Eli Smith (1801 - 1857)

Born 13 Sep 1801 in Northford, North Branford, New Haven, Connecticut, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Maria Ward (Chapin) Smith — married 9 Mar 1841 (to 27 May 1842) in Rochester, Monroe, NY, USA

Descendants

Died 11 Jan 1857 at age 55 in Beirut, Syria

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Cathryn Hondros [send private message]

Biography

Eli Smith is Notable.

Eli Smith was a Connecticuter.

Eli was a Protestant missionary.

Missionary and Orientalist.^[1]

From Wikipedia:

Eli Smith (1801–1857) was an American Protestant Missionary and scholar, born at Northford, Conn. He graduated from Yale in 1821 and from Andover Theological Seminary in 1826. He worked in Malta until 1829, then in company with H. G. O. Dwight traveled through Armenia and Georgia to Persia. They published their observations, Missionary Researches in Armenia in 1833 in two volumes. Eli Smith settled in Beirut in 1833. Along with Edward Robinson, he made two trips to the Holy Land, acting as an interpreter for Robinson in his quest to identify and record biblical place names in Palestine. He is known for bringing the first printing press with Arabic type to Syria.[1] He went on to pursue the task which he considered to be his life's work: translation of the Bible into Arabic. Although he died before completing the task, the work was completed by C. V. Van Dyck of the Syrian Mission and published in 1860 to 1865.

His wife was Hetty Butler Smith, also a missionary. His daughter Mary Elizabeth Smith, was educated at the Female Seminaries in Hartford, Connecticut and Ipswich, Massachusetts and taught at the Female Seminary at Mt. Auburn, Cincinnati. She was listed In the Women's Who's Who of America by John William Leonard 1914-1915. Missionary to Beirut, Syria. (from daughter Mary Smith Marcy's Women's Who's Who entry)

SMITH, Eli, missionary, born in Northford, Connecticut, 13 September, 1801 ; died in Beirut, Syria, 11 January, 1857. He was graduated at Yale in 1821, and at Andover theological seminary in 1826, ordained the same year, and went to Malta as superintendent of a missionary printing establishment. He was subsequently transferred to the Syrian mission, travelled through Greece in 1829, and with Dr. Harrison G. O. Dwight in Armenia, Georgia, and Persia in 1830-'1, which journey resulted in the establishment of the Armenian and Nestorian missions of the American board. He settled in Beirut in 1833, and in 1838 and again in 1852 was the companion and coadjutor of Professor Edward Robinson in his extensive exploration of Palestine. His intimate knowledge of Arabic enabled him to render important service in the production of a new and improved form and font of Arabic type, which was cast under his supervision at Leipsic in 1839. He published with Harrison G. O. Dwight "Missionary Researches in Armenia" (2 vols., Boston, 1833), and from 1847 until his death was engaged in translating the Bible into the Arabic, which work was subsequently completed by Dr. Cornelius V. Van Dyke (New York, 1866-'7).--His wife, Sarah Lanman, missionary, born in Norwich, Connecticut, 18 June, 1802; died in Boojah, near Smyrna, Asia, 30 September, 1836, was the daughter of Jabez Huntington. She married Dr. Smith in 1833, accompanied him to Beirut, and, having learned Arabic, assisted him in his translations into that language, and taught in a native school for girls which she established. See her "Memoir, Journal, and Letters," edited by the Reverend Edward Hooker (London, 1839).

Edited Appletons Encyclopedia, Copyright © 2001 VirtualologyTM

Married three times.

This Wikipedia entry describes Rev. Eli Smith's life work. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eli_Smith

Here is a link to a biography of the man http://tinyurl.com/klm5obd

Here is a link to the Boston University website article http://www.bu.edu/missiology/missionary-biography/r-s/smith-eli-1801-1857/

Newspaper Articles

"The Evening Post", March 26, 1840

FOREIGN MISSIONS. -- The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, of Boston, with its auxiliaries of New York and Brooklyn, held a meeting in the Tabernacle, Broadway, last evening. The meeting was addressed by the Secretary of the Board, the Rev. Mr. Armstrong, by Mr. E. Kirk, and the Rev. Eli Smith, himself a missionary to Syria.^[2]

"Freeman and Messanger", June 18, 1840

A BRAVE HOSPITABLE RACE -- Here is a picture, a graphic sketch of virtues, which we vaunting Anglo Saxons may contemplate with profit. It is drawn by one thoroughly qualified for the purpose. We take it from the report of a speech by Mr. Eli Smith, missionary to Syria, at the Anniversary of the American Board:

The Arabs comprise two distinct classes; the traveling Arab and the resident Arab. The former is the Bedouin of the desert, and the latter is the Hoolaeen Arab, who lives by agriculture. The Bedouin will not cultivate the soil. He is of the Arab nobility; poor, but proud; but can trace his genealogy back purer and farther through a line of Arab nobility than the princes and nobles of Europe. And no potentate of any part of the world was ever prouder, or more careful to avoid intermarriage with a plebian, the is the Bedouin Arab.

