Prepared by
                            Michael McElderry, 1982

                            Revised and Expanded by
                               T. Michael Womack

                              Manuscript Division
                              Library of Congress

                            Washington, D.C.  1998
 
 

                                      ***
 

                          ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
 
 

      The family papers of Samuel Smith (1752-1839), army officer
and statesman, were deposited in the Library of Congress in 1914
by Cary Nicholas Fink and were deeded in 1952 to the Library by
her heirs, Robert Hill Carter and B. Noland Carter.  Other items
were acquired by the Library through purchase and transfer,
1904-1989.

      Copyright in the unpublished writings of Samuel Smith in
these papers and in other collections of papers in the custody of
the Library of Congress has been dedicated to the public.

      A microfilm edition of most of these papers is available on
six reels from the Library's Photoduplication Service for
purchase subject to the Copyright Law of the United States (Title
17, U.S.C.).  This microfilm edition may also be requested on
interlibrary loan through the Library's Loan Division.  The reels
may be requested for a loan period of one month.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

    Readers interested in consulting any of the division's
    collections are advised to write or telephone the
    Manuscript Reading Room at (202) 707-5387 before visiting.
    Many processed and nearly all unprocessed collections are
    stored off site, and advance notice is needed to retrieve
    these items for research use.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
 
 

                   Linear feet of shelf space occupied:  3.6
                   Approximate number of items:        3,100
 
 

                                      ***
 

                               BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
 

Samuel Smith

1752, July 27    Born, Carlisle, Pa.

ca. 1759         Moved to Baltimore, Md.

1771-1774        Visited Europe and conducted business there

1775             Enlisted in the Continental Army

1776             Secured captaincy in William Smallwood's regiment
                 Participated in the Battle of Long Island

1777             Commanded Fort Mifflin

1778             Participated in the Battle of Monmouth
                 Married Margaret Spear

1791             Commanded Maryland troops sent to suppress the
                    Whiskey Insurrection

1793-1803        Member, U.S. House of Representatives from
                    Maryland

1803-1815        Member, U.S. Senate from Maryland

1805-1808        President pro tempore, U.S. Senate

1812-1814        Major general commanding the defense of Baltimore,
                    Md.

1816-1822        Member, U.S. House of Representatives from
                    Maryland

1822-1833        Member, U.S. Senate from Maryland

1835-1838        Mayor, Baltimore, Md.

1839, Apr. 22    Died, Baltimore, Md.
 
 

                                      ***
 

                            SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
 
 

      The Samuel Smith Family Papers consist primarily of
correspondence, letterbooks, and political and military papers of
Samuel Smith (1752-1839) and his son, John Spear Smith (ca.
1790-1866), and to a lesser extent papers of Robert Smith
(1757-1842) and other family members.  The major part of the
collection documents the life of Samuel Smith, who through more
than six decades of public service as a soldier and statesman
contributed to the shaping of the new republic.  The collection
covers the period 1772-1911 with the bulk of the material
concentrated in the years 1777-1865.  An addition of one item
consists of a letter written by Samuel Smith in 1794.
 

                              Samuel Smith Papers

      After entering his father's mercantile business as a young
man, Smith went to Europe as the company's agent in 1772.  A
letterbook from this period records Smith's observations and
highlights the company's commercial transactions overseas.
Further documentation can be found in general correspondence,
such as letters from Robert Morris concerning commercial dealings
in 1786 and 1787.

      First elected to Congress in 1793, Smith served continuously
as a United States representative and senator for the next forty
years and served as chairman of the finance committees of both
houses.  Letters between Smith and other important political
figures, particularly William Harris Crawford, treasury secretary
under James Madison and James Monroe, involve such issues as the
national debt and rechartering the Bank of the United States.
Other material pertaining to public finance is located in the
political papers.  The letterbooks and general correspondence
also provide information on affairs of state and partisan
political activities.  Smith's letterbook during his first two
years as president pro tempore of the Senate, 1805-1807, details
the legislative agenda process.

      Although Smith held several posts during his long military
career, the collection most fully documents his defense of
Baltimore as major general of the Third Division of the Maryland
Militia during the War of 1812.  Several of his letterbooks
contain copies of letters and reports detailing plans for the
preparation and fortification of Fort McHenry, accounts of
British troop and ship movements, and reports on the bombardment
of the fort, 13-14 September 1814.  Smith's involvement in the
Battle of Baltimore is documented in the military papers,
letterbooks, and general correspondence.  The military papers
also include retrospective accounts of Revolutionary War battles.

