James Strudwick Smith

Life and Orange County connections

Dated events connected with this person, earliest first. See these 12 dated events in the chronology →

1. 1817–1821 Hillsborough physician James S. Smith serves in Congress James Strudwick Smith, an Orange County-born physician who had studied medicine with Dr. James Webb of Hillsborough, represented the Hillsborough district in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Congresses from March 4, 1817, to March 3, 1821. He was defeated when he sought a third term. People: James WebbSearch the index · NCpedia (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography): Smith, James Strudwick
2. 1821 to 1832 Eagle Lodge runs a lottery to pay for its Masonic Hall Eagle Lodge held a lottery over eleven years and used the proceeds to build the Masonic Hall in Hillsborough, still in use in 1953. People: James Strudwick SmithSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 319
3. July–November 1823 James S. Smith's building commission starts Hillsborough's brick Masonic Hall In July 1823 commissioners James S. Smith, Thomas Clancy and J. P. Sneed advertised in the Hillsborough Recorder for proposals to build a brick Masonic Hall in the town. The cornerstone was laid on November 23, 1823, for the Greek Revival hall designed by William Nichols and built by local brickmasons John Berry and Samuel Hancock. People: John Berry, William Nichols, Samuel HancockSearch the index · DigitalNC: The Hillsborough Recorder, July 23, 1823, page 3 (To Bricklayers and Carpenters)
4. 1835 Orange County sends physicians William Montgomery and James S. Smith to the 1835 convention Ten men were put forward at meetings around the county, and the voters chose two physicians, William Montgomery and James S. Smith. Each sided with the majority that abolished borough seats, which cost Hillsborough its own member in the House of Commons. People: Thomas Ruffin, Frederick NashSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 86
5. June 11, 1835 James S. Smith of Orange moves to abolish borough seats at the 1835 convention At the state constitutional convention in Raleigh, James S. Smith, one of Orange County's two delegates with William Montgomery, moved on June 11, 1835, to abolish borough representation entirely; the motion failed 61 to 67. The convention's committee later recommended taking the House seat from Hillsborough, Halifax and Salisbury while keeping it for four other towns.Search the index · Documenting the American South: Journal of the Convention ... Which Assembled in the City of Raleigh, on the 4th of June, 1835
6. 1839 Maria L. Spear becomes principal of Hillsborough Female Seminary After William M. Green's last announcement in 1838, the seminary's trustees named Maria L. Spear principal in 1839. People: James Strudwick Smith, Cadwallader Jones, Hugh Waddell, Stephen Moore, William Mercer GreenLefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 136
7. 1840 Hillsborough counts about 787 people, 333 of them enslaved Reading the 1840 census against William Bailey's sketch map of the town in 1839, the Task Force counted about 787 people in the mapped households: 434 white, 333 enslaved and 20 free people of color. Dr. James Webb's household was the largest, and Dr. James S. Smith held the most people, 41. People: James Webb, James Strudwick SmithBurwell School Historic Site Task Force: Antebellum Hillsborough, Slavery, and Enslaved and Free People of Color who Worked at the Burwell School, 1837-1857 (2019), p. 43
8. Early 1842 Hillsborough Literary Association forms with Dennis Heartt as secretary A Literary Association was formed at Hillsborough in early 1842 with Frederick Nash as president; James S. Smith, Cadwallader Jones and Robert Burwell as vice presidents; Dennis Heartt as secretary; and Walter A. Norwood as treasurer. Heartt, a charter member, had helped organize it. People: Frederick Nash, Cadwallader Jones, Robert Armistead Burwell, James Strudwick SmithSearch the index · DigitalNC: Wilmington Chronicle, February 9, 1842, page 2
9. September 7, 1844 Eagle Lodge Masons lay the cornerstone of the new Orange County courthouse Masons of Eagle Lodge, with brethren from University Lodge, laid the cornerstone of the new courthouse in Hillsborough, with Dr. James S. Smith acting as deputy grand master. The Rev. William M. Green gave the oration in the old courthouse nearby. People: James Strudwick Smith, William Mercer GreenSearch the index · DigitalNC: Hillsborough Recorder, September 12, 1844, p. 3
10. August 19, 1845 James S. Smith offers his estate for sale to pay his debts In a notice dated August 19, 1845, in the Hillsborough Recorder, James S. Smith offered property he valued at not less than $35,000 to cover debts of $15,000 or $16,000, saying he would act as his own trustee and salesman. NCpedia says he went bankrupt that year and probably then moved from Hillsborough to a house on Smith Level Road outside Chapel Hill.Search the index · DigitalNC: The Hillsborough Recorder, August 21, 1845, page 3
11. December 7, 1852 James Strudwick Smith dies James Strudwick Smith died on December 7, 1852. His family lived out their lives at the Smith Level Road house outside Chapel Hill, and his daughter Mary Ruffin Smith later gave land to the University of North Carolina.Search the index · NCpedia (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography): Smith, James Strudwick
12. November 1885 Mary Ruffin Smith dies and leaves the university a Chatham County plantation Smith, daughter of the Orange County doctor and congressman James S. Smith, left about 1,500 acres in Chatham County to the university to educate poor students, the Francis Jones Smith Fund. She left small bequests to people formerly enslaved in her household and most of her estate to the Episcopal Church, with Kemp Battle as executor. People: Kemp Plummer BattleSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. II (1912), p. 344