American publisher, born in Lebanon, CT, on the 30th of March 1829; graduated from Brown University, and in 1850 married Annie Ellsworth, granddaughter of Chief Justice Ellsworth. After studying law, Mr. Smith settled in Lafayette, IN. While in Europe in 1868, he made the acquaintance of Dr. J. G. Holland, and together with the latter and Charles Scribner founded Scribner’s Monthly in 1870. Having, in 1881, obtained a controlling interest in the monthly, he changed the name to the Century Magazine, and became founder and president of the Century Publishing Company. St. Nicholas, a magazine for children, was founded by him in 1873. About this time he established, in England, an agency for the sale of his magazines, thus bringing about the circulation of American magazines there, where they soon became popular. Among his other undertakings was the organization of the Century Dictionary enterprise, under the editorship of Prof. W. D. Whitney. Mr. Smith died in New York City on the 18th of April 1892.
