William Smith papers

William Smith (1727-1803) was born near Aberdeen, Scotland to Thomas and Elizabeth Duncan Smith. He attended the University of Aberdeen from 1743-1747, he left before receiving his degree. Smith became a schoolmaster in England and in 1751 came to America to serve as the tutor of the sons of Colonel Martin of Long Island, New York. After Benjamin Franklin read Smith’s pamphlet for the New York Assembly outlining his proposals for a new college in the colony, Franklin asked him to be provost of the newly formed College of Philadelphia, now known as the University of Pennsylvania. In 1753 Smith returned to England to receive orders from the Church of England. In 1789 Smith received an honorary doctorate in Divinity from Oxford University and Trinity College. When the charter for the College of Philadelphia was taken away in 1779 Smith moved to Maryland’s Eastern Shore and became rector of Chester Parish. He also led the Kent County Free School and it’s 140 students. Smith was integral the founding of Washington College and became its first President in 1782. In 1789 Smith left Washington College, he spent the remainder of his life near Philadelphia, he died in 1803. While living in Philadelphia William Smith owned at least one enslaved person. In 1785 William Smith married Rebecca Moore (1733-1793) and together they had eight children: William Moore Smith (1759-1821), Thomas Duncan Smith (1760-1821), Williamina Elizabeth Smith (1762-1790) who married Charles Goldsborough of Horn’s Point, Maryland, Charles Smith (1765-1836) who married Mary Yeates, Phineas Smith (1767-1770), Richard Smith (1769-1823), Rebecca Smith (1772-1837) who married Samuel Blodget, Jr., and Elizabeth Smith (1776-1778).