Scarce Cabinet Card Of Abilene, Kansas, Marshal Thomas J. Smith

Forney'S Studio, Abilene, Texas

Publication: Forney's Studio, nd ca 1899, Abilene

6 1/2" x 4 1/4" silver gelatin photograph cabinet card of Thomas James Smith, with an imprint of Forney's Studio of Abilene, Kansas, on bottom corner and with written information identifying the subject as "Thos. J. Smith, Abilene Marshall, 1870." Thomas J. Smith, also known as Tom "Bear River" Smith, (1830-1870), was a lawman in the Old West and briefly the marshal of the cattle town Abilene, Kansas. Prior to Smith's appointment as Abilene marshal, two St. Louis, Missouri, policemen had been hired. At that time Abilene was a wild cattle town with murders and shootings occurring daily. The town had numerous saloons and brothels, and up until that point a police force was all but nonexistent. The two St. Louis lawmen resigned before their first day of service was complete. Smith arrived in Abilene in late 1869, insisting that he could restore peace to the town using his hands rather than using guns. Smith implemented a law of "no guns in town limits," which was extremely unpopular with many of the cowboys that drifted through town, and over the next two months Smith survived two assassination attempts. On November 2, 1870, Smith and a temporary deputy, believed to be named James McDonald, attempted to serve a warrant on two local farmers, Andrew McConnell and Moses Miles. The two men were wanted in connection with the murder of another Abilene man, John Shea. McDonald and Smith located the suspects in a small settlement ten miles outside of Abilene. A gunfight erupted, in which Smith was badly wounded in the chest. Smith returned fire and wounded McConnell. His deputy fled the scene, and as Smith lay wounded, Moses Miles hit him with the butt of a rifle, then took an axe and decapitated him. McConnell and Miles were captured and arrested in March 1871, Andrew McConnell got 12 years in prison and Moses Miles got 16 years in prison. Afterward, the town of Abilene returned to lawlessness until the next marshal could be hired - legendary lawman and gunfighter "Wild Bill" Hickok. This cabinet card was sold to raise funds for a monument in Smith's honor. Text on reverse reads, THOMAS J. SMITH, who, in 1870, was marshal and chief of police of Abilene, Kansas, at which time and place the great Texas cattle trade then centered. He was coldly and cruelly murdered in a cave by two men, McConnell and Miles, ten miles northeast of Abilene, in October 1870, while attempting to arrest McConnell, who had shot and killed his neighbor. His remains were interred in the Abilene cemetery. This photograph is sold only for the purpose of using the proceeds to purchase and erect a suitable monument to his memory. J. B. Edwards, W. B. Giles, C. A. Hodge, Committee Abilene, Kansas, Sept. 28, 1899. Good plus with some paper residue, ink writing and partial Culver Service stamp on the reverse.