Richard Penn Smith
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Richard Penn Smith (March 13, 1799 – August 12, 1854) was an American playwright who wrote twenty plays, of which fifteen were performed. He wrote a largely fictitious account of events leading up to and at the
Battle of the Alamo The Battle of the Alamo (February 23 – March 6, 1836) was a pivotal event and military engagement in the Texas Revolution. Following a siege of the Alamo, 13-day siege, Mexico, Mexican troops under president of Mexico, President Antonio Là ...
, which was presented as the diary of
Davy Crockett Colonel (United States), Colonel David Crockett (August 17, 1786 – March 6, 1836) was an American politician, militia officer and frontiersman. Often referred to in popular culture as the "King of the Wild Frontier", he represented Tennesse ...
.


Early life and education

Smith was born on March 13, 1799, in
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
to Ann Rudolph and William Moore Smith. His grandfather was
William Smith William, Willie, Will, Bill, or Billy Smith may refer to: Academics * William Smith (Master of Clare College, Cambridge) (1556–1615), English academic * William Smith (antiquary) (c. 1653–1735), English antiquary and historian of University C ...
, the first
provost Provost may refer to: Officials Ecclesiastic * Provost (religion), a high-ranking church official * Prince-provost, a high-ranking church official Government * Provost (civil), an officer of local government, including the equivalent ...
of the
College of Philadelphia The Academy and College of Philadelphia (1749–1791) was a boys' school and men's college in Philadelphia in the colonial-era Province of Pennsylvania. Founded in 1749 by a group of local notables that included Benjamin Franklin, the Academy of P ...
. He was educated in local schools and by private tutors. In 1818 he studied law in the law offices of
William Rawle William Rawle (April 28, 1759 – April 12, 1836) was an American lawyer from Philadelphia, who served as United States district attorney in Pennsylvania from 1791 to 1800. He founded The Rawle Law Offices in 1783 which evolved into Rawle & Hend ...
and joined the Philadelphia bar in 1820.


Career

He wrote a series of columns named "The Plagiary" for a local newspaper. He purchased ''The Aurora'' in 1822 and worked as editor until 1827. The next year his first play, "Quite Correct", was produced at the Chestnut Street Theater. That same year, he sold ''The Aurora'' and returned to legal practice to support his theatrical work. He wrote twenty plays and fifteen were performed. In 1836, Smith published "''Col. Crockett's Exploits and Adventures in Texas: wherein is contained a full account of his journey from Tennessee to the Red River and Natchitoches, and thence across Texas to San Antonio; including many hair-breadth escapes; together with a topographical, historical, and political view of Texas ..."''. The author and publishers claimed it was based on Crockett’s journal, but doubt was raised due to Crockett's poor writing ability. Multiple sources claimed that Smith was the actual author of the book including
Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely re ...
and Edgar Carey, the publisher. The book fed into the legend of Davy Crockett. He died on August 12, 1854. He was initially interred in a mausoleum on his estate but was reinterred along with 14 family members to a plot at
Laurel Hill Cemetery Laurel Hill Cemetery, also called Laurel Hill East to distinguish it from the affiliated West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, Bala Cynwyd, is a historic rural cemetery in the East Falls, Philadelphia, East Falls neighborhood ...
.


Personal life

He married Elinor Matilda Lincoln on May 5, 1823. Together they had five children, but only one lived to adult age. Elinor died in 1833 and Smith remarried in 1836 to Isabella Stratton Knisell. Five children were born of his second marriage.


Publications

Plays * ''Quite Correct'' (1828) *
The Eighth of January
' (1829) *
The Disowned: or The Prodigals
' (1830) * ''A Wife at a Venture'' (1829) * ''The Sentinels: or The Two Sergeants'' (1829) * ''William Penn'' (1829) * '' The Triumph at Plattsburgh'' (1830) * ''The Deformed: or Woman's Trial'' (1830) (based on ''
The Honest Whore ''The Honest Whore'' is an early Literature in English#Jacobean literature, Jacobean city comedy, written in two parts; ''Part 1'' is a collaboration between Thomas Dekker (poet), Thomas Dekker and Thomas Middleton, while ''Part 2'' is the wor ...
'', Part II (c. 1606) and ''
The Italian Father ''The Italian Father: A Comedy, in Five Acts'' (1799) is an American comedic play by William Dunlap, though substantially adapted from Part II of ''The Honest Whore'' (c. 1606) by Thomas Dekker. Dunlap considered it his best play. It was popula ...
'' (1799)) * ''
The Water-Witch ''The Water-Witch'' is an 1830 novel by James Fenimore Cooper. Set in 17th-century New York (state), New York and the surrounding sea, the novel depicts the abduction of a woman, Alida de Barbérie, by the pirate captain of the brigantine ''Wat ...
'' (1830) *
Caius Marius
' (1831) * ''Is She a Brigand?'' (1833) * ''The Daughter'' (1836) * ''The Actress of Padua'' (1836) * ''The Bombardment of Algiers'' (?) * ''The Last Man: or The Cock of the Village'' (?) Books *
Col. Crockett's Exploits and Adventures in Texas: wherein is contained a full account of his journey from Tennessee to the Red River and Natchitoches, and thence across Texas to San Antonio; including many hair-breadth escapes; together with a topographical, historical, and political view of Texas
', New York: Nafis & Cornish, Philadelphia: John B. Perry, 1845


References

Citations Sources * *


External links


Historical Society of Pennsylvania - Richard Penn Smith papersPrinceton University Library - Richard Penn Smith Collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Richard Penn 1799 births 1854 deaths 19th-century American dramatists and playwrights 19th-century American newspaper editors American lawyers admitted to the practice of law by reading law Burials at Laurel Hill Cemetery (Philadelphia) Lawyers from Philadelphia Writers from Philadelphia