Degree Recipient

Life Experience

Robert Armstrong Smith was born in Indiana in 1827. He graduated with his law degree from IU in 1850 and became a lawyer. He was auditor of Warrick County, Indiana. From 1850 to 1853, he served as private secretary for his brother-in-law, Willis Gorman. Smith moved with him to the Minnesota Territory when Gorman was appointed its territorial governor in 1853.

 From 1853 to 1856, Smith was treasurer of Ramsey County, Minnesota. He left public office after that and was a banker for the next twenty-five years (even during the Civil War). He was one of the aldermen of Saint Paul, Minnesota. He was also a postmaster and county commissioner. He was elected mayor of Saint Paul in 1887 and served as such from 1887 to 1892 and again from 1894 to 1896. During his mayorship, the city grew to its modern extent, as it annexed fifty outlying plats and additions and over a hundred villages, and it was divided into eleven wards. Near the close of 1896, the Bank of Minnesota failed. To satisfy his creditors, Smith declared bankruptcy and gave up his homestead.

At the age of seventy-two, Smith made a new start and eventually got out of debt. Once again, he was elected mayor of Saint Paul and served from 1900 to 1908. In 1904, he made news by being the oldest mayor of a large city in the U.S. While serving his fifth term as mayor in 1913, he died at age eighty-five.

Marriage and Family

Smith was brother-in-law of Willis Arnold Gorman.

Interesting Anecdote

In 1887, a street in Saint Paul (extending over High Bridge into the west side) was named Smith Avenue in his honor.

References

1. Wylie
2. aeaweb.org/aej/mac/app/2013-0265_app
3. revolvy.com/page/List-of-mayors-of-Saint-Paul-Minnesota
4. Commercial and Financial Chronicle 12/26/1896
5. History of the Police and Fire Departments of the Twin Cities: Their Origin in Early Village Days and Progress to 1900 (1899)
6. The Tacoma Times 01/07/1904
7. Empson, Donald (2006) The Street Where You Live: A Guide to the Place Names of St. Paul