George T. Smith papers

Collection — Box: 1

Identifier: MS 025.001

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

From 1867 to 1879 Smith was promoted multiple times while a member of the Company B of the Burnside National Guard and the Battalions of the Rhode Island Militia. While in the Burnside National Guard, he achieved the rank of First Lieutenant, while also being elected to the office of Commissary. Then while a member of the 6th battalion, Smith achieved the rank of Major. Finally, while in the 4th battalion he was eventually elected to Adjutant.

On June 24, 1885, a letter was addressed to Smith that called for the discharge of George H. Simms, who was the Quartermaster of the 4th Battalion of Infantry. The letter was signed by Governor George Peabody Wetmore and Adjutant General Elisha Dyer, Jr.

On January 31, 1887, Smith received a letter from the Adjutant General Dyer containing orders to honorably discharge the following men; 1st Lieutenant Thomas Brinn - Adjutant, 1st Lieutenant William F Jackson - Quartermaster, 1st Lieutenant Joseph Monroe - Commissary, 1st Lieutenant John S Brown - Paymaster and 1st Lieutenant Mahlon Van Horne - Chaplain.

Additional documents in the collection are Smith family papers. These include a plot deed and map of the Pocasset Cemetery in Cranston, belonging to Lucy A. Smith, dated August 5, 1907, and a warranty deed for a property on Ninigret Avenue, in Providence, which was sold to Gertrude E. Smith from Hallis and Lina Smith, dated November 19, 1918.

Dates

Creation: 1867 - 1918

Conditions Governing Use

RIBHS staff may determine use restrictions dependent on the physical condition of manuscript materials.

Biographical / Historical

George Thomas Smith was born in January 1848 in Providence, Rhode Island, to William B. Smith, a teamster and clergyman at Mt. Zion AME Church, and Ann M. (Keys) Smith, both of Maryland. He married Lucy Ann (McCarty) Smith in 1868. George and Lucy had eight children, William (b. 1869), George T., Jr. (b. 1872), Gertrude E. (b. 1875), Lucy M. (1878), Mary J. (b. 1880), Charles H. H. (b. 1883), Eveline E. (b. 1886), and Alice E.(b. 1888). A carriage painter by trade, he served in the Rhode Island Militia from 1867 until his resignation in 1887.

His militia career: -1869: 2nd Lieutenant, Company B of the Burnside National Guards -1870: 1st Lieutenant, Company B of the Burnside National Guards -1871: Paymaster, Burnside National Guards -1874: Commissary, Burnside National Guards -1875: Adjutant, Burnside National Guards, now called Sixth Battalion of Infantry -1878: Major, Sixth Battalion of Infantry -1881: 1st Lieutenant and Adjutant, Fourth Battalion Rhode Island Infantry -1883, Major and Commander, Fourth Battalion Rhode Island Infantry, remained in this position until his resignation in 1887. His brother, Major Albert E. Smith, was the previous commander of the Fourth Battalion

In 1881, the Fourth Battalion traveled to Washington, D.C., to participate in the inauguration of President James A. Garfield. That same year, the Fourth Battalion marched in the funeral procession of Senator Ambrose Burnside in Providence.

Smith was a member of the Weybosset Lodge of the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows and, in 1888, served as the secretary of the Seventh Ward Colored Republican Club.

Smith passed away at the age of 59 on July 17th, 1907 from a brain edema after he tripped and fell to avoid a group of walking children and broke his right femur two weeks earlier. He was buried at Pocasset Cemetery in Cranston, where his wife was later buried in 1928.

Extent

.5 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

The George T. Smith papers contain documents from his service in the Rhode Island Militia, dated between 1867 and 1887. They include promotions in rank and appointments to the positions of commissary and adjutant. The collection also contains a plot deed in Pocasset Cemetary in Cranston for Smith's wife, Lucy Ann Smith, and a deed to a property in Providence owned by his daughter, Gertrude E. Smith.