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| "As his son I am proud of his efforts to succeed in life" Jefferson Randolph Smith III Artifact #93-2 Jeff Smith collection |
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oapy's son hires a legal firm to stop the defamation of his father's name.
At age 30, Jefferson Randolph Smith III, Soapy and Mary's oldest son, was protecting his father's legacy and his mother's reputation from "libel" and scandal. He was also protecting himself as he worked behind the scenes in St. Louis city politics and couldn't afford his rivals finding out that his father was a notorious old west confidence man and crime figure.
The six typed documents are rough draft/copies for Jefferson's files. The first one is dated July 20, 1917, reading as follows
St. Louis, July 20 1917.Lord Shaughnessy, K.C.V.O.
President, Canadian Pacific Railway Co.,
Montreal, Canada.
My dear Lord Shaughnessy:-
Inthe most recent issue ofyour booklet "Alaska" you devote considerable space to an arraignment of my father who lost his life in Skagway nearly twenty years ago. There is considerable in his life that probably appeals to many persons as romantic but probably you yourself recall those days of the making of Alaska when the great Klondike gold rush was on. He was only one of thousands who led a life more or less rugged.
Ofallthe thousands of stories that have appeared inthenewspapers and magazines in the United States not oneof themever referred to him as an outlaw. It was evident to these writers and publishers that although he had figured in the upbuilding of a new country he was far from being other than aman who could be trusted[Jeff adds in pencil: "solider of fortune."]
As his son I am proud of his efforts to succeed in life because circumstanceshad forced upon him early in life the responsibility of caring for a large family, thus robbing him of the education that he made possible for his brothers and sisters.
Letters from the Presidents, statesmen and recognized men of affairs addressed to him in confidential terms and which are in my possession show that irrespective of all that was said and published of him he waswell-thought of,trusted andrespected. These men know he was not an outlaw or "part outlaw."
Scores and scores of persons not only in St. Louis but elsewhere throughout the country, especially in the great Northwest know me as the son of the man you so unfairly arraign and I cannot let this go unchallenged.
I am enclosing a copy of your booklet in which you[r] attackhim and his peopleappears.
It is fascinating how Jefferson, my grandfather, defended his father's career choice in writing, how proud he is "... of his efforts to succeed in life because circumstances had forced upon him early in life the responsibility of caring for a large family, thus robbing him of the education that he made possible for his brothers and sisters."
Four days later Jeff received a reply.
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| "Let me assure you that we are very sorry" Artifact #93-3 Jeff Smith collection |
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The reply reads as follows.
CANADIAN PACFIC RAILWAY COMPANYJ. M. GIBBON,
GENERAL PUBLICTY AGENT.
J. C. S. BENNETT,
OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPHERMONTREAL, July 24, 1917.IN YOUR REPLY PLEASE REFER TO FILE NO. B 10951
Reference to Mr. Smith in "Alaska" Folder.
Jefferson Smith, Esq.
5348 North Market Street,
St. Louis, Mo.
Dear Mr. Smith,
Lord Shaughnessy has referred to this Department your letter July 20th. regarding reference in our "Alaska" folder to your late father.
Let me assure you that we are very sorry that this reference has caused you any pain. The person who compiled the booklet in question cannot have taken a great deal of care to verify his statements, although he is one upon whom we usually place great reliance.
I shall see that the statement is not repeated in any further issue of the booklet.
Yours truly,
CS Stokes [signed]
Asst. General Publicity Agent.
Jeff didn't let it go. Some time later Jeff hired an attorney from the firm of Morris and Zachritz, who after several months contacted the company via a two page letter.
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| Soapy Smith Artifact #93-1A "Half outlaw - half political heeler" Jeff Smith collection |
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| "Insisting on immediate action" Artifact 93-1D Jeff Smith collection |
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This two page letter is dated January 10, 1917. As Jeff had written his first letter to the publishing company on July 20, 1917, it is believed that this first letter to the same company, by Jeff's attorney is actually January 10, 1918.
January the 10thNineteen - seventeen.
Dear Sir:-
In re:- FILE NO. B-10951
In your publicity folder, entitled "ALASKA", widely circulated throughout North America during the summer months, your company published of and concerning the deceased father of Mr. Jefferson Smith, of this city, certain false and defamatory statements, which we quote as follows:-
"To-day Skagway boasts scarcely a thousand souls, but in the eighteen years of its life it has crowded in enough incident to provide volumes for the historian. All have read of the famous gambling hells with which the town was once infested, and none should fail to make the four-mile journey out to the old cemetery where lies the body of "Soapy Smith", the famous Boss of the town, half outlaw, half political heeler. The Sylvester Wharf still stands, half a ruin now, to mark the place where "Soapy" Smith was shot, and the day when the sober citizens of Skagway decided to reform the town, which was suffering from its evil reputation.
