Smithsonian Institution Archives

James Smithson Collection, 1796-1951, circa 1974, 1981-1983

Summary

Collection ID:
SIA.FARU7000
Creators:
Smithson, James, 1765-1829
Dates:
1796-1951, circa 1974, 1981-1983
Languages:
English
Physical Description:
5.37 cu. ft. (8 document boxes) (2 half document boxes) (1 16x20 box) (3 oversize folders)
Repository:
Smithsonian Institution Archives

Descriptive Entry

Descriptive Entry
The James Smithson Collection lacks a great deal of his original papers. Richard Rush brought Smithson's personal effects to the United States in 1838, along with the proceeds from his estate. A fire in the Smithsonian building in 1865 destroyed many of the manuscripts originally acquired by the Institution. Correspondence among individuals seeking information on his life constitutes the majority of the collection, but some personal documents remain. These include some of his scientific papers and research notes, correspondence with friends and fellow scholars, and a handwritten draft of his will, all found in Series 1. Photographic copies of images of Smithson, Henry James Hungerford, documents, places, and people involved with some aspect of the Smithsonian are included as well. These appear in all of the six series.
Series 2 contains documents related to securing the Smithson bequest, establishing the Smithsonian Institution, and claims on the estate by would-be heirs. Series 3 consists of research materials on Smithson's life and lineage. Congress debated the purpose for the Smithsonian Institution for over a decade. Debates, bills, amendments, and letters show the questions and opinions surrounding what Smithson meant by "the increase and diffusion of knowledge . . ." Series 2-3 include correspondence, illustrations, charts, books, and letters concerning Smithson's maternal and paternal genealogies which help piece together his family history. Controversy surrounded one particular branch of Smithson's family, the de la Batuts, after the establishment of the Smithsonian Institution.
Series 4 includes information on the steps taken to move Smithson's remains to America. Newspaper clippings about the transfer of Smithson's remains and tomb to America mark a final chapter in the collection. Photographs, letters, and telegrams follow the story from start to finish, and involve men like Samuel P. Langley, Alexander Graham Bell, Richard Rathbun, William Henry Bishop, and Gilbert H. Grosvenor. Series 5 consists of photographs and liknesses of James Smithson, his relatives, and places and objects related to him. It includes a plaster cast and steel plate engravings of Smithson.
William J. Rhees, Joseph Henry, Spencer F. Baird, Samuel P. Langley, S. Dillon Ripley, and others involved with the Smithsonian Institution fervently sought information on Smithson's life for a variety of books, pamphlets, and articles. Circulars and letters from the 1870s and 1880s show the caliber of their search, but unfortunately very few facts surfaced on the founder of the Institution. This correspondence is scattered throughout the collection, but the actual publications which emerged on Smithson and the Smithsonian's beginnings are included in Series 6.

Historical Note

Historical Note
The birth of James Smithson, founder of the Smithsonian Institution, is thought to be during the year 1765. Born in France, he became a naturalized British citizen around the age of ten. The illegitimate son of Elizabeth Hungerford Keate Macie and Hugh Smithson, 1st Duke of Northumberland, he changed his name as well as his citizenship. After his parents' death, he became known as James Smithson rather than James Macie. On May 7, 1782, he enrolled in Pembroke College, Oxford, and graduated four years later. The natural sciences sparked his interest, and he established a solid reputation as a chemist and mineralogist, despite the lack of quality information available on these topics in the late 1700s. He realized this and worked diligently to collect mineral and ore samples from European countries. Excerpts from his notes show that his excursions often forced him to brave the elements and do without the monetary comforts of his parents. Smithson, although a wealthy man, determined to make a name for himself among scientists without depending upon his heritage. He kept accurate accounts of his experiments and collections and earned the respect of his peers. When the Royal Society of London recognized his scientific abilities and accepted his membership on April 26, 1787, only a year after he graduated from college, he knew his quest and respect for knowledge would yield even greater things. The Society became an outlet for publishing many of his papers, which covered a diverse range of scientific topics, as well as a meeting place for fellow intellectuals like Cavendish, Lavoisier, Arago, Banks, and Fabroni.
James Smithson wrote his Last Will and Testament with the same exactness found in his research notes. He drafted it in 1826 in London, only three years before he died. He died on June 27, 1829, in Genoa, Italy, where he was buried in a British Cemetery. The will entailed his estate to his nephew, Henry James Hungerford, and stated that if his nephew died without an heir the money would go "to the United States of America, to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge . . ."
In 1835 when Henry James Hungerford died without an heir, his mother, Mary Ann de la Batut, claimed her right to the Smithson estate, due to her previous marriage to Colonel Henry Louis Dickinson, half-brother of James Smithson and father of Henry James Hungerford. The British Courts allotted her an annual allowance until her death in 1861. Marie de la Batut's children from her second marriage had no blood or legal relationship to James Smithson; however, they joined with their spouses and children and persisted over the next few decades to claim various rights to the Smithson estate. George Henry, Emma Kirby, Marie, Charles, and Maurice all contacted the Smithsonian Institution with stories, genealogies, and bargains attempting to convince the Smithsonian administration of their need for and right to the money.
Aaron Vail, charges d'affaires of the United States at London, informed the United States of its right to the Smithson bequest after Hungerford's death. President Andrew Jackson brought the situation before Congress on December 17, 1835, and the government reacted with skepticism. The hesitancy lasted for ten years as Congress contemplated Smithson's motivation for willing such a large sum to a country he never visited. Some considered the bequest "a cheap way of conferring immortality," while others were reluctant to accept such a gift from a foreigner. (Rhees, 1880)
John Quincy Adams liked the idea of a Smithsonian Institution, however, and gathered congressional support for it during the spring of 1836. July 1, 1836, President Jackson commissioned Richard Rush to represent the United State's claim to Smithson's bequest in England. Rush acquired the money, converted it to gold (over $500,000), and brought it to America. Debates ensued and the U. S. Treasury invested the money in Arkansas State Bonds. This investment disturbed John Quincy Adams. Despite their low interest rate, he realized the bonds were untouchable until 1860. Adams spent the last nine months of 1841 trying to access the money. Upon hearing Adams' complaint President John Tyler took action and forced the Treasury to provide the original amount of the bequest plus the appropriate interest on the bonds. In 1846 a final bill passed for the establishment of the Smithsonian Institution.
Another issue began to surface in 1891 when Samuel P. Langley invested in Italian rentes (bonds) for the care of Smithson's grave site in Genoa, Italy. On November 24, 1900, a member of the Committee of the British Burial Ground Association of Genoa informed Langley of a possible need to remove Smithson's remains from the cemetery due to quarrying in the area. William Henry Bishop, U. S. Consul at Genoa, confirmed the impending destruction of the cemetery and offered his assistance along with cost estimates for the transfer of Smithson's remains to the United States. Dr. Alexander Graham Bell, a Regent of the Smithsonian, agreed to accompany the remains from Italy to America as long as the act coincided with Italian and British Law. Dr. Bell and his wife arrived with the remains in Hoboken, New Jersey, on the "Princess Irene" on January 19, 1904. The U. S. S. "Dolphin" then carried the remains to Washington, D.C., where a ceremony in the Main Hall of the Smithsonian Institution Building saluted the founder. Smithson's original tomb was transferred to America later that same year, and the Smithson Mortuary Chapel was constructed in the Smithsonian Institution Building.

