Douglas Woodall's Ancestry Page > Biological > Smith–Clark Family > Richard E Smith
These reminiscences are taken from a letter written in 1996 by Kenneth Alan Smith (1919–1997, son of Alan Eustace Smith 1881–1960) to Lavella Maxine Burke née Starling (1929–2017, daughter of Leonard George Starling né Smith 1876–1943).
Around 1948/49 the eldest brother Uncle Richard came over and stayed with us in Enfield for several weeks.
I recall him telling me that he went to sea after leaving school (probably when 16) and sailed 3 times around the world in a windjammer. Having seen N York on his travels he decided to go to the USA, a popular trend at the time. He must have been around 19 then and went to the Chicago area working on a farm.
After 2 years or so on the farm, which like the windjammer was a lot of hard work for little pay, he was relaxing one Sunday with a German friend by sketching (Uncle R was quite a good amateur painter) when the German suggested that they went to NY to become surveyors.
Uncle said that he did not know anything of surveying. The German said you did not need to, you just watched the others and used your common sense.
Thus they both returned to N York.
Uncle then went to a building site and asked the foreman if they wanted any surveyors. The foreman asked if he had a head for heights. Uncle replied "Yes, I have served on windjammers", so the foreman pointed to a man several floors up on a girder and told Uncle to report to him as he needed someone to hold the other end of his tapemeasure.
He then apparently took evening classes and eventually worked as a Federal Archivist and Surveyor in the NY area.
About 30 years ago on my first visit to the USA his son Thornton took me into NY Central Library and pointed out on the ground floor all the decorative wrought iron shelving which apparently was one of Uncle Richard's inspirations. I wonder if they are still there or have been modernised in the current trend of things.
He also apparently had a hand in the initial planning of La Guardia airport.