E.E. Smith.
by Lisa Y. Henderson
This North Carolina Highway Historical Marker, located northeast of Faison in Duplin County, commemorates Ezekiel Ezra Smith, educator, minister of the gospel, and United States minister to Liberia. Smith’s first wife was William Ann Burnett. For more on his life, see History of the American Negro and his Institutions, Volume 4, Arthur Bunyan Caldwell, ed.; and Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, Volume 5, William S. Powell.
In the 1860 census of North Division, Duplin County: Cassy Smith, 45; her children Charlott, 25, Dorcas, 19, Rebecca, 16, Richard, 14, Mary G., 12, Ezekiel, 8, Theus, 4, and an infant, 2 months; plus Calvin Brock, 10, and Samuel Perlie, 35.
In the 1860 census of Goldsboro, Wayne County, Wm Burnett, 49, barber, and wife Cuzzy, 50. Next door: Dolly Burnett with daughters Polly, 12, Betsy, 5, and William An, 3. Next door to them: Solomon Finch, 28, barkeeper, wife Eliza [née Burnett], 27, seamstress, and children Georgianna, 10, and Thomas Russell Finch, 2.
Fourth Generation Inclusive 
[…] were among former free men of color hired to teach in Wayne County colored schools. (Another was E.E. Smith.) John and George were posted near Fremont, in northern Wayne County, where John met and married […]
[…] Ezekiel Ezra Smith was appointed as Chestnutt’s replacement in 1883. E. E. Smith had a long and distinguished career at the school. During his span as principal (and eventually president) at the institution, he served in a host of other positions. Smith was appointed Minister Resident and Consul General of the U. S. to Liberia by President Grover Cleveland in 1888. George H. Williams assumed the duties of principal in Smith’s absence. After serving in Liberia for two years, Smith returned to North Carolina to organize the state’s first newspaper for African-Americans, The Carolina Enterprise, in Goldsboro. During Smith’s tenure, he saw the school the school move to its permanent location on Murchison Road in 1907. The high school curriculum was discontinued by the state in 1929 and Smith’s title change to president. He retired in 1933. […]
[…] shining eulogy was penned by Ezekiel Ezra “E.E.” Smith (1852-1933), college president, recent United States Ambassador to Liberia, and arguably the most […]