Personal Papers
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7000, James Smithson Collection
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.
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.
This record series is indexed under the following controlled access subject terms.
This series consists of originals or copies of Smithson's professional and friendly correspondence, his research notes, his scientific and original papers, and original family documents.
Pembroke College Matriculation Register, 1782 [Image no. 2005-33523]
Handwritten list of minerals (in German, possibly written by Smithson), undated [Image nos. SIA2013-07890 to SIA2013-07933]
Handwritten list of minerals (in German, possibly written by Smithson), undated [Image nos. SIA2013-07934 to SIA2013-07980]
Page one of James Smithson's first scientific paper, "An Account of some chemical Experiments on Tabasheer," read to the Royal Society of London on 7 July 1791. [Image no. SIA2011-1374]
This series documents the Batut family's claim to the Smithson estate and their correspondence with the Smithsonian Institution, the transfer of Smithson's estate to the United States, Smithson's genealogy, and a compilation of his biography.
President Andrew Jackson's Letter to Congress Regarding the Smithson Bequest, December 17, 1835 [Image no. 2005-33527]
This series consists of genealogical charts and information on various branches of Smithson's family, correspondence relating to "Life of Smithson" by Secretary Langley; a map of Genoa, Italy; and several drawings of the SI building, James Smithson, Hugh Smithson, Henry James Hungerford, and places James Smithson traveled during his lifetime.
Hugh Percy, Second Duke of Northumberland, May 18, 1791 [Image no. 82-3156]
View of the City of Bath in 1768 with the River Avon pictured in the foreground and rolling hills of farm land in the distance, 1768 [Image no. 2005-33524]
A view of Laura Place and Johnston Street, Bath, England, 1768 [Image no. 2005-33531]
View of the building called the Royal Crescent, Bath in 1768 [Image no. 2005-33528]
A street scene in Bath, England, includes buildings with signs for the Library Reading Room and Haward, 1768 [Image no 2005-33530]
A close-up view of the City of Bath from a hilltop in 1768 [Image no. 2005-33529]
Lithograph of Fingal's Cave in Ireland, c. 1850s. The lithograph was published for Hermann J. Meyer of 164 William Street in New York. [Image no. 2005-15070]
James Smithson, Student at Pembroke College, Oxford University, 1881 [Image no. SIA2008-2447]
James Smithson, Engraving from Medallion, 1879 [Image no. SIA2008-2446]
"Everyman is a valuable member of society who by his observations, researches and experiments procures knowledge for men." Written by James Smithson, founding donor of the Smithsonian Institution, c. 1820 [Image no. 96-1650]
This series documents the Smithsonian's care of Smithson's tomb in Genoa, Italy, the destruction of the cemetery holding Smithson's remains, the legal dilemmas which faced those who wanted to move the remains to America, the Batut family's claim to the Smithson estate, Alexander Graham Bell's actual transfer of Smithson's remains to the United States on the "Princess Irene," and the ceremony following the arrival of the remains in Washington, D. C., on the U. S. S. "Dolphin." In addition this section concerns the media's involvement with the shipment of the remains and the Smithsonian's efforts to create a monument honoring its founder.
This series consists of illustrations, photographs, and engravings of James Smithson, Hugh Smithson, and Henry James Hungerford. Images of James Smithson's college, personal library, relics, tomb, and the transfer of his remains to America are also included.
A view of the Quad at Pembroke College, Oxford University, c. 1894 [Image no. 2005-15064]
Exterior of Great Hall at Pembroke College, Oxford University, c. 1894 [Image no. 2005-15065]
Quad and Porter's Lodge, Pembroke College, Oxford University, c. 1894 [Image no. 2005-15067]
A view of Pembroke College, Oxford University, looking down at the Quad with senior common room at left with Broadgates Hall to its right, 1894 [Image no. 2005-15062]
A view of the quad with Broadgates to the left and the chapel on the right at Pembroke College, Oxford University, 1894 [Image no. 2005-15066]
A long view of the Quad at Pembroke College, Oxford University, 1894 [Image no. 2005-15063]
A view of the interior of the Chapel at Pembroke College, Oxford University., 1894 [Image no. 2005-15069]
James Smithson's room at Pembroke College, Oxford College, 1894 [Image no. 2005-15061]
Unidentified view of the grounds at Pembroke College, Oxford University, 1894 [Image no. 2005-15068]
Silhouette portrait of Henry James Hungerford, 1830 [Image no. 2002-12209]
Engraving of Hugh Smithson (1714-1786) after a pastel by Hugh Douglas Hamilton, c. 1780 [Image no. 91-6951 or 59717A]
This series includes original publications on the life and work of James Smithson, and documentation of Joseph Henry's and Spencer F. Baird's efforts to obtain information on Smithson's past.