Smithson, James Lewis Macie -1835
Philanthropist; place and date of birth not positively known, some authorities giving England about 1754, and others France in 1765. At the commencement of his will, he wrote: “I, James Smithson, son of Hugh, third Duke of Northumberland, and Elizabeth, heiress of the Hungerfords of Audley, and niece to Charles, the proud Duke of Somerset,” without giving the date of his nativity. He took his degree at Oxford University (1786) under the surname of Macie, but between 1791 and 1803 he adopted the family name of Smithson. He was distinguished at the university as a chemist; became the associate of the leading scientists of the day; and was elected fellow of the Royal Society in 1787, to the Transactions of which he contributed eight papers. At his death, in Genoa, Italy, June 27, 1829, he left about 200 manuscripts, which seemed to be chiefly portions of a philosophical dictionary. In his will, dated Oct. 23, 1826, he bequeathed to his nephew the whole of his property, appraised at £ 120,000, or about $590,000, with the condition that, in case of the death of the latter without a child or children, the property was to go to the government of the United States to found, at the national capital, under the name of “The Smithsonian institution,” an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge. His nephew died in 1835, without heirs, and the property accordingly came into the possession of the government.Richard Rush was sent to London to prosecute the claim. In September, 1838, he deposited in the United States mint the proceeds of the bequest in English sovereigns, which amounted to $515.169. By act of Congress, passed in 1846, it was provided that the institution should be placed under the control of a board of trustees, or regents, consisting of the President and Vice-President of the United States, the several members of the cabinet, the chief-justice of the Supreme Court, the commissioner of the patent office, and the mayor of Washington, during their respective terms of office, with such other persons as these may elect honorary members of the institution. Provision was made for the increase of the fund by the accumulation of interest for the purpose of erecting buildings and of other current and incidental expenses, such expenditures to be made wholly from accruing interest (the funds being loaned at 6 per cent.), and not from the principal. Grounds were chosen and a building was erected at a cost of about $500,000.
In December. 1846, the regents or board of trustees of the Smithsonian Institution, as it is called, chose Prof. Joseph Henry as their secretary, which office he held until his death, early in 1878. Provision was made for a library, museum, gallery of art, and lectures. Transactions of learned societies and scientific works were collected; the museum was enriched by the fruits of government explorations and the contributions of individual explorers; a gallery of art was commenced: and lectures, chiefly on scientific subjects, were delivered up to 1865, when a fire destroyed the lecture-room. Then a change was made in the arrangements. The library was incorporated with that of Congress, and its art collection was transferred to the Corcoran Art Gallery. The institution cooperates as far as practicable with other public institutions in Washington, D. C., for the diffusion of knowledge among men. It also distributes much valuable printed matter, chiefly on scientific subjects: and it gives assistance to geographical and other scientific researches. For many years it employed 500 regular meteorological observers scattered over every part of the continent. These operations were afterwards transferred to the United States [237] signal service. The publications of the institution are numerous and of the highest value, and have been distributed gratuitously among all the important scientific and learned associations of the world; and it receives in turn the Transactions of such societies.
Reports are made to Congress annually by the secretary of the institution. These, besides a popular analysis of the memoirs to be contained in the several forthcoming volumes of the Contributions to the institution, are accompanied by a synopsis of lectures and original and translated articles which introduce the student to information and topics of discussion much above the range of those usually presented even to the educated public. These reports are printed at the expense of Congress, and are circulated through the members of both Houses as well as by the institution itself. It keeps up a vast and continually increasing correspondence with all quarters of the globe; and each day brings to it accounts of real or supposed discoveries which are referred to the institution. In 1865 a residuary legacy of Smithson was received, amounting to $26,210. In 1876 the total permanent Smithson fund in the United States treasury, drawing interest at 6 per cent. in gold, amounted to $651,000. There were, besides, depreciated investments valued at $35,000, which, with a cash balance on hand, made the total resources of the institution about $700,000.