      Correspondence with secretaries of state Henry Clay, James
Monroe, and Martin Van Buren, as well as James Brown, minister to
France, Christopher Hughes, charge d'affaires in the Netherlands
and Sweden, and Louis McLane, treasury secretary and minister to
Great Britain, reveals the government's desire after the War of
1812 to implement tariffs and trade agreements which would
protect and strengthen the nation's emerging industries.  This
developing American foreign policy, particularly with Great
Britain and France, is reflected in general correspondence and
the political papers.  The general and special correspondence
files also include observations by Smith and his son on
contemporary European affairs.

      Although the collection contains little material from
Smith's years as mayor of Baltimore, 1835-1838, there are
nevertheless items of historical interest for the city as well as
the state of Maryland.  Such topics as the defense of Fort
McHenry, the construction of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, and
the establishment of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis
are discussed in Smith's correspondence with prominent political
figures from Maryland, including Joseph Kent, John Montgomery,
and John Nelson.  The collection also contains several letters
exchanged by Smith with presidents John Quincy Adams, Andrew
Jackson, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison.  Other
correspondents include Nicholas Biddle, John Caldwell Calhoun,
Churchill Caldom Cambreleng, Albert Gallatin, Edward Livingston,
Robert Carter Nicholas, Wilson Cary Nicholas, William Pinkney,
Thomas Jefferson Randolph, Richard Rush, Jonathan Russell, Robert
Carter Smith, Aaron Vail, James Wilkinson, and Levin Winder.

                            John Spear Smith Papers

      The John Spear Smith Papers contain diaries chronicling
Smith's service in John Quincy Adams's diplomatic mission to
Russia in l809 as well as Smith's duties as charge d'affaires in
Great Britain in 1811.  Later entries recount events during the
Civil War, particularly Confederate military activities in
Virginia.  Smith's letters to his father, included in the special
correspondence in the Samuel Smith papers, provide detailed
observations on political, social, and cultural events noted by
Smith while in Europe.  Two letterbooks contain copies of letters
and dispatches by Smith while charge d'affaires in London.  In
them he comments upon political and military crises on the
Continent and their effect upon American foreign policy, trade,
and tariff legislation.  Additional topics include war
preparations in Britain, detainment and confiscation of American
ships, and political intrigue surrounding France's revocation of
the Berlin and Milan decrees.
 

            Robert Smith Papers, Other Family Papers, and Addition

      Samuel Smith's brother, Robert, served as secretary of the
navy under Thomas Jefferson and secretary of state under James
Madison.  The Robert Smith Papers contain a small amount of
correspondence documenting his resignation as secretary of state,
return to private life in Baltimore, and participation in family
real estate activities.  A series titled Other Family Papers
reflects the personal affairs and business concerns of various
Smith family members and also contains descriptive accounts of
the Battle of Bull Run, July 1861.  The Addition consists of a
letter written by Samuel Smith in 1794 while serving in Congress.
 
 

                                      ***
 

                             DESCRIPTION OF SERIES
 
 

Container   Reel
Nos.        Nos.     Series

1-7         1*-5     Samuel Smith Papers, 1772-1850, n.d.
                        Letters sent and received, letterbooks,
                     correspondents other than Samuel Smith,
                     military orders and reports, accounts,
                     financial and legal papers, and printed
                     matter.  Arranged by type of material and
                     chronologically therein.  The series also
                     includes letters exchanged between Smith and
                     his son, John Spear Smith, speeches and
                     writings, and a copy of a logbook taken from
                     the captured British ship _High Flyer_.

8-9         5-6      John Spear Smith Papers, 1804-1867, n.d.
                        Letters sent and received, letterbooks,
                     diaries and notebooks, financial papers,
                     printed matter, and miscellaneous notes and
                     writings.  Arranged by type of material and
                     chronologically therein.

9           6        Robert Smith Papers, 1796-1830, n.d.
                        Letters sent and received and miscellaneous
                     papers.  Arranged chronologically.

9           6        Other Family Papers, 1798-1911, n.d.
                        Letters sent and received, correspondents
                     other than Smith family members, printed
                     matter, and notes.  Arranged alphabetically by
                     type of material and chronologically therein.

9           not      Addition, 1794.
            filmed      Letter sent by Samuel Smith.
 
 
 

*Shelf No. 18,974
 
 

                                      ***
 

                                CONTAINER LIST
 
 

Container   Reel
Nos.        Nos.     Contents

SAMUEL SMITH PAPERS, 1772-1850, n.d.

