Franklin Pierce Smith, A. B., A. M., was born near Salem, Ind., July 9, 1854. His parents were Lewis N. and Nancy J. (Worrall) Smith, natives of Indiana, the father being of English and German lineage, and the mother of Scotch and English. His paternal ancestors were Virginians, and from Virginia the family went to Kentucky and thence to Indiana. Lewis N. Smith was a farmer by occupation, and to the farm life the son was reared. He attended the country district schools and then the Salem Academy, where he was prepared for college. In 1874 he entered the University of Indiana, in which he graduated in 1878, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts. For three years he was principal of the Salem (Ind.) High School, then served one year as superintendent of the schools at Orleans, Ind., and after superintending the Bedford, Ind., schools five years, was again at Orleans for one year. In 1889 he came to Kansas and for one year was principal of the Ottawa High School; and for nearly five years thereafter he was superintendent of the Ottawa city schools, resigning the position, in December, 1894, to become superintendent of the Lawrence city schools, a position he has since held, now serving his seventeenth year in the position.

At Baker University, in 1892, Mr. Smith received the degree of Master of Arts. In educational work he ranks with the foremost in Kansas and has been active in the Kansas State Teachers' Association. In politics he has never been active. He is a Republican, but not a partisan. He is a Knight Templar and a Thirty-third degree Mason, and in church faith is a Methodist. Mr. Smith has been twice married. On Oct. 21, 1878, he wedded Miss Amanda E. Brewer, who died Dec. 24, 1888, leaving a daughter, Daisy B., the wife of A. C. Wherry, of Salt Lake City. On July 2, 1893, he married Miss Rose E. Brock.