1911 LUCAS SMITH Santa Cruz California CIVIL WAR INDIAN New Mexico BONHAM TEXAS

Description

PLEASE READ BEFORE BUYING:
I sell ONLY ORIGINAL items and NOT ANY reproductions.
READ THIS MAN'S HIST
O
RY D
O
WN BEL
O
W.
INTERESTING CONTENT TO THIS LETTER.
THIS LETTER WAS WRITTEN TO HIS BROTHER, ZAC SMITH, WHO OWNED A HARDWARE STORE IN BONHAM, TEXAS.. (WHERE LUCAS SMITH USED TO LIVE).
This
sale is
for
one
LE
TT
ER
H
E
A
D,
it has normal letter folds,  sold as is,
and is
from
JU
D
GE LU
C
AS F. SMiTH,
THE JUDGE'S CHAMBERS, SUPERI
O
R C
O
URT,
of
SANTA CRUZ, CALIF
ORNIA,
during the year of
1911.
THiS LE
TT
ER iS HAND WRi
TT
EN
&
Si
G
NED
by
LUCA
S
F. SMiTH.
The "ebay item" thing is just a loose piece of paper that is not attached to the letterhead.
This letter was dated Dec. 21, 1911.. which is right before Christmas so he writes "... we join in wishing you a Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year".
Judge Lucas Smith
was one of the most
colorful men to sit on the bench in Santa Cruz County. He lived a life that would do justice to the talents of any great Hollywood screenwriter.
Born at Wells County, Indiana, he worked on the family farm until the age of 14, after which he learned the printing business. In August 1862, before he was 17 years old, he enlisted in the
101st regiment, Indiana Volunteers, and served three years until the end of the Civil War.
After fighting in numerous battles, including Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, Peach Tree Creek, and Atlanta, he joined General Sherman on his famous march to the sea, and was honorably discharged before reaching the age of 20. After the war, he declined an appointment to West Point, in order to study law at the University of Michigan.
After earning his degree, Smith moved to
northern Texas
where he was elected District Attorney of Fannin County, where he prosecuted the famous Ballew-Golden murder case. His work on this case got him appointed
U.S. Attorney for the
New Mexico territory
, a position that he resigned
to raise a company of
rangers
to fight the Apache
Indians.
He returned to private practice and came to California where he eventually settled in Santa Cruz. In 1896, he was elected superior court judge of the county and re-elected time and time again. After the hard fought 1905 election campaign, in which he received over 80 percent of the vote, he waged a decade long verbal battle with Arthur A. Taylor, the diminutive editor of the
Santa Cruz Surf
. Judge Lucas Smith died on September 22, 1924. He was married to Della C. who died in 1946.
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