Smith, Leslie Colonel 1826 - 1907

SMITH, ALLEN, DONAHUGH, DONAHUE, MCCANN

Posted By: Joy Moore (email)
Date: 5/22/2024 at 16:07:22

Source: Twice-A-Week Plain Dealer Sept. 3, 1907, LP, C6

Mrs. J. T. Donahugh left for Norwalk, Conn., on the Sunday night train, called there by telegram announcing the sudden death of her brother, Major Leslie Smith.

Source: Twice-A-Week Plain Dealer Sept. 13, 1907, LP, C7

Col. Smith Laid to Rest.
That the late Colonel Leslie Smith was held in the highest esteem by the entire community was emphatically shown, yesterday afternoon, when the gathering at Trinity church at 3 o'clock for the purpose of paying their respect to the deceased filled the edifice to the doors. Clad in the military clothes that Col. Smith loved and had served so faithfully, the body was viewed by many.
There were many beautiful floral pieces around the casket. The music numbers consisted of “Asleep in Jesus” and “Nearer My God to Thee,” by the choir, and “Beautiful Land on High,” a solo by O. B. Jackson. The vestry of the church, of which he was the senior warden, acted as honorary pall bearers. The remains were interred in the family mausoleum at Riverside cemetery. —The Norwalk (Conn.) Hour, Monday, September 2, 1907.
Col. Smith was a brother of Mrs. J. T. Donahugh with whom he had visited in Cresco. Mrs. Donahugh returned Tuesday morning from attending the funeral.

