Charles Blood Smith, of Topeka, a lawyer of distinguished ability, was born in Oswego, Kendall county, Illinois, June 26, 1850, the eldest child of Dr. William Smith, who was first a physician and later a lawyer. Dr. William Smith was born in Massachusetts, in 1819, and in early youth removed with his parents from Massachusetts to Alleghany county, New York, where he prepared for the profession of medicine. He located in Kendall county, Illinois, in 1846, and there began the practice of his profession, but in 1849 he returned to Bath, N. Y., where he was married to Miss Rebecca Blood, daughter of Asa Blood and a native of Bath, born there in 1824. Dr. William Smith returned to Kendall county, Illinois, with his bride and continued his practice there until 1851, when he removed to Ottawa, Ill., and from there to Geneseo, Henry county, Illinois, in 1859. In the meantime he had studied law and practiced that profession, in Geneseo, Ill., from 1859 until 1878. In the latter year he removed to Topeka, Kan., where he lived in practical retirement until his death, in 1904. His wife survived him until 1908, her death also occurring in Topeka. Three children survive these parents—Charles Blood, William A., and Mrs. Flora Morton, all of whom are residents of Topeka. The paternal ancestry of Charles Blood Smith is of Scotch-Irish descent and can be traced back directly to Robert Smith, who removed from England to Ireland in 1658. His son Robert, born in the north of Ireland in 1672, immigrated to America and died at Palmer, Mass., in 1759. The following quaint epitaph appears on his tombstone in the Palmer cemetery, at Palmer, Mass.:

Robert Smith, of Palmer, Mass., had four children—James, Patrick, Margaret, and a Mrs. Parkhill. James Smith, known as Deacon James Smith, was born in Ireland, in 1692, and came to Palmer, Mass., with his father's family, in 1718. He married Margaret Brown, a native of Scotland, and to them were born five children—John, Robert, James, Jr., Hugh, and Margaret. Deacon James Smith died in 1776, and of his children, James, Jr., was the great-great-grandfather of Charles Blood Smith. James Smith, Jr., was born in 1721 and died in 1811. He married Margaret McLelland, and of their seven children—Margaret, James, Robert, John, Anna, Jane, and Thankful—James became the great-grandfather of Charles Blood Smith. He was born in 1751 and became a lieutenant in the Revolutionary war. He married Dolly Watson, in 1774, and they became the parents of ten children: Samuel was born in 1775, Lena in 1777, John in 1778, Amos in 1780, Polly in 1782, Hannah in 1785, Eli in 1787, Jesse in 1789, Betty in 1791, and Lydia in 1794. Lieut. James Smith died in 1835. His son Jesse, born July 2, 1789, first married Nancy Mason, Oct. 2, 1816, and after her death married, on March 24, 1831, Cynthia Cooley, a sister of Lucy Cooley, who became the wife of John Smith, his brother. Of the first marriage were born three children—William in 1819, Harriet in 1821, and Amos in 1824. One daughter, Celia, was born of the second union, in 1833. Of these children, William was the father of Charles B.

Charles Blood Smith was educated at Cornell University, at Ithaca, N. Y. After teaching for two years in the State of Illinois, he entered the law office of McCagg, Fuller & Culver, at Chicago, in 1871, and then fully prepared himself for the profession of law. In 1873 he came to Topeka, Kan., and was admitted to the bar there shortly afterward. He at once entered upon his legal career in that city and has continued there for the past thirty-eight years, with marked success. In 1875 he entered the law department of the Kansas Pacific Railway Company, as assistant to Edgar W. Dennis, solicitor of that road, and in 1876 formed a legal partnership with the late William H. Rossington, which continued until the death of Mr. Rossington, in 1908, a period of more than thirty years. In 1878 William A. Johnston, the present chief justice of Kansas, became a member of the firm, when it became Rossington, Johnston & Smith, and so continued until Mr. Johnston's elevation to the supreme bench of the state, which occurred in 1884. In that year Everett J. Dallas joined the firm, when it became Rossington, Smith & Dallas, and thus continued a number of years, when Mr. Dallas retired and Clifford Histed, now a lawyer of Kansas City, Mo., became a member of the firm. The firm of Rossington, Smith & Histed continued until 1904, when Mr. Histed retired and removed to Kansas City, his successor in the firm being Judson S. West. In 1906 Mr. West retired to become assistant attorney general of the state, and now is a member of the supreme court of the state. During all of these various partnerships the firm enjoyed a large practice, and was not only one of the best known in Topeka but also in the state as well. Since the death of Mr. Rossington, Mr. Smith has ably maintained the dignity and prestige which the firm has so long enjoyed in legal circles. He is a member of the Shawnee County Bar Association, the Kansas State Bar Association, and the American Bar Association. For several years he was one of the vice-presidents of the American Bar Association, and the Kansas member of the General Council of the American Bar Association. He is a member of the Commercial Club, the Country Club, and the Topeka Club. He is a member of the Protestant Episcopal church and is lay chancellor of that church in the diocese of Kansas. He is also one of the trustees of the church property of the Kansas diocese and a member of the board of trustees of Christ Hospital, of Topeka.

Mr. Smith has been married twice. His first marriage occurred Oct. 25, 1876, when he was united to Miss Abbie Holt, who died in November, 1890, leaving four children: Louise, the wife of Eugene Sallee, of Topeka; Helen D., Eva A., and Isabel M. His second marriage took place Aug. 4, 1893, and united him to Miss Miriam Redden, of Topeka.