Rash's Surname Index
Notes for John Jay SMITH
John Jay Smith was a man of many interests and talents, a lover of learning, and the founder of both Laurel Hill and West Laurel Hill Cemeteries. Born June 27, 1798, in Green Hill (near Burlington), New Jersey, the son of John and Gulielma Morris, Smith was the sixth of seven children. He came from a prominent family, his grandfather having founded the first fire insurance company in America, and his mother being the daughter of James Logan. Smith attended the Friends Boarding School at Westtown, PA, before being apprenticed to a druggist in Philadelphia. From an early age, Smith possessed a great love of reading. Regarding his apprenticeship, he notes in his memoir, I became fond of my new business, but the confinement nearly every evening, and every other Sunday, was extremely irksome. Fortunately, I was fond of reading; possessed a share in the Philadelphia Library, and had a deposit in the Loganian, so that I mastered a heterogeneous amount of books that was appalling. Smith's quest for knowledge was widespread; he attended lectures in science and philosophy, liked music, played the flute and double-flageolet, studied Hebrew, and took fencing lessons.
In 1821, Smith married Rachel Collins Pearsall, the daughter of a New York merchant, and he became active in the establishment of a line of Conestoga wagons that traveled between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. However, this enterprise soon failed. He also published the Pennsylvania Gazette, until his partner, one night, carried off our printing materials, broke the press, and got ready the newspaper form in another publication office. His love of reading and writing soon led him to another endeavor, that of editing, and he edited several periodicals, including Walsh's National Gazette, Waldie's Select Circulating Library, Smith's Weekly Volume, Downing's Horticulturalist, and several others. In 1829, Smith was appointed librarian of the Philadelphia Library, a position he would hold until 1851. During that time, he helped the library to be more successful and more economically viable.
During his time as librarian, Smith devoted his mornings to the planting and superintendence of both Laurel Hill and West Laurel Hill Cemeteries. During this time, his love for and knowledge of trees and landscape gardening deepened, and he would go on to edit several horticultural periodicals.
Smith was engaged in other endeavors, as well. He was treasurer of the Philadelphia Museum, and founder of the Girard Life Insurance, Annuity, and Trust Company. He was one of the earliest members of the Academy of Natural Sciences, and was one of the originators, as well as the treasurer, of the Athenian Institute. Smith was also a hereditary trustee of the Loganian Library, for which he collected a large assortment of autographs and manuscripts relating to the history of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. In addition to editing, he wrote several books, including A Summer's Jaunt Across the Water; American, Historical, and Literary Curiosities; and A Brief Memoir of one of New Jersey's Respected Sons. He was known to have a wide range of information and brilliant conversational powers. Smith died on September 25, 1881.
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