16 MARYLAND MANUAL.

county, and settled down to farming in the first district, near
Port Republic. He was fifty-three years of age and a widower
with five children when elected to the Senate. He was a son of
the late Capt. Basil Duke Bond, of Calvert county. Mr. Bond's
seat in the Senate was contested by George W. Dowell, Repub-
lican.

He was chairman of committee on roads and highways; on
committee on inspections, on committee on agriculture and labor,
on committee on printing, on committee on retrenchment of
expenses of State government, on committee on library.

On February 17th, 1896, Senator Bond died at Annapolis, of
congestion of the liver. The Senate and House appointed com-
mittees to attend his funeral. The State steamer McLane car-
ried his remains to his county; and he was buried near his home
in Calvert county.

CAROLINE COUNTY.

Senator Thomas A. Smith.

Thomas Alexander Smith, the present Senator from Caroline
county, Maryland, was born near Greenwood, Sussex county,
Delaware, September 3, 1850. His father, Sylvester Smith, is
a member of the Smith family of Delaware, among whom have
been some of Delaware's most representative and useful citizens.
He is also related to the Saulsburys, who controlled the political
destinies of that State for more than a generation, and who
proved themselves worthy of the great positions of trust to
which they were elevated. The mother of Senator Smith was a
Miss Gullett, who was a relative of the Todds, for whom Todd's
Chapel, near Adamsville, Delaware, was named. In 1856, his
parents removed to Caroline county, near Ridgely, (which has
been entirely built since, ) on a farm, where the son received
some school advantages which were meager, and the time for
attending same limited to the winter months. Denton Academy
was the leading school in the county, and the son was allowed to
enjoy its advantages for several months. He soon entered upon
the duties of a public school teacher, teaching in Maryland,
Delaware and Michigan; while in Michigan he met Miss Adah
C. Frazer, whom he afterwards married. After teaching several
years, he engaged in the mercantile business in Ridgely, Maryland,
with his brother. In 1876, he was appointed railroad agent at
Ridgely, which position he has held ever since. Aside from this,
he has been largely interested in evaporating fruit and dealing
in grain, lumber and coal. His business tact is extraordinary,
and his energy a subject of much favorable comment among his
friends. In all of his enterprises they have made him quite