Benjamin Smith (slave trader): Difference between revisions

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Benjamin Smith (1717–1770) was a merchant banker, politician, plantation owner and slave trader from Charles Town, South Carolina. He served as Speaker of the Royal Assembly.

He was born into one of the most prominent families of South Carolina. He was a great-grandson of the South Carolina governor and landgrave Thomas Smith, who had arrived in Charles Town in 1684. His grandfather was Thomas Smith II, the 2nd landgrave and also an important figure in the colony. He was also the uncle of North Carolina governor Benjamin Smith.^[1]

He was one of the most prominent merchant bankers in the colony in his lifetime.^[2] He inherited a two-thousand-acre plantation located in the St James Goose Creek parish. He also owned the Accabee plantation on the Ashley River and several other properties, including a town house with twelve slaves in Charleston. The town house, the family's primary residence, was built in the 1740s and is located on 49 Broad Street in Charleston; it is now known as the Benjamin Smith House.^[3]

He was active in the slave trade and the fur trade, and owned seven ships with some other merchants. He held numerous civic offices and served in the Royal Assembly from 1747 to 1765, including as Speaker for many years. He also funded a "negro school" run by the priest Alexander Garden.^[4]

He was the father of Judith Smith (1766–1820), who was married to the revolutionary officer and lieutenant governor of South Carolina James Ladson.

References

^ Alan D. Watson, General Benjamin Smith: A Biography of the North Carolina Governor, p. 5, McFarland, 2014, ISBN 9780786485284
^ The Nine Lives of Robert Deans: A Cabinetmaker and Master Builder in Edinburgh, Charleston, and London, 1740–1780
^ Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress)
^ Dorothy Middleton Anderson, Margaret Middleton Rivers Eastman, St. Philip's Church of Charleston: An Early History of the Oldest Parish in South Carolina, Arcadia Publishing, 2015, 9781625854070

[1] Alan D. Watson, General Benjamin Smith: A Biography of the North Carolina Governor, p. 5, McFarland, 2014, ISBN 9780786485284

[2] The Nine Lives of Robert Deans: A Cabinetmaker and Master Builder in Edinburgh, Charleston, and London, 1740–1780

[3] Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress)

[4] Dorothy Middleton Anderson, Margaret Middleton Rivers Eastman, St. Philip's Church of Charleston: An Early History of the Oldest Parish in South Carolina, Arcadia Publishing, 2015, 9781625854070

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 [[File:49 Broad.JPG|thumb|Benjamin Smith House (49 Broad Street)]]
-He was one of the most prominent merchant bankers in the colony in his lifetime.<ref>[http://www.mesdajournal.org/2015/lives-robert-deans-cabinetmaker-master-builder-edinburgh-charleston-london-1740-1780/ The Nine Lives of Robert Deans: A Cabinetmaker and Master Builder in Edinburgh, Charleston, and London, 1740–1780]</ref> He inherited a two-thousand-acre plantation located in the St James Goose Creek parish. He also owned the Accabee plantation on the Ashley River and several other properties, including a town house with twelve slaves in Charleston. He was active in the [[Slavery in the United States|slave trade]] and the [[fur trade]], and owned seven ships with some other merchants. He held numerous civic offices and served in the Royal Assembly from 1747 to 1765, including as Speaker for many years. He also funded a "negro school" run by the priest [[Alexander Garden (priest)|Alexander Garden]].<ref>Dorothy Middleton Anderson, Margaret Middleton Rivers Eastman, ''St. Philip's Church of Charleston: An Early History of the Oldest Parish in South Carolina, Arcadia Publishing, 2015, 9781625854070</ref>
+He was one of the most prominent merchant bankers in the colony in his lifetime.<ref>[http://www.mesdajournal.org/2015/lives-robert-deans-cabinetmaker-master-builder-edinburgh-charleston-london-1740-1780/ The Nine Lives of Robert Deans: A Cabinetmaker and Master Builder in Edinburgh, Charleston, and London, 1740–1780]</ref> He inherited a two-thousand-acre plantation located in the St James Goose Creek parish. He also owned the Accabee plantation on the Ashley River and several other properties, including a town house with twelve slaves in Charleston. The town house, the family's primary residence, was built in the 1740s and is located on 49 Broad Street in Charleston; it is now known as the Benjamin Smith House.<ref>[https://www.loc.gov/item/sc0571/ Historic American Buildings Survey] (Library of Congress)</ref>
+He was active in the [[Slavery in the United States|slave trade]] and the [[fur trade]], and owned seven ships with some other merchants. He held numerous civic offices and served in the Royal Assembly from 1747 to 1765, including as Speaker for many years. He also funded a "negro school" run by the priest [[Alexander Garden (priest)|Alexander Garden]].<ref>Dorothy Middleton Anderson, Margaret Middleton Rivers Eastman, ''St. Philip's Church of Charleston: An Early History of the Oldest Parish in South Carolina, Arcadia Publishing, 2015, 9781625854070</ref>
-He was the father of Judith Smith (1766–1820), who was married to the revolutionary officer and lieutenant governor of South Carolina [[James Ladson]].
+He was the father of Judith Smith (1766–1820), who was married to the revolutionary officer and lieutenant governor of South Carolina [[James Ladson]].
-The Smith family lived in a large house on 49 Broad Street in Charleston, built in the 1740s and now known as the Benjamin Smith House.<ref>[https://www.loc.gov/item/sc0571/ Historic American Buildings Survey] (Library of Congress)</ref>
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