The Smith family
If ever there was a man born to politics, it was P.J. (Peter, Junior) Smith.
He was born in 1848 in Illinois, where his father was a friend of Abraham Lincoln’s. His paternal grandfather had been a chaplain for George Washington’s troops at Brandywine.
At age 19, Smith signed on with the Union Pacific Railroad as it built its way west. Two years later, he witnessed the driving of the golden spike in Utah that signalled the completion of the intercontinental railroad. He crossed the plains with a small wagon train in 1875, and spent one winter working in the Newcastle mines. For the next two years, he worked for William Pickering, Jr. until he had enough money for his own dairy farm (where the Holiday Inn stands today.)
His political service was extensive: justice of the peace for the Squak Precinct; country assessor for east King County; state dairy commissioner; King County Commissioner from 1900-1906; and mayor of Issaquah for several terms. His daughter, Helen Smith Nelson, followed in his footsteps serving as Issaquah city clerk and treasurer for 20 years.
