Hoke Smith (1855-1931) was born in Newton, North Carolina, and died in Atlanta, Georgia. His father, Hildreth Hosea Smith, was Mary Baker Eddy's first cousin through her mother's side, making Hoke her first cousin once removed. Smith's family moved to Atlanta in 1868, and he passed the bar examination at the age of seventeen in 1873. He served on the Atlanta Board of Education, first as a member in the 1880s and then as its president from 1896 to 1907. In 1883 he married Marion "Birdie" Smith (b. Cobb) in Macon, Georgia. Smith purchased the Atlanta Journal in 1887, giving him a public platform which he used to enter Democratic politics. The paper's support for Grover Cleveland's presidential campaign led to Smith's appointment as United States secretary of the interior in 1893, a position he resigned from in 1896.
In 1906, Smith entered state politics and ran for Georgia governor. He allied himself with Georgia politician Thomas Edward Watson, 1856-1922, who held segregationist and white supremacist views, and promised to support the disenfranchisement of Black voters. His racial views, as expressed during the 1906 gubernatorial campaign, directly contributed to the Atlanta Race Massacre of 1906. Smith was nonetheless elected as the 58th governor of Georgia from 1907 to 1909 and again in 1911. His governorship was characterized by a mix of Progressive legislation and Jim Crow racism. Smith resigned from his second term as governor in 1911 to serve as a United States senator from Georgia until 1920. Afterwards, he stayed in Washington, D.C., to practice law until 1924. That same year he married Mazie Smith (b. Crawford), his first wife having died in 1919. Smith returned to Atlanta in 1925 and remained active in legal and civic affairs there until his death.
Eddy corresponded occasionally with Smith and his father during the 1890s, and they exchanged photographs. Eddy sent Smith a copy of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, of which he was appreciative.
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Hoke Smith (1855-1931) was born in Newton, North Carolina, and died in Atlanta, Georgia. His father, Hildreth Hosea Smith, was Mary Baker Eddy's first cousin through her mother's side, making Hoke her first cousin once removed. Smith's family moved to Atlanta in 1868, and he passed the bar examination at the age of seventeen in 1873. He served on the Atlanta Board of Education, first as a member in the 1880s and then as its president from 1896 to 1907. In 1883 he married Marion "Birdie" Smith (b. Cobb) in Macon, Georgia. Smith purchased the Atlanta Journal in 1887, giving him a public platform which he used to enter Democratic politics. The paper's support for Grover Cleveland's presidential campaign led to Smith's appointment as United States secretary of the interior in 1893, a position he resigned from in 1896.
In 1906, Smith entered state politics and ran for Georgia governor. He allied himself with Georgia politician Thomas Edward Watson, 1856-1922, who held segregationist and white supremacist views, and promised to support the disenfranchisement of Black voters. His racial views, as expressed during the 1906 gubernatorial campaign, directly contributed to the Atlanta Race Massacre of 1906. Smith was nonetheless elected as the 58th governor of Georgia from 1907 to 1909 and again in 1911. His governorship was characterized by a mix of Progressive legislation and Jim Crow racism. Smith resigned from his second term as governor in 1911 to serve as a United States senator from Georgia until 1920. Afterwards, he stayed in Washington, D.C., to practice law until 1924. That same year he married Mazie Smith (b. Crawford), his first wife having died in 1919. Smith returned to Atlanta in 1925 and remained active in legal and civic affairs there until his death.
Eddy corresponded occasionally with Smith and his father during the 1890s, and they exchanged photographs. Eddy sent Smith a copy of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, of which he was appreciative.
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