El
Dorado County
Biographies
EDWIN F. SMITH
Edwin
F. Smith occupies a very responsible position as supervisor of the El Dorado
national forest, a position to which he was promoted after years of faithful
and efficient service as forest guard.
Born at Ione, Amador County, California, on the 9th of March,
1890, he is a son of Alfred E. and Martha W. (Perkins) Smith, both of whom are
natives of this state. The maternal
grandfather, John Dabney Perkins, was an early
settler of California, as were also the paternal ancestors, who came from the
state of Virginia. Alfred E. and Martha
W. Smith settled near Carbondale, Amador County, and are now living in Elkhorn,
this state.
Edwin
F. Smith attended the public schools of his home county, after which he took a
course in Heald’s Business College in
Sacramento. In 1908 he entered the
United States forest service as a guard, and was assigned to the Tahoe national
forest, where he was stationed until 1911, when he was sent to the Lassen national
forest. He remained there until June,
1917, when he enlisted in the Tenth Engineering Corps. In October, 1917, he was sent to Europe,
disembarking at Glasgow, Scotland, his contingent being a part of the first
twenty-five thousand troops to be sent to France. He served continuously with the Tenth
Engineering Corps until March, 1919, when he was honorably discharged. He at once resumed his work in the Tahoe
national forest, where he was stationed until February, 1920, when he was
promoted to the supervisorship of the El Dorado
national forest, with headquarters at Placerville. That he has rendered efficient service is a
matter of common comment and his is regarded as one of the best men in the
forest service.
Mr.
Smith was united in marriage to Miss Lila E. Oliver, of Truckee, who also is a
member of an old family. Her father,
Harry E. Oliver, has been for thirty-three years yardmaster for the South
Pacific Railroad at Truckee. Mr. and
Mrs. Smith are the parents of two children, Barbara and Lyle. Mr. Smith and his family belong to the
Methodist Episcopal Church. His hobby is
the forests and mountains. He has shown
himself a very capable man and well merits the high place which he holds in
public regard.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Wooldridge, J.W.Major History of Sacramento Valley
California, Vol. 2 Pages 161-162. Pioneer Historical
Publishing Co. Chicago 1931.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's El Dorado County Biographies