Source: Twice-A-Week Plain Dealer Sept. 27, 1907, LP, C4, 5, 6

A LONG LIFE ENDED.
Obituary of Colonel Leslie Smith,
Brother of Mrs. J. T. Donahugh.
The following obituary was published in the Norwalk, Conn. Hour of August 30th.
Colonel Leslie Smith, the retired army officer, and for the past eighteen years a resident of South Norwalk where he held the respect of the entire community, died suddenly of apoplexy at 6 o’clock last evening, at his home, 39 Elmwood avenue. Colonel Smith was in his eighty-second year. The funeral will be held Sunday afternoon at 3 o’clock, from Trinity Episcopal church. Rev. Harry A. L. Sadtler will officiate, and the remains will be placed in the family’s mausoleum in Riverside cemetery.
Colonel Smith had always been strong and robust up to this summer. The latter part of July he took a week’s pleasure trip to Canada, and a few days after his return he was taken suddenly ill. At the time, his illness was thought to be an acute attack of indigestion, but besides being in a critical condition for a day or so, he partly lost control of his limbs and had difficulty in getting up and down stairs. In the face of subsequent developments, it is now thought that he suffered a slight stroke of paralysis at that time.
Mr. Smith rallied from this attack and was able to get down town. On Wednesday he enjoyed a ride with his faithful family man, John W. Fant, and was about the lawn yesterday afternoon. He complained of a little cough and trouble breathing, remarking that he had probably contracted a cold at the municipal plant, Saturday afternoon, when attending the weekly meeting of the commissioners.
Shortly before 6 o’clock last evening Mr. Smith complained of illness and retired to his room and went to his bid. Mrs. Smith asked him if he cared for a second pillow beneath his head, and Mr. Smith replied gently in the negative. Then Mrs. Smith left the room for a moment. In her absence Mr. Smith passed away, his hand in the hand of H. G. Allen, of New York, brother of Mrs. Smith, who was at his side. It was a peaceful ending. Providence had remembered him in the inevitable, as the Colonel had remembered his fellowkind in life.
Mr. Smith is survived by a loving wife, and by two sisters, Mrs. Hugh McCann, of Heckston, Ont., and Mrs. John T. Donohue of Cresco, Iowa. They have been informed by telegraph of Mr. Smith’s death, and will probably come east immediately.
Colonel Smith was born May 15, 1826, in County Antrim, Ireland, a son of Leslie and Fannie Harbison Smith, who were both natives of the Emerald Isle. In 1840, his parents went to Canada to settle upon a farm, and there they died during the Civil war in this country. There were five sons and five daughters, and of this family six are now living. Col. Smith being the youngest but one. The first thirteen years of his life were spent in his native land, where he attended school for a time. In 1840 he crossed the Atlantic, and for nine years was employed as a clerk in various places in Canada. In 1840 he entered the United States army as a private, being enrolled at Philadelphia July 27 of that year, and then transferred to the principal recruiting depot at Governor’s Island, New York harbor. The following account is mainly taken from a work entitled “Records of Living Officers of the United States Army,” published before the colonel’s retirement from the service. In August, 1849, he was detailed as a clerk at that depot, and in September he received a promotion to the rank of corporal. In July, 1850, he was made chief clerk of the depot, and continued to perform the duties of that office until July, 1854, having been promoted in the meantime, in July, 1851, to the rank of sergeant. At the expiration of his term in July, 1854, he was discharged, but soon afterward he was appointed paymaster’s clerk by Major R. H. Chilton, paymaster in the United States army, and this position he held until 1861, most of the time being spent in Texas.
On April 29, 1861, he resigned to enter upon active service in the army, and on the following day he was commissioned as second lieutenant of the First Regiment United States Infantry. He reported for duty May 10, 1861, at Washington, and was assigned to service in the commissary department, his work being the receiving and issuing of subsistence stores to large bodies of soldiers concentrated at the capital. This position he filled until October 1863, accounting in that time for more than twenty-one million dollars worth of goods, and his books were closed six
months later without one error—not even one cent being lost to the United States under his management. He was appointed first lieutenant July 28, 1861, then as captain on April 6, 1862, and on October 31, 1863, he reported for duty with his regiment at New Orleans. From November 22, 1863, until February 29, 1864, he was provost marshal of Algiers, La., and he then remained with his regiment until April 26, 1864, when he was ordered to the headquarters of the Department of the South as commissary of musters. He reported for this duty at Hilton Head, S. C., May 26, 1864, and remained on this assignment until September 1866, the last year being spent at Charleston, S. C., where he performed the duties of mustering officer in addition to those of commissary of musters. On May 13, 1865, he was appointed major by brevet, “for faithful and meritorious services during the war,” and after being relieved from his post in the commissary department he went to Jackson Barracks, New Orleans, where he was engaged from January 1867, until September of the same year in trying charges against citizens. While he stationed there, yellow fever carried off one-fourth of the command in two months, and he did not entirely escape the epidemic, but fortunately recovered. His regiment was transferred to the Department of the Lakes, arriving in Fort Wayne, Detroit, Mich., April 5, 1869. From May 13th, of that year, until June 22, 1874, he was in command of Fort Mackinac, Mich., and on the transfer of his regiment to Dakota, he was in command of Fort Rice during July and August, 1874. From September of the same year until December 1877, he was stationed with his regiment at Fort Sully, Dakota, except for a five months’ leave of absence in 1876, which he spent in Europe.
In the fall of 1876 he was in command of four companies in the field, disarming the Sioux Indians, and during his stay at Fort Sully he was in command of the post from May, 1877, to November of that year. In the following winter a march was made from that point to Standing Rock, Dakota, and as they had the misfortune to be caught in the blizzard of January 3, 1878, two men were frozen to death, while all suffered more or less frost. On finally arriving at Standing Rock, Col. Smith remained until May 1878, when he was transferred with his command to Bear Butte, in the Black Hills, to spend three months, from June 22 to September 20. He was then stationed at Fort Mead, Dakota, until the completion of the post, a part of the time being spent with his company as escort for an engineering force which was sent out to survey the Cheyenne river. The regiment was next ordered to service in Texas, and on May 13, 1880, Col. Smith left Fort Mead with his four companies, which he returned to the regimental commander at Fort Randall, Dakota, on May 22, 1880. On May 21, 1880, he was promoted to the post of major of the Second United States Infantry, and granted four months’ leave of absence However, he remained in command of four companies of the First Infantry during the trip from Fort Randall to Yankton, Dakota, and remained with the regiment until its arrival at St. Joseph, Mo., on June 1, 1880. At the expiration of his leave of absence, on October 6, 1880, he reported for duty to the commanding general of the Department of the Columbia, Vancouver Barracks, W. T., and was assigned to duty at headquarters as chief commissary of subsistence. On November 15th he was relieved, and from December 13, 1880, to September 30, 1882, he was in command of Fort Spokane. He was then transferred to the command of Fort Lapwai, Idaho, where he remained until October 24, 1884, and after breaking up this post he was ordered to Fort Klamath, Oregon. In 1885 he received another well-merited promotion, being appointed lieutenant-colonel of the Twentieth United. States Infantry, and he commanded Fort McGinnis, Mont., for three years, retiring with this rank in 1889.
In 1863, Colonel Smith married Miss Louise Allen, daughter of H. A. Allen, a prominent resident of Brooklyn, N. Y., and a member of a family which is well known in the Eastern States.
Since locating at South Norwalk, Colonel Smith had identified himself with the best interests of the community. He was a vestryman at Trinity church throughout his residence here and was also treasurer of the parish. He took an active interest in the city library and was one of its directors. Among the social organizations in which he was enrolled were the New York branch of the Loyal Legion, an association for army officers exclusively, and the South Norwalk club. He was one of the electric light commissioners of the city of South Norwalk. He was a Democrat and was justice of the peace for several terms.—The Norwalk (Conn.) Hour, Friday, Aug. 30, 1907.

Transcriber's Note: Find-a-Grave shows his year of birth as 1825.