206 DAVENPORT ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES. 



of .information will not afford full scope for doing justice to his mem- 

 ory as a friend and an associate life-mernber of the Davenport Acad- 

 emy of Sciences, I cannot well decline this opportunity of placing on 

 record a few personal recollections, which may be of interest to those 

 here present, and not inappropriate to this time and place. 



The natural reserve which, in later years, formed one of the marked 

 traits of Mr. Smetham's social character, were less conspicuous at an 

 early day in the history of this and other western towns, when every- 

 body was expected to take an active part in all public and social rela- 

 tions, and peculiarities of disposition were merely looked upon as ob- 

 jects of inquisitive curiosity. But in Mr. Smetham's case, under this 

 constitutional reserve lay a concealed depth of warm-hearted, generous 

 sympathy, manifest only to his most intimate friends, tinged, it may be, 

 with a slight vein of piquant misanthropy. My first introduction, in 

 the character of family physician, afforded but a brief insight into the 

 sacred relations of family life, which in this particular case were sedu- 

 lously maintained, and guarded from outside intrusion for many years. 

 The little, lowly cottage, with its picturesque site, crowning the hill 

 overlooking the broad valley of the Mississippi, which he first selected 

 for his western home, remained unchanged except in a thicker profu- 

 sion of fragrant lilacs and blooming roses, while overtopped on every 

 side by stately mansions of refinement and architectural elegance, 

 located in part on his original purchase, and fairly represented his own 

 unobtrusive character of only half-revealed attractions. 



Only once that I can remember in the period of his active life (in 

 1848). Mr. Smetham undertook what in those days was an adventurous 

 journey, on a raft, from the falls of the St. Croix to St. Louis, and, 

 while speaking with enthusiasm of the natural beauties of this trip, he 

 never seemed inclined to repeat its accompanying hardships. 



Somewhere about this time (probably in the winter of 1848-9), the 

 writer was associated with him in an organization called The Trans- 

 Mississippi Club, the object of which was to keep up a friendly inter- 

 course of members during life, by yearly meetings and personal records. 

 This worthy object was, however, never carried out, and our first annual 

 festival was also our last. According to my present recollection, but 

 one member of this club, beside myself, is now living in Davenport. 



As Mr. Smetham was known to possess a high order of literary 

 ability, he was frequently urged — but always declined — to give any 

 public exhibition of the same ; only one little poetic gem, which I shall 

 notice later on, thrown off from his ready pen, found place in print, in 

 the pages of the Weekly Gazette in 1847. 



As years passed on and other engagements called the writer to far 

 distant scenes of labor, Mr. Smetham, instead of cultivating in public 

 his higher abilities, assumed in turn the routine drudgery of a country 

 editor, a post-office clerk, a deputy county treasurer, and finally a bank 

 cashier. In all these unattractive positions the duties assigned him 

 were always carried out with scrupulous exactness and unswerving 

 fidelity. It was only as a side issue, and with a view to needed relax- 

 ation that he exercised his taste as an art connoisseur, and became an 



