James S. Smith Biography


	This biography appears on pages 426-427 in "History of Dakota 
	Territory" by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. V (1915) and was 
	scanned, OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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				JAMES S. SMITH. 

	The Belle Fourche Bee is an excellent, well managed and well 
edited paper which has a deservedly large circulation in Belle Fourche 
and the surrounding country. Much of its success is due to James S. 
Smith, who is both manager and editor and one of the most capable men 
connected with the weekly papers of the state. He was born June 22, 
1880, the younger of the two children of Luther H. and Ellen (Donoho) 
Smith. The father was born on the shores of Lake Champlain, New York, 
in 1834 and the mother in Tennessee in 1840. In early manhood Luther H. 
Smith came west and in response to President Lincoln's call for troops 
enlisted in the Union army, becoming a member of the One Hundred and 
Twenty-seventh Regiment of Illinois Volunteers. He was mustered out 
before the close of the war because of sickness and about 1867 removed 
to Kansas City and thence to Fort Scott, that state, where he worked as 
a bridge carpenter for some time. After that he took up a homestead, 
where he resided until 1884 In that year he removed to Bronson, Kansas, 
which remained his home until 1911, when he went to Wichita, where he 
is now living retired. His wife died in 1884. 

	James S. Smith attended school in Bronson, Kansas, and also a 
commercial and normal school at Springfield, Missouri. When about 
fifteen years of age he became a printer's apprentice in Fort Scott and 
there learned his trade. He remained in that city for a little more 
than seven years and then returned to Bronson, where he was engaged on 
newspaper work for one year, after which he was similarly employed at 
Iola, Kansas, for a year. For the next eighteen months he was connected 
with the International Correspondence Schools, after which he went to 
Superior, Nebraska, where he was employed on a newspaper. In the spring 
of 1904 he removed to Belle Fourche and was employed as a printer in 
the plant of the Belle Fourche Bee. In 1906 the Bee Publishing Company 
was organized and he became manager and editor of the paper, in which 
capacities he is still serving. The Bee is reliable, its news is 
written in an interesting form and it carries a large number of local 
advertisements. The Bee Publishing Company also does general job work 
and that branch of its business is especially profitable. It also 
operates the Butte County Press, which is published at Nisland. 

	Mr. Smith was married on the 6th of October, 1907, to Miss Iva 
Hickerson, whose birth occurred at Red Oak, Iowa. Her parents are 
William E. and Louise (Lovett) Hickerson Her father was born in 
Illinois in 1852 and her mother, who is also a native of that state, 
was born in Pittsfield in 1856. From Iowa the family removed to 
Nebraska about 1885 and located near Milford, but later became 
residents of Seward, that state. Throughout his active business life 
Mr. Hickerson followed farming, but is now living retired. Mr. and Mrs. 
Smith have a son, Frederick Hickerson, born April 6, 1910. 

	Mr. Smith is a republican but while he is never remiss in the 
duties of citizenship he has not taken an especially active part in 
politics. His connection with the Masonic order, in which he belongs to 
the blue lodge and chapter, indicates the rules which govern his life. 
He devotes his entire attention to his duties as manager and editor of 
the Bee and spares neither labor nor thought in his effort to make it 
one of the best weekly publications in the state. His success in the 
field of newspaper work and his praiseworthy traits of character 
entitle him to the respect of his fellowmen and all who know him hold 
him in high esteem.