Box 1       Reel 1   Letterbooks
                        7 June 1772-2 July 1774
                        2 Dec. 1805-18 Apr. 1807
                        8 May 1812-30 Sept. 1814 (6 vols.)
                     General correspondence
                        Sept. 1777-Nov. 1800 (2 folders)

Box 2       Reel 1-2    Jan. 1801-Aug. 1814 (8 folders)

Box 3       Reel 2      Sept. 1814-Nov. 1825 (8 folders)

Box 4       Reel 3      Jan. 1826-Dec. 1833 (8 folders)

Box 5       Reel 3-4    Jan. 1834-Feb. 1838, n.d. (2 folders)
                     Special correspondence, John Spear Smith,
                        1804-1832, n.d. (5 folders)
                     Military papers
                        Accounts, invoices, and supplies, 1777-1778,
                           1813-1814 (2 folders)
                        Correspondents other than Samuel Smith,
                           1792-1814, n.d.

Box 6       Reel 4      Courts-martial, 1781, 1814
                        Miscellany, 1813-1850, n.d.
                        Orders, 1813-1814, n.d.
                        Reports
                           General reports, 1813-1814
                           Morning reports, 1813
                     Political papers
                        Correspondents other than Samuel Smith,
                           1798-l836, n.d.
                        Documents, 1812-1831, n.d.
                        Financial papers, 1802-1831, n.d.

Box 7       Reel 5      Miscellany, 1794-1836, n.d.
                        Printed matter, 1808-1832
                     Miscellany
                        Account book, 1790-1816
                        Biographical sketches, 1834, n.d.
                        Financial papers, 1778-1832, n.d.

                        Inventory booklet of property, furniture,
                           and library, 1800, n.d.
                        Legal papers, 1778-1813, n.d.
                        Ship's log for the _High Flyer_, 22 Mar.-23
                           Sept. 1813
                        Speeches and writings, 1807-1839
 

JOHN SPEAR SMITH PAPERS, 1804-1867, n.d.

Box 8       Reel 5   Diaries and notebooks
                        Commonplace book, 1842-1862, n.d. (2 vols.)
                        Diaries
                           Aug. 1809-Mar. 1862 (4 vols.)
                           Dec. 1862-June 1867
                        Namebook (Confederate soldiers), 1862-1865
                     Letterbooks, 13 May-26 Oct. 1811 (2 vols.)
                     Correspondence
                        July 1809-Oct. 1825 (2 folders)

Box 9       Reel 6      Nov. 1825-Apr. 1860, n.d. (2 folders)
                     Miscellany
                        Documents, 1809-1855
                        Financial papers, 1811-1863
                        Notes, 1857-1866, n.d.
                        Printed matter, 1840-1864
                        Scrapbook, 1860-1862
                        Writings, 1848-1860s
 

ROBERT SMITH PAPERS, 1796-1830, n.d.

                     Correspondence and miscellany, 1796-1830, n.d.
 

OTHER FAMILY PAPERS, 1798-1911, n.d.

                     Correspondence, 1799-1869
                     Miscellany
                        Correspondents other than family members,
                           1811-1863
                        Notes and fragments, n.d.
                        Printed matter, 1798-1864, 1911, n.d.
                           (3 folders)

ADDITION, 1794

    Not filmed       Letter, Samuel Smith to unidentified, 1794
 
 

