Eugene Allen Smith (October 27, 1841 – September 7, 1927) was an American geologist. He was born in the (now former) town of

Washington, Alabama Washington is a ghost town located in Autauga County, Alabama on the north bank of the Alabama River, just west of the mouth of Autauga Creek. Washington was founded by European American settlers in 1817 on the site of the former Autauga Indian to ...

, in 1841, the son of Samuel Parrish Smith and his wife Adelaide Julia Allen. After an education in Prattville and a three-year stint at Central High School in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, Eugene matriculated to the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

as a junior in 1860, where he graduated with an A.B. in 1862. With the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

underway, Eugene enlisted as a private with the 33rd Regiment Alabama Infantry of the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

, and was elected to the rank of 2nd lieutenant by the men. In December 1862, Eugene was appointed Instructor of Military Tactics at the University of Alabama by

Jefferson Davis Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives as a ...

, president of the Confederate states. He remained in that post for the remainder of the war. In 1865 he entered graduate school at the

University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

, followed by further studies at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...

, and finally spent two years at the

University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

, where he was awarded a Ph.D. in 1868. Returning to the United States, Dr. Smith joined the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...

faculty as an instructor of chemistry. In addition to his teaching duties, he served as assistant state geologist for

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

from 1868–1871. In 1871 he was named professor of geology at the rebuilding University of Alabama. On July 10, 1872 he married Jane Henry Meredith Garland; the couple had a son, Merrill Smith. Still on the staff of the University of Alabama, in 1873 Dr. Smith became Alabama state Geologist. He resumed a state geological survey that had been discontinued in 1857 with the death of

Michael Tuomey Michael Tuomey (September 29, 1805 – March 30, 1857) was the State Geologist of South Carolina from 1844 to 1847, and the first State Geologist of Alabama, appointed in 1848 and serving until his death. His early descriptions and maps of the Bi ...

, reporting on the mineral resources of Alabama. In 1878 he served as honorary commissioner for the state of Alabama to the Exposition Universelle in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. From 1884–1889 he served as a member of the American committee for the International Geological Congress. In 1904 he was a sectional vice president for the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

. He was vice president for the

Geological Society of America The Geological Society of America (GSA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences. History The society was founded in Ithaca, New York, in 1888 by Alexander Winchell, John J. Stevenson, Charles H. Hitchco ...

in 1906 and served as president in 1913.Fairchild, Herman LeRoy, 1932, The Geological Society of America 1888-1930, a Chapter in Earth Science History: New York, The Geological Society of America, 232 p. At the age of 86, he died at his home in Tuscaloosa eight days after surgery for a strangulated

hernia A hernia is the abnormal exit of tissue or an organ (anatomy), organ, such as the bowel, through the wall of the cavity in which it normally resides. Various types of hernias can occur, most commonly involving the abdomen, and specifically the gr ...

. During his career, Dr. Smith had 116 publications in geological and scientific scholarly journals. Smith Hall on the

campus is named after him; this building is now the Alabama Museum of Natural History. In 1953, he was made a member of the

Alabama Hall of Fame The Alabama Hall of Fame was established by Act of Alabama No. 646 (1951) to recognize "worthy citizens of the state who rendered outstanding service or who won fame on account of their achievements as to make them exceptional in the history of Alab ...

References

External links

The Eugene Allen Smith Collection
from University Libraries Division of Special Collections,

The University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the public ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Eugene Allen 1841 births 1927 deaths Confederate States Army officers People of Alabama in the American Civil War University of Alabama alumni Heidelberg University alumni People from Autauga County, Alabama 19th-century American geologists 20th-century American geologists Presidents of the Geological Society of America