Author. The daughter of US Senator Lawrence Brainerd, the wife of Governor J. Gregory Smith and the mother of Governor Edward C. Smith. As Mrs. J.G. Smith she published a collection of essays, "Dawn to Sunrise" (1876), and the novels "Seola" (1878), "Selma," (1883) and "Atla" (1886). The Smith home was a target of the 1864 Confederate raid on St. Albans, the Civil War's northernmost action, but the raiders bypassed the house while fleeing after robbing the town's banks. For her actions in defending the Smith home and efforts to rally the people of St. Albans in pursuing the raiders, Governor Peter Washburn honored her by naming her a brevet Lieutenant Colonel on his staff. Brainerd, Minnesota, a city founded when the Northern Pacific Railroad expanded while her husband was its President, was named for her family. In 1924 Seola was republished as "Angels and Women."
Author. The daughter of US Senator Lawrence Brainerd, the wife of Governor J. Gregory Smith and the mother of Governor Edward C. Smith. As Mrs. J.G. Smith she published a collection of essays, "Dawn to Sunrise" (1876), and the novels "Seola" (1878), "Selma," (1883) and "Atla" (1886). The Smith home was a target of the 1864 Confederate raid on St. Albans, the Civil War's northernmost action, but the raiders bypassed the house while fleeing after robbing the town's banks. For her actions in defending the Smith home and efforts to rally the people of St. Albans in pursuing the raiders, Governor Peter Washburn honored her by naming her a brevet Lieutenant Colonel on his staff. Brainerd, Minnesota, a city founded when the Northern Pacific Railroad expanded while her husband was its President, was named for her family. In 1924 Seola was republished as "Angels and Women."
Bio by: Bill McKern
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