Preview
Class Year
1916
Description
William Lee Smith, LL.B.
Sebree, Kentucky
Delta Chi; Glee Club; Henry Clay Society; Strollers, Cast 4.
Willie Lee has gained considerable notice as a noisemaker. He is something of a warbler, but his big claim for popularity and renown is "Father and the Boys," and his own role in it.
-The Kentuckian, 1916
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William Lee Smith (May 9,1895 - March 16, 1977)* was born in Sebree, Kentucky to William I. Smith and Blondelle Bailey Parker. He worked as an attorney in Evansville, Indiana for many years. Smith was disbarred in 1928 after he was convicted of involvement in a Klan-associated auto theft ring in Indianapolis. He was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison and fined $1000. Smith was paroled after nine months and returned to Evansville. He was reinstated to various bars in Indiana but moved his legal practice to Texas in July 1930. He later moved to Los Angeles, California where he practiced law and worked as a tax consultant. Smith married twice--his wives were Katharine Phillipine Halbig (m. 1927, d. 1938-1939) and Margaret W. Campbell (m. 1939).
*Some records have Smith's birth year as 1894.
