1907. Smith had several careers: engineer, artist, illustrator and short story writer. His success in engineering included planning the foundations for the Statue of Liberty. He traveled frequently to Europe and became known for his portraits and illustration. Smith was an entertaining after-dinner storyteller and in his fifties he decided to commit his stories to paper and is remembered for his Colonel Carter novels. The Romance of an Old-Fashioned Gentleman is a South Maryland period romance classic. The book begins: Blossom week in Maryland! The air steeped in perfume and soft as a caress; the sky a luminous gray interwoven with threads of silver, flakings of pearl and tiny scales of opal.