, succeeded his father as head of the oldest firm of cotton buyers in 

 Memphis. Her father entered the Confederate Army at the age of 16 and was a member of 

 Forest's Cavalry. He was a celebrated shot and was a sharpshooter in the army. His mother 

 was a Montague of Virginia. Mrs. Smith's maternal grandfather was Henry Potter, brother 

 of Martin Potter, who founded the Cincinnati Enquirer. She has one brother, Potter Bowles, 

 of Santa Ana, Calif. 



There are two children, Isabella Carter Smith, born February 8, 1909, and William Bowles 

 Smith, born October 27, 1910. Isabella is interested in literature, William in art. They are 

 now attending schools in England. 



Prof. George E. Fellows, now professor of history in the University of Utah, was one of 

 the English and American group of students in Munich in 18S9, living there at the time with 

 his wife and small daughter. After Doctor Smith and Doctor Fellows had taken their degrees 

 the latter spent several months with the family of Doctor Smith in Edinburgh and at Dunblane. 

 In the summer of 1890 Doctor Smith visited Professor and Mrs. Fellows at Aurora, 111. After 

 he went to Chicago he lived for five years in their family, before his marriage. I am indebted 

 to Professor Fellows for the following anecdote : 



Alexander Smith showed very early an unusual interest in scientific research. It is well 

 known and related by the members of his family that when he was between 3 and 4 years of 

 age he became much interested in a bird that he saw. He turned the pages of an encyclopedia 

 until he found the picture of this particular bird, then carried the book to members of the 

 family and demanded that the story of the bird should be read. Not getting all that he desired, 

 he continued to drag the heavy book about with him for several days until compelled to desist. 



At the age of 10 he entered the Edinburgh Collegiate School. The principal was Archibald 

 Hamilton Bryce, a brother of Lord Bryce, the British ambassador to the United States. The 

 school report for 1879-80 shows that his work in Latin and Greek was poor, but that he was 

 proficient in mathematics, French, bookkeeping, and shorthand. 



He entered the University of Edinburgh as a candidate for the degree of B. Sc. in chem- 

 istry in 1882 and graduated in 1886. For some time before entering the university and while 

 attending there he studied astronomy more than chemistry. He found, however, that there 

 was no opportunity in Great Britain to earn a salary which would sustain life if he continued 

 in that field. Accordingly, after graduation at Edinburgh he went to study chemistry in the 

 laboratory of Baeyer at Munich. At that time a very large majority of the chemists of the 

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