Joseph W. Smith

AKA: Joseph William Smith
Released
Full name:Joseph Wilson Smith
Date of birth:01. 03. 1870
Date of death:1935
Age:64† Deceased
Gender:Male
Race:White
Era:1900s
State:Nevada
Time Imprisoned:
4 Years 8 Months 2 Days
Support
Labor Organizing Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)
Joseph W. Smith

Biography

Joseph W. Smith was the co-defendant of Morrie R. Preston in the 1907 Goldfield, Nevada frame-up that grew out of the Goldfield Consolidated Mines strike led by the Western Federation of Miners and the IWW. Smith was convicted of manslaughter for his alleged role in the killing of restaurant owner John Silva and sentenced to 10 years at Nevada State Prison. He was paroled in 1911 after a national labor-defense campaign exposed the prosecution as a mine-owner reprisal against striking workers.

Case

Nevada State Prison
Charges: Murder (Goldfield case)
Arrested: Mar 12, 1907
Sentenced: May 9, 1907
Incarcerated: Mar 12, 1907
Released: Nov 14, 1911
Sentence: Ten years. Held from his arrest on March 12, 1907 until release on parole on November 14, 1911 -- 4 years, 8 months and 2 days. Posthumously pardoned on May 12, 1987. Verdict as recorded: Yes — convicted of manslaughter May 9, 1907; posthumously pardoned May 12, 1987
Convicted: Yes
Institution State: Nevada

Related Cases

Morrie R. Preston Morrie R. Preston Charles Moyer Charles Moyer George O'Connell George O'Connell Myron Sprague Myron Sprague