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Calvin Smith (December 25, 1768November 7, 1840) was an American plantation owner. He arrived in the
Calvin Smith (December 25, 1768November 7, 1840) was an American plantation owner. He arrived in the Natchez District
The Natchez District was one of two areas established in the Kingdom of Great Britain's British West Florida, West Florida colony during the 1770sthe other being the Tombigbee District. The first Anglo settlers in the district came primarily fro ...
of British West Florida
British West Florida was a colony of the Kingdom of Great Britain from 1763 until 1783, when it was ceded to Kingdom of Spain, Spain as part of the Peace of Paris (1783), Peace of Paris.
British West Florida comprised parts of the modern U.S ...
with his Loyalist
Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...
parents in 1776. He was the 10th of 12 children. He received a land grant in 1791, and was one of three Smith brothers to marry one of three Cobb sisters of Wilkinson County. He eventually owned a 22-room house on a plantation called Retirement in the Second Creek neighborhood, about 10 miles below Natchez, Mississippi
Natchez ( ) is the only city in and the county seat of Adams County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 14,520 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located on the Mississippi River across from Vidalia, Louisiana, Natchez was ...
. He also owned or leased Springfield plantation for a time. He owned Monmouth from 1820 to 1826. He and his brothers had "founded large and influential families," and he became one of richest and most important planters in the region. He was suggested as a candidate for the U.S. Congress
The United States Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a bicameral legislature, including a lower body, the U.S. House of Representatives, and an upper body, the U.S. Senate. They both ...
in 1820.
One of his slaves was James Robinson, an American Revolutionary War veteran from Maryland, who later published a slave narrative about his life. Robinson wrote:
There was a criminal inquest into the cousin's death. Smith denied writing the letter ordering the lashes and fired the overseer for having the temerity to produce the letter to the authorities. There were no consequences for either Smith or Holdcloth.
Smith was an early source on the history of Natchez, with his account of early settlements appearing in article by Mann Butler in the '' Western Messenger'' in 1838. When Smith died at his home in Mississippi in 1840 he was described in brief obituaries as "old and very respected" and as "one of the oldest and most highly respectable inhabitants" of Adams County, Mississippi.
See also
*Philander Smith
Philander Smith (November 23, 1809 – February 24, 1882) was an American real estate agent and philanthropist. Philander Smith University is his namesake.
Biography
Philander Smith was the son of David Smith, whose 1801 sawmill in upstate ...
References
External links
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Calvin 1768 births 1840 deaths 19th-century American businesspeople 19th-century American planters Businesspeople from Mississippi History of slavery in Mississippi People from Natchez, Mississippi People from Mississippi Territory American slave owners People from British Florida