James Francis Smith

James Francis Smith ( born January 28, 1859 in San Francisco, California, † June 29, 1928 in Washington, DC) was an American Brigadier General and Governor-General of the Philippines.

Study

After Smith had received a Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts at Santa Clara College in 1877 and 1878, he studied from 1878 to 1881 at the Hastings College of Law in San Francisco. After completing this course of study with a Bachelor of Laws degree, he practiced as a lawyer.

Military career

Later he enlisted in the Territorial Army and rose on May 6, 1898 to colonel of the 1st infantry regiment of California. On October 22, 1898, he became commander of the 1st Brigade of the U.S. VIII Corps. In January 1899 he became a member of the Military Commission of the Philippines. On April 24, 1899 he was promoted to brigadier general in the volunteer army and at the same time military governor of Negros and Visayas.

Judge and Governor-General

He studied law and was since June 17, 1901 Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines when he was first deputy governor of the Philippines in January 1906. Since 1903, he also served as secretary for public procurement in the Gouvernementverwaltung. He was already on 20 September 1906 as successor of Henry Clay Ide Governor General of the Philippines. This office he held until his replacement by William Cameron Forbes on November 11, 1909.

From 1910 until his death, Smith was Associate Judge of the Federal Court of Appeals for customs procedures. He was also temporarily a judge at the Supreme Court of Washington, DC and of the local Court of Appeal.