How I spent my summer vacation or "Murdered in Texas Since the War"

Military Images, Mar/Apr 2000 by Valentine, Scott

An Aside: Now I don't know about you, but most Civil War collectors I know are a narrowly focused group of people when it comes to collecting artifacts. We want our Civil War artifacts to have played some unique or prominent role in the war. Whether it's a sword carried by an officer wounded at Gettysburg, a canteen owned by one of Stonewall's foot cavalry or a CdeV of Colonel Robert Shaw, 54th Massachusetts, we all want to hit collecting paydirt. As collectors, we too often ignore or down play the artifact's history prior to and after the war. I'm as guilty as the next guy of doing this. I was as happy as a pig in poop that Lieutenant Smith had seen so much action and had been wounded at Gettysburg and again in Georgia, but for the first time, I was intrigued with what had happened to Smith after the war! What was happening to me? Was I becoming an American History geek??

Back To Summer Vacation

OK, OK, you want to know what happened to Smith. Soon after the end of the war, Smith, along with his Uncle George Warren, moved to the town of Jefferson, the largest town in Marion County in Northeast Texas. Together they opened a mercantile business in the community. The business failed after a short time, probably due both to Smith and Warren's liberal policy of allowing patrons to run up large tabs, tabs that remained unpaid, and the open animosity of the town's southern aristocracy. Casting about for a new occupation, Smith decided to enter politics. In 1868, Smith, with the support of a newly enfranchised black majority, was elected as the Marion County delegate to the State Constitutional Convention of 1868-69. He was said to have been a diligent and effective delegate who actively sought a place in Texas society for freedmen, infuriating the white population of Northeast Texas. Upon his return to Jefferson at the close of the convention, Smith was ostracized in the community and his life was threatened on numerous occasions. Smith, known for his fearlessness, stayed on in Jefferson in spite of the threats. He lodged with poor black families, having been denied lodging throughout white Jefferson. He also commenced legal proceedings against his debtors, which further alienated him from the local whites.

On Saturday, October 4, 1868, while Smith was entering the home of a black man to collect his laundry, he was fired upon by four townsmen led by Colonel Richard Crump, a leading citizen of Jefferson. Smith drew his revolver and fired on his assailants, wounding two of them and sending the others packing. Smith, knowing that Crump would soon return with reinforcements, fled to the local army post and sought asylum. Soon after, Colonel Crump, accompanied by Jefferson's Chief of Police, arrived at the post and convinced Major James Curtis, commanding the post, that Smith had committed assault and would have to stand trial. Crump and the police chief guaranteed that Smith would receive a fair trial and Major Curtis reluctantly surrendered Smith to the civil authorities. While he was being led away, Smith repeatedly appealed to Major Curtis, saying "...if you surrender me to these men they will kill me."