^MARR M13334b/M13611b

Some confusion as to whether Jane Reade or Lucy Franklin Reed married Gov. George William Smith & then Meriwether Jones. Need original reference for Jane Reade!

Southern Recorder (Milledgeville, Georgia), 7 June 1828, Saturday

…Meriwether Jones, who was, while we lived with him, State Printer for Virginia, died insolvent, leaving due to him for submissions and advertisements thousands of dollars more than would have paid all his debts if it could have been collected. The “Examiner”, which had done so much for the Republican cause, afterward passed into the hands of Mr. Skelton Jones, one of the Authors of the History of Virginia…

National Intelligencer (Washington, District of Columbia), Aug 29, 1806, Fri

Richmond, Aug. 22.
On the 9th day of the present month, at the Warm Springs, in Bath county, MERIWETHER JONES departed this life ! His health had been declining for more than a year, & his body, naturally thin, was wafted away, almost to a shadow. The hand of death seemed to be upon him long before its pressure sunk him to the earth, but he retained to the last that energy of mind, vivacity of spirit, and warmth of friendly sentiment by which he was distinguished thro’ life. He died in the 41st year of his age.

Few men among us, have seen and experienced, in so short a period, more than Meriwether Jones. The excellence of his understanding, the cheerfulness of his disposition, the promptitude of his wit, the frankness of his manners, the ardor and intrepidity of his temper, brought him early into lite, & made him when he was but a young man a favorite of the people. He had not completed his 22d year, when he represented in the assembly of Virginia, the county of Hanover; a county distinguished for its republican zeal from the æra of our independence to the present day. In the year 1796, he was chosen a member of the council, and in 1798 became the Editor of the Examiner. He was soon after elected printer to the commonwealth and continued in that office until he was appointed by the President of the United States, Commissioner of Loans, This office he held until his death.

He has left a widow, and a son, his only child, to lament his loss.

Meriwether Jones had his failings, and he suffered for them. In his whole composition there was not one particle of hypocrisy. Such as he really was, he appeared to be. He used none of the petty if not dishonorable arts by. which favor is conciliated, when it is not deserved. or by which censure justly merited may be softened or suppressed. The best and the worst parts of his character, were alike open to inspection. His zeal, his intrepidity, his services in the cause of republicanism, at a time when it was “bound hand and foot & tongue tied,” almost every where but in Virginia, made him many enemies. They knew where he was vulnerable, and pursued him for a long time with an aspericy and fury of reproach, almost without example. During this period, his firmness never forsook him, and indeed he had occasion for all its aid. Such however was the generosity of his temper, that after the triumph of democracy was complete, Mr. Jones was as just & liberal to his political opponents, as if he had never experienced at their hands either insult or persecution.

Meriwether Jones had many excellencies. His understanding was prompt, his discernment clear, his knowledge of mankind extensive. Having the advantage of a good education, he had read much in the early part of his life; & what he read he remembered—but his attention during his last 16 years was principally directed to the study of mankind, and their affairs. He was generous, even to the injury of his fortune; steady and sincere in friendship, and unalterably attached to the republican principles, that he had so zealously defended. He was emenently good tempered. In point of courage, he had no superior, It was implanted in his heart, grew with his growth, strengthened with his strength, and upheld him until he died. He was not one of those whose advances upon an adversary are meanly regulated by an estimate of his fears; who want a little reputation, and seek a quarrel with him from whom it may be obtained upon the cheapest terms. The writer of this feeble tribute to his memory, has witnessed the homage paid to his deliberate and exalted courage, in the humiliating retreat of an opponent, before whom it is said, many had retired and, more than one had fallen.

The republicans of this country ought not to forget the services of Meriwether Jones. He was the most zealous, most active, and most enthusiastically daring and determined, precisely at the moment which their cause was in the greatest danger. There certainly was a time when the genius of American republicanism lay humbled in “dust and ashes”. In Kentucky and Virginia alone she reared her head; but she was encompassed with enemies on every side, and must have been the victim of their power and their vengeance, but for the talents, the efforts, the firmness of a few. Among those few it is no more than justice to place Meriwether Jones.. The propriety of this remark will be admitted by all who are told that in the year 1799 Mr. Jones, frequently superintended his prefs with his pistols within his reach. But his troubles and labours are at an end. He is now where the weary are at rest, where his frailties may hope for mercy and his virtues will receive their reward.

New York Weekly Museum (New York, New York), 30 August 1806

Died—On the 9th inst. Meriwether Jones Esqr. Commissioner of Loans for the state of Virginia.

Marriages and Deaths from Baltimore Newspapers, 1796-1816

Meriwether Jones died 9th inst., near Warm Springs, Va., formerly editor of the Richmond Examiner, and since commissioner of loans for Va. (BFG, 26 Aug 1806) 764

!DEATH Date from HDS

Col. Meriwether Jones

Meriwether Jones, titled colonel, born 1766; married, while very young, Miss Lucy Franklin Reed, sister of Franklin Reed, of the United States Navy, and a relative of Dr. Benjamin Franklin. Meriwether was a lawyer, and a distinguished political writer and leader of Richmond, Virginia; was the founder of the newspaper The Richmond Examiner, which he edited for many years and until he was killed in a duel, when he was succeeded by his brother Skelton. See the Richmond (Va.) Standard of September 25th, 1880, for some account of this family.

