OKGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of OKGenWeb State Coordinator. Presentation here does not extend any permissions to the public. This material can not be included in any compilation, publication, collection, or other reproduction for profit without permission. Files may be printed or copied for personal use only. ===================================================================== GEORGE A. SMITH Vol. 3, p. 1025 The office of secretary to the commissioners of the land office of the State of Oklahoma is one in which the duties are important and laborious. Its incumbent must necessarily be a man of action and sound judgment, of broad experience and accuracy, thoroughgoing, and possessed of the capacity to handle the multitudinous and diversified business incidental to the position, which includes the leasing of school lands and the loaning of school funds. The commission, which consists of the governor, secretary of state, state auditor, state superintendent of instruction state commissioner of agriculture, therefore made no mistake when they selected for this office, in January, 1915, George A. Smith, of Chandler. It was no accident which thrust this position upon Mr. Smith. He had long been an Oklahoman, and in his career as educator, business man, agriculturist and journalist, had shown powers of will, of intelligence and decision, and quickness and accuracy of judgment, which pointed him out as a suitable man to be associated with the commission. Mr. Smith was born at Danville, Vermillion County, Illinois, February 25, 1868, and is a son of William H. and Mary A. (BEASLEY) Smith. His father, a native of Indiana, enlisted in an Indiana volunteer regiment during the Civil war, and later served in an Illinois regiment. He accompanied his son when he came to Oklahoma in 1891. George A. Smith was reared in Indiana and received his education in the country schools of that state. He was eighteen years of age when he began teaching school in the winter terms, while in the summer months he devoted himself to the operation of a sawmill. Mr. Smith came to Oklahoma in 1891 and began teaching school in Lincoln County, and continued thus engaged until the fall of 1896, when he entered public life as county clerk of Lincoln County, an office in which he served one term, from January, 1897, until January, 1899. At the end of that time he turned his attention to farming, but 1901 entered the field of journalism by his purchase of the Chandler Tribune, of which he has since continued to be editor and publisher. The Tribune has become a potent organ of opinion, and under Mr. Smith's able editorship has grown and developed, now enjoying a large circulation. As before stated, Mr. Smith entered upon his duties as secretary of the State School Lands Commission in January, 1915, and is now devoting his entire time and attention his position, with offices on the fifth floor of the Mercantile Building, although he still continues to maintain his home at Chandler. Fraternally Mr. Smith is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America, in which order he has numerous friends. His religious connection and that of the members of his family is with the Christian Church. Mr. Smith was married in 1891 to Miss Emma CHRISTY, a daughter of James and Martha Christy, of Iola, Kansas. James Christy was one of the pioneer settlers of Allen County, to which county he removed as a youth, and at the outbreak of the Civil war enlisted in a Kansas regiment of volunteers and fought throughout the struggle. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Smith: Ruby, Pearl, Opal and Olin, the last two named being twins. Typed for OKGenWeb by Lee Ann Collins, December 10, 1999.