Skagway, once the wildest, wickedest town in the world, in now a model of propriety."
This drew from our client a vigorous protest, in the form of a letter to Lord Shaughnessy, under date of July 20th, 1917, also briefly setting forth his father's real status in the community. Under the date of July 24th a reply was written by your Mr. C. S. Stokes, Ass't General Publicity Agent, (File No. B-10951) which although conciliatory in tone, did not offer a plausible excuse for the appearance of the above statements and was not followed by a retraction.
On the authority of:- "HUOT -vs- NOISEAUX 2 Quebec Q. B. 521 and under the Revised Statutes of Missouri, Section No. 4818, our client's rights in the premises seem clear. The decision fully sustains the right of a son to maintain an action for the defamation of his deceased father and the statute provides as follows:-
"A libel is the malicious defamation of a person made public by any writings, sign, picture, representation of effigy tending to provoke him to wrath or expose him to ridicule or to deprive him of the benefits of public confidence and social intercourse, or ANY MALICIOUS DEFEMATION MADE PUBLIC AS AFORESAID, DESIGNED TO BLACKEN AND VILIFY THE MEMORY OF ONE WHO IS DEAD AND TENDING TO SCANDALIZE HIS SURVIVING RELATIVES AND FRIENDS."
The appellate courts of this State have repeatedly cited and applied the above statute to both civil and criminal cases. See the following decisions:-
Kenworthy -vs- Journal Co. 117 App 327Seven days later, on January 17, 1918, the Canadian Pacific Railway Company responds to Jefferson's attorneys.
Julian -vs- Kansas City Star 209 Mo 35
Spurlock -vs- Investment Co. 59 App 225
Houston -vs- Wooley 37 App 16
McCloskey -vs- Pub Co. 152 Mo 339
Our client is insisting on immediate action on our part, to the end that the memory of his father may be vindicated and the stigma on his own name and that of his family may be removed. However, before taking action in the premises, we deem it advisable to communicate the above facts to you.
Awaiting your early advice, we are
Very truly,
MORRIS AND ZACHRITZ
Hon. E. W. Beatty, K. C.,
General Counsel,
Canadian Pacific Railway Co.,
Montreal, Canada.
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Canadian Pacific Railway Company
Law Department
L-32612
E.W. BEATTY, K.C.
Vice President and General Counsel.
W.H. CURLE, K.C.
General Solicitor.
E.P. FLINTOFT
Assistant General Solicitor.
MONTREAL 17th, Jan'y 1918
Messrs Morris and Zachritz,
Attorneys and Counsellors,
506 Times Building,
St. Louis, Mo.
Dear Sirs:-
The Vice-President and General Counsel has asked me to acknowledge receipt of your letter to him of 10th instant, on behalf of Mr. Jefferson Smith.
I will communicate with you later after enquiring into the matter.
Yours Truly,
W. H. Curle
General Solicitor
WHC/MLR
On February 2, 1918 W.H. Curle responds with Jefferson's attorney's for the last time.
Canadian Pacific Railway Company
Law Department
L-32612
E.W. BEATTY, K.C.
Vice President and General Counsel.
W.H. CURLE, K.C.
General Solicitor.
E.P. FLINTOFT
Assistant General Solicitor.
MONTREAL 17th, Jan'y 1918
Messrs Morris and Zachritz,
Attorneys and Counsellors,
506 Times Building,
St. Louis, Mo.
Dear Sirs:- Re Jefferson Smith
Referring to your letter of 10th ultimo to the Vice President and General Counsel.
I am instructed to decline the suggested claim of your client.
Yours truly,
W. H. Curle
General Solicitor.
WHC/MLR
At this point Jefferson opted to end the legal suit as he knew the next step, his only recourse, was to go to court trial. Records show that in his lifetime, Jefferson attempted to force corrections in the telling of his father's life, numerous times, including films, books and other published works. What is not surprising is that he never took his legal complaints to the court room, as there was always a good possibility that any research by the defense attorneys would uncover and expose to Jeff's political rivals, the fact that his father was a known confidence man, using that fact against any candidates Jeff worked for, thus ending his political career.
Jefferson R. Smith III
APR 27, 2021
JAN 14, 2022
"With spots quadrangular of diamond form, Ensanguined hearts, clubs typical of strife, And spades, the emblems of untimely graves."
—William Cowper
