Amador
County
Biographies
WEBB SMITH
Webb
Smith, one of the oldest and most experienced mining men on the Mother Lode, is
superintendent of the Kennedy Mining and Milling Company at Jackson, Amador
County, with whose mine he has been connected for thirty-four years. Born on a farm in Indiana on the 16th
of March, 1857, he is a son of Irwin Mitchell and Nancy (Dunaway) Stewart. His mother later married a Mr. Smith, whose
name he acquired legally.
At
the age of two years Mr. Smith was brought across the plains in a covered wagon
by his parents, the party arriving here in September, 1859, and he attended the
public schools of California and afterward took a course in mining through the
International Correspondence School of Scranton, Pennsylvania. When fifteen years of age he quit school at Drytown and started out to make his own way in the world,
working at any employment he could find.
His step-father had wished him to take up the study of law, but as a boy
he had gone into the mines. From that
time mining had the strongest appeal to him and he determined to learn the
business in all of its phases. After
spending some time underground, he worked in the mills, and blacksmith shop and
the machine shop, thus acquiring a practical and intimate knowledge of the
various branches of the business. At
that time the Kennedy Mining and Milling Company owned the South Eureka and the
Kennedy mines. Mr. Smith had worked for
various mining companies and on June 19, 1894, he went to work at the South
Eureka mine at Sutter Creek. On November
10, 1896, he went to the Kennedy mine and for seven years served as foreman of
the mill. On February 1, 1903, he was
promoted to assistant superintendent of the mine, after serving five years
under the direction of James F. Parks, superintendent, and on the death of that
gentleman, November 10, 1903, Mr. Smith was made superintendent. He has been in charge of the mine
continuously since, with the exception of four years when he was doing special
work for the company, though during that period he continued to act in an
advisory capacity in relation to the mine operations. He is recognized as an expert in his
particular field of work and commands not only the confidence of the officers
of the company, but also the respect of the men under him. Mr. Smith was united in marriage to Miss
Josephine L. Caldwell, a native of El Dorado County, this state, where her
father was engaged in the practice of medicine.
To this marriage have been born six children: Mildred L., Mary Norma, Ida Caldwell, Carlton
Webster, Howard Nelson and Donald Elliott. In his political views Mr. Smith is a
Republican. Fraternally he is a member
of the Masonic order in all of its branches; a charter member of Ben Ali
Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., and belongs to the Lions Club. Among his prized possessions are two gold
nuggets, weighing together one and thirty hundredths ounces, which were found
by his father in 1851. He is a lover of
outdoor life, particularly of hunting.
He is widely known throughout this section of the valley and to a marked
degree commands the esteem of all who know him.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Wooldridge, J.W.Major History of Sacramento Valley
California, Vol. 3, Pages 91-92. Pioneer Historical
Publishing Co. Chicago 1931.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's Amador County Biographies