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JENNETT SMITH CROSBY
Vol. 3, p. 1204

For the past seven years the City of Lawton and Comanche County have
known the attainments and ability of Mrs. CROSBY as an educator. She
is now serving as superintendent of public instruction for Comanche
County and is doing much to give vitality and increased efficiency to
the school system of the county, and is one of the most capable women
educators in the state, having a broad experience as a teacher and
showing unusual skill in handling the administrative duties of her
present office.

Miss Jennett SMITH was born at Tomah, Wisconsin, March 3, 1872, a
daughter of W. H. and Orcelia (KENYON) SMITH. W. H. SMITH was a
relative of James A. GARFIELD, his grandmother and Garfield's mother
having been sisters. Mrs.Orcelia SMITH, who is now living at Lawton,
Oklahoma, is a native of New York State, and the KENYON family were
early identified with that colony and province, having located there
probably before the Revolutionary War.

About 1875 Mrs. Crosby's parents removed to Sparks, Wisconsin, where
she attended the public school. In 1881 they moved out to Pipestone,
Minnesota, becoming pioneers in that section of the great Northwest.
She continued her education in Minnesota, until completing the high
school course, and at the early age of fifteen, qualified and filled
her first position as a teacher in Pipestone County. She taught
successfully for three terms, and in May, 1889, entered the State
Normal School of Minnesota, and after graduating returned to
Pipestone and for about three years was connected with the city
schools. Then followed a thorough course in the Pillsbury College at
Owatonna, Minnesota, where she took special courses in elocution,
music and art. Following this she was a teacher for a time at Little
Falls, Minnesota.

In 1893, Miss SMITH married Edwin W. CROSBY, who was born in
Michigan in 1857 and died at Lawton, Oklahoma, in 1908. They
continued to reside in Pipestone, Minnesota, until August, 1908, when
they came to Lawton, where Mr. Crosby soon afterward died. During his
residence in Minnesota he was a railway man, and for fifteen years
was station agent for the C. St. P. M. & O. Railway at Pipestone, and
at the same time was a business representative for the Peavey
Elevator Company. He was a member of the Episcopal Church, and
affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of
America and at one time with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

After the death of Mr. Crosby, Mrs. Crosby was confronted with the
necessity of providing for her household. She formed a class in
elocution in Lawton, and then for two years was one of the regular
teachers in the public schools. Following that for two and a half
years she was instructor of English and history in the Lawton High
School. Her qualifications as an educator are beyond question or
cavil, and when she sought her present office it was with no great
difficulty that she persuaded the citizens of Comanche County of her
fitness for the position. She was elected superintendent of public
instruction in November, 1912, taking office in July, 1913. She was
reelected to the same office in September, 1914, and is now serving
her second term of two years. Comanche County is divided into seventy-
eight school districts. There are 85 schoolhouses, 150 teachers, and
the enrollment of scholars for 1915 is 7,327. This is a large
business organization, and its administration is a matter of great
responsibility. Mrs. Crosby has the supervision of all the schools
and teachers in Comanche except the independent district of Lawton.

Mrs. Crosby is a democrat, and a member of the Episcopal Church. At
one time she was much interested in various societies and other
organizations, but the demands upon her time by her office and her
duties at home now practically preclude any such activities. Mrs.
Crosby has a family of seven children: Clifford W., in the mercantile
business in Los Angeles, California; James Harold, employed in a
mercantile establishment in Lawton; Genevieve, a senior in the Lawton
High School; Doris, in the sophomore class of the high school; Alice
Maud and Mildred and Margaret, twins, all of them attending the local
public schools.

Typed for OKGenWeb by Connie Ardrey, October 12, 1998.