Newcomb Spaulding Smith, M. D. Biography


	This biography appears on pages 617-618 in "History of Dakota Territory" 
	by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. IV (1915) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

	This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit 
	organizations for their private use. 

	Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval 
	system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other 
	means requires the written approval of the file's author.

	This file is part of the SDGENWEB Archives. If you arrived here inside
	a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at

	http://usgwarchives.org/sd/sdfiles.htm


			NEWCOMB SPAULDING SMITH, M. D. 

	Dr. Newcomb Spaulding Smith, a prominent representative of the 
medical profession in Rapid City, was born in Watertown, New York, 
April 21, 1839. His identification with the west dates from the period 
of pioneer development when it was necessary to meet many hardships and 
privations incident to frontier life. The Smith family came originally 
from Virginia, where the grandparents freed their slaves before 1812 
and then removed to the north. The father, Martin, was a wood engraver 
and mechanic and in later life turned his attention to farming. In the 
year 1857 he made his way westward to Buchanan county, Iowa, where he 
purchased a large tract of land and thereon resided until his removal 
to Michigan in 1870. His death occurred two years later, or in 1872, at 
Flushing, that state, when he had reached the age of fifty-five years. 
In early manhood he wedded Minerva Spaulding, a native of Saratoga 
county, New York, their marriage being celebrated at Watertown, that 
state. In their family were seven children of whom Dr. Smith is the 
eldest and of whom five survive. 

	Dr. Smith attended school at Watertown, New York, continuing his 
education until be became a high-school pupil. He studied medicine in 
Iowa for two years, and on the 18th of July, 1862, when a young man of 
twenty-three years, he offered his services to the government in 
response to the call for military aid and enlisted in the Thirty-second 
Iowa Volunteer Infantry, with which he continued until promoted to the 
rank of surgeon of the Thirty-fifth Iowa, serving throughout the entire 
period of his three years' enlistment. He was on duty at Ft. Pillow 
during the battle of Vicksburg and in the military hospital at Keokuk, 
Iowa. Having determined upon the practice of medicine as a life work, 
he studied to that end anti received his professional degree from the 
Iowa State University in 1864. He had entered upon his preparatory 
reading under a preceptor in 1858 and when he joined the army it was in 
the capacity of hospital steward but soon afterward he was promoted to 
the rank of surgeon. 

	In 1865 Dr. Smith located for the practice of his profession in 
Marshall county, Iowa, and later removed to Belle Plaine, where he 
remained until 1868, when he went to Flushing, Michigan, where he 
practiced for a time. Afterward he opened an office in Flint, that 
state, v here he remained until 1879, when he came to Dakota territory 
as assistant surgeon in the United States army. He was located at Fort 
Randall and also had charge of the Yankton Indian Agency as surgeon at 
Fort Bennett and at Fort Sully. He resigned that position in 1884 and 
removed to Pierre, where he resumed private practice, in which he 
continued until 1886. He then returned to Marshalltown, Iowa, where he 
continued until 1903, when he came again to South Dakota, remaining at 
Marion Junction until 1908. He then removed to Rapid City and soon 
afterward settled on a homestead at Farmingdale, where he engaged in 
ranching until 1912. He still owns three hundred and twenty acres of 
land near Farmingdale and from this property derives a substantial 
annual income. The following year was spent in travel and in 1914 he 
settled in Rapid City, where he has since remained, devoting his 
attention to the private practice of medicine and to the management of 
his other business interests. He is also connected with manufacturing 
interests in St. Louis. His long experience on the western frontier has 
made him familiar with the history of this state and its development 
and he has borne an active and helpful part in furthering its progress 
and upbuilding. 

	On the 11th of November, 1860, Dr. Smith was united in marriage 
to Miss Jennie Parnell, a daughter of Thomas and Susan (Wiltfong) 
Parnell. Mrs. Smith was born at New Carlisle, La Porte county, Indiana. 
The family afterward became pioneer settlers of Marshall county, Iowa, 
traveling across the country by teams before the day of railroad 
building. Dr. and Mrs. Smith have two sons: Dr. Elmer Everett Smith, 
who was born in Albion, Iowa, March 10. 1862, and is now located in St. 
Louis, Missouri; and Guy Parnell, who was born in Owosso, Michigan, 
April 28, 1872, and is now a manufacturer of St. Louis. 

	Dr. Smith exercises his right of franchise in support of the men 
and measures of the republican party, which he has supported since 
casting his first presidential ballot for Abraham Lincoln on the 8th of 
November, 1860. That was certainly a momentous day in his life, for it 
was on that day that he applied for his marriage license. Fraternally 
he is a Mason and an Odd Fellow. He belongs to the Grand Army of the 
Republic and for a time was vice commander of Sully Post at Pierre, 
South Dakota. He has been a great reader and has made a special study 
of ancient and modern history in addition to his investigations along 
the line of his profession. He belongs to the South Dakota Medical 
Society and is an honorary member of the American Medical Association. 
During his residence in Michigan he was regarded as the leading surgeon 
of the central part of that state and his practice has been largely 
given to surgical work. His memory forms a connecting link between the 
primitive past and progressive present and his book of life records 
many interesting incidents which have figured in connection with the 
development and progress of the state.