William Owen Smith
| William Owen Smith | |
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Republic of Hawaii Attorney General |
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In office November 6, 1895 – March 20, 1899 |
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| President | Sanford B. Dole |
| Succeeded by | Henry E. Cooper |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
August 4, 1848 Kōloa, Kauaʻi |
| Died | April 13, 1929 (aged 80) Honolulu |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Abbey Hobron |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
William Owen Smith (August 4, 1848 – April 13, 1929) was a lawyer from a family of American missionaries who participated in the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii. He served as attorney general for the entire duration of the provisional Government of Hawaii and the Republic of Hawaii.
Smith was born August 4, 1848 in Kōloa on the island of Kauaʻi. His mother was Millicent Knapp (1816–1891). His father was physician James William Smith (1810–1887). His parents were in the tenth set of missionaries to Hawaii from the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions who arrived in 1842. His sister Charlotte Elizabeth "Lottie" Smith (1845–1896) married Alfred Stedman Hartwell (1836–1912), who was a former general in the American Civil War, on January 10, 1872. His brother Jared Knapp Smith (1849–1897) became a physician and carried on his father's medical practice. His sister Melicent Lena Smith (1854–1943) married William Waterhouse (1852–1942). Waterhouse served as mayor of Pasadena, California 1904–1906.
He attended Daniel Dole's missionary school at Kōloa, Punahou School from 1863 to 1866, and then Massachusetts Agricultural College (now the University of Massachusetts Amherst). On his return he worked as a clerk in his brother-in-law Hartwell's law office. He served as sheriff on Kauaʻi in 1870 and then Maui in 1872 through 1874. While working at the Lāhainā Courthouse, on April 24, 1873 he planted a banyan tree (Ficus benghalensis) to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the arrival of Christian missionaries on the island.
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