Chronology

Chronology
1765
James Macie was born in France
1775
Naturalized British Citizen
1782
Enrolled in Pembroke College, Oxford
1786
Graduated from Pembroke College, Oxford
1787
Member Royal Society
1794
Dorothy Percy willed 3,000 pounds to James Macie (believed to be her half bother)
1808
Smithson was a prisoner of war in Hamburg and wrote to Sir Joseph Banks for help
1818
"A Few Facts Relative to the Colouring Matters of some Vegetables," Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London
1825
"A Method of Fixing Crayon Colors," Annals of Philosophy
1826
"On a Balance for Weighing Globules of Metals," The Technical Repository
1826
Original draft of Smithson's will
1829
Smithson's death in Genoa, Italy
1835
Death of Henry James Hungerford (Smithson's nephew)
1835
U. S. notified of Smithson's bequest
1835
Mary Ann de la Batut (Henry James Hungerford's mother) claimed her right to Smithson's estate
1836
Act of Congress accepted Smithson bequest
1838
British Chancery Court award Smithson Estate to the United States
1836-1842
Congressional debates over what to do with Smithson's bequest
1844
"A Memoir on the Scientific Character and Researches of James Smithson," by Walter R. Johnson
1844-1846
Congressional Bills and Amendments introduced establishing and defining divisions within the Smithsonian
1845
Samuel S. Cox's article for "Brothers" literary society addressed the issue of Smithson's bequest establishing a library or a university
1846
Act of Congress established Smithsonian Institution
1859
"An Account of the Smithsonian Institution," by William J. Rhees
1865
Fire at Smithsonian destroyed most of Smithson's papers
1877-1879
George Henry de la Batut claimed his right to the Smithson estate
1878
"On the Works and Character of James Smithson," by J. R. McD. Irby
1879
"The Scientific Writings of James Smithson," by William J. Rhees
1880
"James Smithson and His Bequest," by William J. Rhees
1881
"Visitor's Guide to the Smithsonian Institution," by William J. Rhees
1881
Emma Kirby de la Batut claimed her right to the Smithson estate
1891
Samuel P. Langley allotted money for the care of Smithson's tomb in Genoa, Italy
1892
Marie (Mary Ann) de la Batut claimed her right to the Smithson estate (wife of George Henry)
1893
Charles and Maurice de la Batut claimed their rights to the Smithson estate
1895
Langley placed bronze tablets on Smithson's tomb in Genoa, recognizing him as founder of the Smithsonian Institution
1901
"Life of Smithson," by Samuel P. Langley
1903
Gilbert H. Grosvenor published newspaper articles advocating the transfer of Smithson's remains to America, due to destruction of cemetery in Genoa
1904
Alexander Graham Bell accompanied Smithson's remains to U.S. on the "Princess Irene"
1904
"The Removal of the Remains of James Smithson," by Samuel P. Langley
1904
Smithson Tomb moved from Italy to U. S.
1905
Erection of Smithson Mortuary Chapel on SI grounds

Administration

Author
Finding aid prepared by Smithsonian Institution Archives

Using the Collection

Prefered Citation
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7000, James Smithson Collection

More Information

Notes

Personal Papers


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Rhees, William Jones, 1830-1907 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Langley, S. P. (Samuel Pierpont), 1834-1906 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Bell, Alexander Graham, 1847-1922 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Northumberland, Hugh Percy, Duke of, 1712-1786 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Macie, Elizabeth Hungerford Keate, 1728-1800 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Smithson, James, 1765-1829 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Pembroke College (University of Cambridge) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Smithsonian Institution Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Wills Topic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Black-and-white photographs Genre/Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Serials (publications) Genre/Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Maps Genre/Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Drawings Genre/Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Clippings Genre/Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Books Genre/Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Illustrations Genre/Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Manuscripts Genre/Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Plates (illustrations) Genre/Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art objects Genre/Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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