Placer
County
Biographies
PRESTON W. SMITH
Of the educational interests of
Placer County Professor Preston W. Smith is a well known representative. Occupying the position of county
superintendent of schools, his marked ability has gained him prestige in the
line of his chosen calling, and his influence in educational circles has been
of great benefit in promoting efficiency and raising the standard of the
schools in this part of California. He
is a man of strong mentality, of earnest purpose and keen discrimination, and
with a just appreciation of the importance of intelligent training in early
life he has devoted his efforts for many years to the improvement of the
schools of his native state.
Professor Smith was born in Dutch
Flat, California, August 12, 1861. His father, Thomas R. Smith, came to the
Pacific coast in 1850. He was a native
of New York City and was of English lineage, his ancestors having come to the
new world at an early period in the development of New England, making a
settlement in Connecticut. The paternal
grandfather of our subject served his country in the War of 1812. Thomas R. Smith, the Professor’s father, married
Miss Louisiana Fuller, a native of the state whose name she bore, and a
daughter of Jacob N. Fuller, a veteran of the Mexican War. Mr. Smith came to California by the ocean
route, making the voyage around Cape Horn in a ship which a company of
California pioneers had purchased and fitted out for this particular
purpose. After his arrival in San
Francisco the father of our subject made his way to Newcastle, where he engaged
in merchandising. Later he conducted a
store at Iowa Hill, and he also employed teams and was engaged in
freighting. He purchased the Empire
ranch and was one of the first who, by practical experience, demonstrated the
productiveness of this soil in producing grain, hay and vegetables. He found a ready market for his hay with the
stage companies. Prices were high in
those days, flour sometimes bringing fifty dollars per sack, while other
commodities were proportionately high; but the miners had gold and spent their
money freely. In 1855 Thomas R. Smith
was united in marriage to Miss Fuller, and they became the parents of seven
sons and five daughters, of whom four sons and three daughters are still
living. The father was a Presbyterian in
his religious faith, while his wife was identified with the Baptist
church. He was never an office seeker,
but the cause of education found in him a warm friend, and he rendered valuable
service to his school district while serving as school trustee for a number of
years. Both he and his wife are still
living, at the ripe age of eighty years, and are esteemed as worthy pioneer
people and valued citizens, who through an honorable career have enjoyed the
confidence and respect of all with whom they have come in contact.
Professor Smith, their eldest
surviving child, acquired his preliminary education in the public schools of
California, and later supplemented his early studies by a course in the Battle
Creek College, of Battle Creek, Michigan.
He then began teaching in Dowagiac, Michigan. Subsequently returning to California, he
spent twelve years as a teacher in three different towns of Placer County. For five years he was the popular principal
of the Auburn schools, and his efforts resulted in raising the educational
institutions of that city to a high standard.
In 1894 he was elected county superintendent of schools, and after
filling the office with much ability for four years he was re-elected, in 1898,
for a second term, the citizens of the county thus indicating their
appreciation of his faithful and valuable service.
Superintendent Smith is an
enthusiast in his profession, and as the head of the Placer County schools he
has introduced many improvements in the courses of its study and the methods of
teaching. All the schools of the
fifty-eight districts of the county are systematically graded and a record of
the scholarship of the pupils and samples of their work are kept in the
superintendent’s office. Through the
influence of Superintendent Smith many of the school grounds have been enlarged
and ornamented with trees, the school rooms made more convenient and decorated with
appropriate pictures, and improvements have been made in heating, lighting and
ventilating the school buildings.
Largely through his instrumentality the school libraries have been
filled with books suitable to the various ages of the pupils and made more
accessible and therefore more useful to the public. He has also succeeded in placing the school
districts on a good financial basis. The
books and records of his office have been kept so well and so systematically
arranged that he has been very highly commended by all the count experts who
have examined the affairs of the office.
He has also been instrumental in organizing reading circles among the
teachers of the county, which, with the teacher’s institutes under his
supervision, have been the means of awakening much professional interest and
enthusiasm. These various lines of work
have resulted in great good, and the schools of Placer County now take rank
with the best public institutions of the state.
Professor Smith is a stalwart
Republican in politics, and as the candidate of that party he received a
majority of more than three hundred at each election.
In 1891 was celebrated the marriage
of Preston W. Smith and Sophia E. Roelok, a native of El Dorado County and a daughter
of George H. Roelok, ex-supervisor of El Dorado County and a veteran of the
Mexican War. They have two children,
Mildred and Virgil Thomas. Before her
marriage Mrs. Smith was a successful teacher.
She is a lady of marked culture and refinement. Mr. Smith and his wife attend the
Congregational church, and she is a member of the Congregational Guild, and of
the Order of the Eastern Star. Mr. Smith
is a past president of the Auburn Parlor of the Native Sons of the Golden
West. He also belongs to the Foresters,
the Knights of Pythias and to the Masonic fraternity. In the last named he is now filling the
position of senior deacon and in the others he has served as the chief
officer. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have a
beautiful home in Auburn and take great delight in the cultivation of flowers
and in improving their well kept grounds.
Their home is the center of a cultured society circle and its social
functions are greatly enjoyed by their many friends. In personal appearance Mr. Smith is tall and
he is an excellent example of the sterling type of California’s native sons.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
“A Volume of Memoirs and Genealogy of Representative Citizens of Northern
California”, Pages 159-161. Chicago Standard Genealogical Publishing Co. 1901.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.