Charles Jackson Smith (1854-1924) was a highly successful Seattle businessman and civic leader, who served as one of the organizers of the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition. Born in Nicholasville, Kentucky, Smith grew up in Kansas City, where he found employment in the railroad industry after having graduated from Blackburn University in 1870. He first came to the Pacific Northwest in 1880 as an assistant comptroller for the Oregon Railroad & Navigation Company, but later moved to New York as he advanced within the company. He returned to the Pacfic Northwest in 1889, relocating to Portland, Oregon to serve as the General Manager of the Oregon Railroad & Navigation Company, but moved to Seattle the following year to become Vice President and General Manager of the Oregon Improvement Company (OIC), remaining in that role through 1897. When the OIC was purchased by the Pacific Coast Company in December 1897, Smith was receiver and continued as General Manager of the new company. By 1898, he had gone into business for himself, amassing a fortune through shrewd real estate investments and numerous other business and banking ventures. Smith was active in many organizations, including the Seattle Chamber of Commerce and the Rainier Club. In 1880, he married Elizabeth McMillan (1859-1930) in Kansas City. The couple had five children. Smith, who also was a patron of the arts, was acknowledged to have a fine tenor voice and enjoyed singing at social gatherings and other public occasions..
The C. J. Smith papers primarily consist of correspondence (mainly incoming letters to Smith) most likely retained by his wife, Elizabeth McMillan Smith, as well as some material associated with other family members. Smith's correspondents include: officials from Blackburn College (regarding donations to Smith's alma mater), Alden J. Blethen (a copy of his letter to Frank I. Shaw protesting the invitation of George Cotterill to a program at the Rainier Club in honor of Secretary of the Navy, Josephus Daniels), Senator Jonathan Bourne (regarding "the desire of Whitman College to secure the land now occupied by the Army Post at Walla Walla") and Ezra Meeker (about the location of the "Pioneer Exhibit" at the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition). Another folder contains several letters of condolence sent to Smith's widow, including one written by former Senator Samuel H. Piles. A folder supposed to contain letters written by Smith appears instead to be comprised of two manuscript drafts of speeches (one on the coal industry in Washington State and another relating to the campaign of Senator Piles) and a carbon copy of an undated letter to C. E. Conover congratulating him on his letter to Collier's Weekly in response to their reporting on the "Pinchot hysterics." Of particular note is a folder with several items related to the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, including printed invitations (such as the two luncheons for President Taft) and letters written on AYPE letterhead. Additional ephemera and certificates include: programs for musical recitals given by his daughter, Myra, Smith's certificate of appointment in 1887 to a clerkship in the office of George Adams, and his original diploma from Blackburn College.
Open to all users.
Creator's literary rights transferred to the University of Washington Libraries.
Donated by Richard L. Carter, 6/28/1989.