Samuel Smith

SMITH, Samuel, soldier, born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 27 July, 1752 ; died in Baltimore, Maryland, 22 April, 1839. His father, John, a native of Strabane, Ireland, removed about 1759 to Baltimore, where he was for many years a well-known merchant. In 1763 he was one of the commissioners to raise money by lottery to erect a market-house in Baltimore, and in 1766 was one of the commissioners to lay off an addition to the town. On 14 November, 1769, he was chairman of a meeting of the merchants to prohibit the importation of European goods, and on 31 May, 1774, was appointed a member of the Baltimore committee of correspondence. In 1774 he was also appointed one of the justices of the peace, and in November became one of a committee of observation whose powers extended to the general police and local government of Baltimore town and county, and to the raising of forty companies of "minute-men." The Continental congress having recommended measures for procuring arms and ammunition from abroad, he was appointed on the committee for that purpose from Baltimore. On 5 August, 1776, he was elected a delegate to the convention that was called to frame the first state constitution. In 1781 he was elected to the state senate, and in 1786 was re-elected. Samuel, son of John, spent five years in his father's counting-room in acquiring a commercial education, and sailed for Havre, France, in 1772, as supercargo of one of his father's vessels. He travelled extensively in Europe, and returned home after the battle of Lexington. He offered his services to Maryland and was appointed in 1776 captain of the 6th company of Colonel William Smallwood's regiment of the Maryland' line. In April, 1776, Captain James Barton intercepted on the Chesapeake bay a treasonable correspondence between Governor Robert Eden (q. v.) and Lord George Germaine, and General Charles Lee, who commanded the department, ordered Captain Smith to proceed to Annapolis, seize the person and papers of Governor Eden, and detain him until the will of congress was known. Upon his arrival at Annapolis the council of safety forbade the arrest, claiming that it was an undue assumption of authority. His regiment did eminent service at the battle of Long Island, where it lost one third of its men. He took a creditable part in the battles of Harlem and White Plains, where he was slightly wounded, and in the harassing retreat through New Jersey. He was promoted to the rank of major, 10 December, 1776, and in 1777 to that of lieutenant-colonel of the 4th Maryland regiment, under Colonel James Carvill Hall. He served with credit at the attack on Staten island and at the Brandywine, and, upon the ascent of the British fleet up the Delaware, was detached by Washington to the command of Fort Mifflin. In this naked and exposed work he maintained himself under a continued cannonade from 26 September till 11 November, when he was so severely wounded as to make it necessary to remove him to the Jersey shore. For this gallant defence congress voted him thanks and a sword. When he was not entirely recovered from the effects of his wound, he yet took part in the hardships of Valley Forge. He took an active part in the battle of Monmouth. Being reduced, after a service of three years and a half, from affluence to poverty, he was compelled to resign his commission, but continued to do duty as colonel of the Baltimore militia until the end of the war. In July, 1779, he was challenged to fight a duel with pistols by Colonel Eleazer Oswald, one of the editors of the Maryland "Journal," published at Baltimore. The trouble grew out of the publication in the " Journal " of General Charles Lee's queries, "political and military," which re-fleeted on General Washington, and for which the editors were mobbed. By the advice of friends, Colonel Smith declined the challenge. In 1783 he was appointed one of the port-wardens of Baltimore, and from 1790 to 1792 was a member of the house of delegates. In consequence of the threatened war with Prance and England in 1794, he was appointed brigadier-general of the militia of Baltimore, with the rank of major-general, and commanded the quota of Maryland troops engaged in suppressing the whiskey insurrection in Pennsylvania. In 1793 he was elected a representative in congress, holding the place until 1803, and again from 1816 till 1822. He was a member of the United States senate from 1803 to 1815, and from 1822 to 1833. Under President Jefferson he served without compensation a short time in 1801, as secretary of the navy, though declining the appointment. He was a brigadier-general of militia, and served as major-general of the state troops in the defence of Baltimore in the war of 1812. He was one of the originators of the Bank of Maryland in 1790, and one of the incorporators of the Library company of Baltimore in 1797, and of the Reisterstown turnpike company. He was among the projectors of the Washington monument and the Battle monument at Baltimore. In August, 1835, when he was in his eighty-third year, a committee of his fellow-citizens having called on him to put down a mob that had possession of the city, he at once consented to make the attempt, was successful, and elected mayor of the city, serving until 1838.--His son, John Spear, born in Baltimore, Maryland, about 1790; died there, 17 November, 1866, acted as volunteer aide-de-camp to his father in the defence of Baltimore in 1812-'14. While a young man he prepared, under government auspices, some volumes of valuable research on the commercial relations of the United States. He was appointed secretary of the United States legation at London, and in 1811 was left in charge as charge d'affaires by William Pinkney. He was a member of the Internal improvement convention of Maryland in 1825, and upon the formation of the Maryland historical society in 1844 was made its first president, which post he held until his death. He was at one time judge of the orphans' court, and in 1833 was a presidential elector.--Robert, statesman, brother of General Samuel, born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in =November, 1757 ; died in Baltimore, 26 November, 1842, was graduated at Princeton in 1781, and was present at the battle of Brandywine as a volunteer. He then studied law and practised in Baltimore. In 1789 he was one of the presidential electors, and he was the last survivor of that electoral college. In 1793 he was state senator, from 1796 till 1800 served as a member of the house of delegates, and from 1798 till 1801 sat in the first branch of the city council of Baltimore. He was secretary of the navy from 26 January, 1802, till 1805, United States attorney-general from March till December, 1805, and secretary of state from 6 March, 1809, till 25 November, 1811. On 23 January, 1806, he was appointed chancellor of Maryland, and chief judge of the district of Baltimore, but he declined. He resigned the office of secretary of state, 1 April, 1811, and was offered the embassy to Russia, which he declined. He was president of an auxiliary of the American Bible society in 1813, president of the Maryland agricultural society in 1818, and in 1813 succeeded Archbishop John Carroll as provost of the University of Maryland. He was the author of an "Address to the People of the United States " (1811).--His son, Samuel W., born near Baltimore, 14 August, 1800, was educated at Princeton He served in the city council of Baltimore, was president of the Baltimore club and the Maryland club, a director in the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, and a trustee of the Peabody institute and of Washington university.