Orange County NcArchives Biographies.....Smith, Burton 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Rosie H. Guthrie n/a January 5, 2010, 6:45 pm

Source: Cyclopedia
Author: James T. White Co.

Burton Smith

Lawyer - was born at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Sept. 18, 1864, son of 
Hildreth Hosea and Mary Brent (Hoke) Smith. 

He received a thorough education in the public schools of Georgia, Tennessee 
and Texas, and was graduated at the Sam Houston Normal School of Texas in 
1880, and the University of Georgia in 1882.

He immediately began the study of law with his brother, Hon. Hoke Smith, and 
was admitted to the bar in 1883, entering at once upon the practice of his 
profession in Atlanta. He continued in partnership with his brother for nine 
years. Since that time Mr. Burton Smith has had no firm, but has practiced law 
in his own name. He has acquired a large and lucrative practice, and has 
achieved a reputation as one of the leading lawyers in the state.

He instituted and conducted the first litigation successfully attacking the 
convict lease system of Georgia. He obtained the first decision in Georgia, 
and one of the first anywhere, holding that the federal employer's liability 
act was constitutional, and he obtained the first decision holding that a suit 
could not be removed to the federal court merely because it was brought under 
this act. In addition to these cases of special interest, he has always had a 
very large general practice, especially in the trial of important issues in 
the courts. 

Mr. Smith is one of Atlanta's ablest citizens. He is a magnificient specimen 
of Southern manhood, standing six feet five inches in height, and of powerful 
physique, and one whose appearance commands admiration and respect. He is very 
popular socially, having won by his pleasant personality a host of friends.

He delivered the annual address before the Indiana Bar Association in 1902, 
and before the North Carolina Bar Association two years later. He was 
president of the Georgia Bar Association in 1902, was one of the organizers of 
the Young Men's Democratic League in the city of Atlanta, and is a member of 
the Capital City Club and Atlanta Athletic Club, of which latter he was the 
first president. 

He was a member of the state militia for many years, and took an active part 
in quelling the Pittsburg riot in 1904 and the Atlanta riot in 1906, when his 
commanding personality and physical courage were a strong factor in 
suppressing the lawless element then rampant.

Mr. Smith was married in June, 1888, to Frances, daughter of Gen. John B. 
Gordon, and has one child, Hildreth Burton Smith.

Additional Comments:
Source:
The National Cyclopedia 
of American Biography
Volume XIV
1910

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