He is said to have been engaged in several duels.

It is also stated that he eloped with his wife, he being a lad of only seventeen summers and she a miss of fourteen.

Governor George William Smith, of Virginia, who lost his life in the conflagration of the Richmond Theater, married his widow.

He is the Meriwether Jones referred to by Gov. Geo. R. Gilmer, of Georgia, in a notice of the Meriwether family in his unique book entitled “Georgians, or Sketches of Some of the First Families of Upper Georgia.” See the Meriwether family.

There are among our papers several letters from him to his brother. In one of these he requests the loan of some money, and offers to secure it by a draft on the Treasury, from which I infer that he was then holding some official place. In fact it appears, from one of these letters, that he was then in the midst of a heated canvass, but it does not appear for what office. In another he speaks of the birth of a son on April 29th, 1790. This was (32) Walter Jones, an only child, who was an officer in the United States Navy, and who married Miss Taylor of Norfolk, Va. He, (32) Walter is spoken of by a contemporary as a young gentleman of exceptionally elegant manners. He died,leaving the following children, viz.: (33) Walter also of the United States Navy, died of yellow fever in Norfolk, Virginia, 1855; (34) Lucy, dead; (35) Elizabeth, dead; (36) Mary, living now in Australia.765

Meriwether Jones titled Colonel born 1766 married Lucy Franklin Reed, sister of Franklin Reed of US Navy and related to Benjamin Franklin. Meriwether was a lawyer and a distinguished political ___ founder of newspaper The Richmnd Enquirer which he edited for many years till he was killled in a duel. Governor George William Smith of Virginia who lost his life in conflagration of the Richmond Theater married his widow...

Found in NLM papers; quoted from Capt. Roger Jones?

FU: See Correspondence

^DEATH SA gives year as 1812. 183

BET. 1790 - 1808 was an attorney & member of the House of Delegates off and on
BET. 1808 - 1811 served on the Council of the State
JAN 1810 briefly was the acting govenor(after resignation of John Tyler) 492

George William Smith (1762-1811)
The Political Graveyard

Smith, George William (1762-1811) Governor of Virginia, 1811. He became acting Governor of Virginia when James Monroe resigned from the position. Perished in a theater fire in Richmond, Va., December 26, 1811. Interment at Monumental Church, Richmond, Va. 552

He was succeeded by Peyton Randolph, son of Edmund Jenning Randolph. 557

A Beacon That Cannot Be Hid: The Religious Impact of the Richmond Theater Fire of 1811
Karen Resendes 11, December 1995
http://www.wm.edu/~srnels/antrichf95/resendes.html

On the night of December twenty-sixth, 1811, tragedy overcame the city of Richmond as the Richmond Theater burned to its foundations. That evening the Palcide and Green Company were performing "The Father". After the completion of the play, the actors moved onto the pantomime, "The Bleeding Nun", that was to follow. Between the first and second acts of the pantomime, a candle in the stage chandelier was left lit, and as the chandelier was drawn up above the stage, it set fire to the theater. Hopkins Robinson, one of the actors, yelled from the stage, "The house is on fire!". The crowd scattered like mice in an attempt to evacuate the house. What followed was an ugly scene. The theater contained between six and seven hundred men, women, and children of all races, a near full capacity crowd. Everyone was struggling to free themselves and their loved ones from the oncoming fire and fumes. The pit and the gallery were quickly emptied, but those in the boxes were not so lucky. Over one hundred people died, consumed by the dark cloud of smoke that filled into the boxes and the lobbies. Those who were not killed by the smoke perished at the hands of the collapsing building, leaping from windows, or falling with the crumbling staircase.

George Smith

"George Smith, the oldest, was twice married. By his first wife he had several children. I recollect the names of but three: Richard, Meriwether, and John Adams. His second wife was the widow of Meriwether Jones. George Smith was the governor of Virginia at the time of his death. He lost his life in attempting to save his children, whom he supposed were in the theater in Richmond when it burned. Fortunately for them, they were all out." 489

From: GTGillsp@aol.com
Date: Sun, 3 Feb 2002 15:04:23 EST
Subject: Smith Family Ties

I have been very interested in the family history of Gov. George W. Smith which I obtained from the Internet. Gov. Smith was my GGGrandfather. Thank you for the documentation of his ancestors. I am descended from his son, Richard Lee Smith, who went to Casey County, KY, married a Baldock girl and had 11 children. For my direct line I have identified 8 generations of descendants from Richard. Would you have any interest in this information?

George T. Gillespie George Thomas Gillespie
752 Thomas Court
Libertyville, IL 60048

847-367-5797

MARR2: Walter Smith shows wife as Lucy Franklin Reed, first wife of Meriwether Jones. This conflicts with 1) her being Meriwether Jones (d. 1806) first wife... was she? and 2) Jane Reade, Jones' second wife, is the one who supposedly married Smith. 117

Need reference for Jane Reade!