Copies of correspondence between George J. Gibbs and others on a variety of topics, especially anthropological, ornithological, and geneological. Included is corresponsence with Spencer Baird and Joseph Henry of the Smithsonian Institution; John Evans; Joseph Hutchings; W.R. Inglis, "late" president of the Turks and Caicos Islands; J.H. Lefroy, "fomer" governor of Bermuda; Sir Anthony Musgrage, governor of Jamaica; and Joseph Hutchings. Also included are photographs of Baird, Evans, Hutchings, Inglis, Lefroy, and Musgrave; a copy of James Smithson's will; sketches of artifacts; geneological information regarding the original colonists of the Bermudas, and excerpts from other sources.
Arrangement:
chronological
Biographical / Historical:
Virtually no biographical information is available. From the text, a birthdate for George J. Gibbs of ca. 1833 has been deduced. In the manuscript, Gibbs states that his father was the Honorable George Gibbs "of these islands" and that his uncle was William H. Gibbs who died ca. 1876. G.J. Gibbs lived on Grand Turk Island of the British West Indies, at that time a Jamaican dependency, was married, and had children (number unknown). According to the text, he became an invalid due to an illness ca. 1875.
Local Note:
Date of birth determined by extrapolation from text: on page 286, 1878, Gibbs says that for 42 years he knew no illness, but "three years ago" [1875] he became ill from exposure on a hunting trip and has ever since been an invalid. [1875 - 42 years = 1833, hypothetical birth date.]
Other Title:
"A correspondence relative to Ancient Stone Implements etc., etc. between George J. Gibbs of Grand Turk and Caicos Islands, W.I. and John Evans Esquire F.R.S. & F.S.A., Honorary Secretary of the Geological and Numismatic Societies of London etc., etc. (the author of a work established in London in the year 1872 entitled ʻAncient Stone Implements, etc. of Great Britainʼ) also with Joseph Henry Esquire Secretary and Diretor of the Smithsonian Intitute and of the National Museum of the United States of America at Washington, D.C. and with other partners on various subjects."
Provenance:
B.G.E. St.Aubyn, Windsor House, Cayman Islands, British West Indies gift July, 1973 74-1
Topic:
Archaeology -- Stone tools -- West Indies Search this
Anthropology -- Indians -- Americas -- West Indies Search this
Natural history -- Ornithology -- West Indies Search this
Social history -- geneology -- Bermuda -- West Indies -- England Search this
Language and languages -- Documentation Search this
Genre/Form:
Letters
Citation:
Manuscript 7173, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
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:
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:
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
Folder 8 George Henry de la Batut's claim to the Smithson estate, 1877-79; information on Thomas Donaldson's meeting with George Henry, 1879; letters from Spencer F. Baird to George Henry exchanging Smithson relics, 1878-79; Samuel P. Langley's refusal...
Folder 10 Copies of reference to Smithson from the records of John D. Enys's grandfather, Davies Gilbert, President of the Royal Society, 1829 or 1830, and college friend of Smithson, 1884
Folders 11-13 Research of William J. Rhees, Spencer F. Baird, and Joseph Henry into the life of Smithson; "James Smithson and His Bequest," by Rhees; critique of article and research by Joseph Lemuel Chester in The Academy, 1878-1894
Folder 14 Photographs of research done by Samuel P. Langley and Cyrus Adler in England on the life of Smithson, 1894; letter from Adler to Harry W. Dorsey about the research, 1908
Folder 2 B. F. Stevens's genealogy of Smithson's lineage, 1895; excerpt from John Goldworth Alger's, "Napoleon's British Visitors and Captives, 1801-1815"; Samuel P. Langley's organization of Smithson's lineage, undated; Penelope Keate's will, 1764
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.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7000, James Smithson Collection
Folder 3 B. F. Stevens, Spencer F. Baird, Samuel P. Langley, and Cyrus Adler's research correspondence and research into Smithson's life, 1880-1898; "James Smithson," in Putnam's Monthly Magazine, 1853; topographical map of Genoa, Italy, 1885 [Removed ...
Folder 4 W. J. Kirkpatrick's research on Colonel Henry Louis Dickinson, 1880; pedigrees of Smithson's family (oversized), 1894 and undated [Removed to Box 11, Folder 5]; "My Doctors," 1892, and related notes, 1895-1907
Folder 6 Frederick Webb Hodge and William J. Rhees's correspondence concerning research, and a list of possible illustrations for Samuel P. Langley's, "Life of Smithson," 1901; illustrations of Hugh Smithson, James Smithson, city of Bath (1786), Fingal...
Folder 1 Excerpt from "James Smithson in Durance," in The Pacific Historical Review, 1943; public inquiries into Smithson's past and his alleged involvement in the U. S. oil industry, 1932-1951; oil reservoir map supposedly made by Smithson in 1862; co...
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.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7000, James Smithson Collection
![view Folder 6 Frederick Webb Hodge and William J. Rhees's correspondence concerning research, and a list of possible illustrations for Samuel P. Langley's, "Life of Smithson," 1901; illustrations of Hugh Smithson, James Smithson, city of Bath (1786), Fingal... digital asset: Hugh Percy, Second Duke of Northumberland, May 18, 1791 [Image no. 82-3156]](https://ids.si.edu/ids/deliveryService?max=170&id=https://sirismm.si.edu/siris/electronicresource.gif "Hugh Percy, Second Duke of Northumberland, May 18, 1791 [Image no. 82-3156]")
![View Folder 6 Frederick Webb Hodge and William J. Rhees's correspondence concerning research, and a list of possible illustrations for Samuel P. Langley's, "Life of Smithson," 1901; illustrations of Hugh Smithson, James Smithson, city of Bath (1786), Fingal... digital asset: Hugh Percy, Second Duke of Northumberland, May 18, 1791 [Image no. 82-3156]](https://ids.si.edu/ids/deliveryService?max=120&id=https://sirismm.si.edu/siris/electronicresource.gif "Hugh Percy, Second Duke of Northumberland, May 18, 1791 [Image no. 82-3156]")