He is generally free as the chainless wind in all his movements. He scorns the government of any nation, and although you may still see the black tents of the Arab scattered about the hills of Mount Lebanon, and on the borders of the Euxine and Caspian seas, still he detests the control of the Turk and hates the Russians; and on the least attempt to curb him he flies to the desert, and luxuriates in poverty and freedom.

The other class of Arabs cultivate the soil, and many of their original characteristics disappear. They are also employed in trade, and are subject to others, as in Mesopotamia, Turkey, Syria, and under the government of Mehemet Ali. In the extreme West, there are several independent tribes of Arabs; so in the South, they are an independent people under the Sultan of Museat and other active princes.

There is one trait possessed by the Arab, which is most valuable; it is a nice sense of honor. There are still good and bad among them, but they all have a high sense of honorable obligation. Another feature is their universal hospitality. This has come down from old to them. In their lofty poetry, which is more exalted in its character than that of any other nation, they laud and extol the Arab who consumes his substance to entertain strangers; and the Arab has no greater boast than that the fire of his hearth never goes out, but it is always burning to cook food for the stranger, his guest. Dismount from your horse in the desert and enter the Arab's tent, and he will entertain you as Abraham did of old, if not with the calf, with milk and butter, and the best he has, and wait on you till you are refreshed. For to be economical is with Arabs, the height of meanness.

Again a good trait is the sacred character of his guest. Some few are treacherous; but if you want to pass alone through the deserts of Arabia, there is no difficulty; a friendly Arab will pass you on to another tribe, and so you are passed from tribe to tribe from the Black Sea to the Arabian Gulf: and when Mr. Robinson and myself were at Jerusalem, and wished to go to certain parts of Syria, our friendly Arab brought us an Arab, whose tawny skin and dark bushy beard, square turned joints and strength of limb, showed him no man of peace; he was the chief of the robbers in that region, yet he conducted us safe to our destination, and brought us back unharmed.

The Arab never sheds blood if he can avoid it. It is his independence, and his determination never to give himself up to any government that sometimes make him kill his opposers. -- This personal independence is possessed by all; and if blood be shed it belongs to the nearest relative to avenge. This beautiful feeling of independence of character is possessed by the menial servants, who stand up and raise their voice in the presence of their masters like the sons of republicans in their father's halls. This independence was show when the Bishop of Beyroot threatened to excommunicate those Arabs who came to hear us preach. On the very next Sunday after he issued his edict, our chapel was fuller than ever.

And see them still measuring their strength with and vanquishing the chiefs of the once proud and powerful Turkish empire! And again, see in the west how difficult it is for the French to subdue the bravest of all the brave Arabs -- Abd-el Kader. Another proof of their independence and bravery is shown by the Druse Arabs. South of Damascus some few Druses fled into a volcanic region; and there Ibrahim Pacha, with 40,000 men, besieged them for months, without subduing them; and one man for a long time defended a defile against four hundred.

And then there is so much to admire in the sternness, patience and endurance in the character of the Arab. He would rather die that dig or till the soil. Although I have been so long among them, I know not how they live. An Arab will start out in a morning on a long journey with a few pounds of meal, and if he find not food when that is gone, he will endure hunger and thirst, and the severest privation, rather than to complain. Their sternness of character and powers of endurance surpass comprehension.

The Arabs are besides a very talented race. I have examined all their books of science, mathematics, &c., and it is curious to see how they have started from points totally opposite to our scientific land marks, and yet have arrived at precisely as accurate results. Again, there is Algebra, which owes its origin to them; its name is Arabic. In astronomy they are prominent and have corrected the calculations made at Cairo and Damascus. The bright star of Taurus, and those in the belt of Orion, are named in Arabic and by Arabs. In philosophy they often reason more accurately than the most civilized nations of Europe.

Their history is, like the Hebrews', full of romance and chivalry, and high and lofty achievements. Their poetry is like ascending from earth to heaven; it is the soul of sublimity, and for the boldness of its metaphors, the beauty of its rhythm, the brilliance of its language cannot be surpassed. In literature they excel all other nations, for there is no country which possessed so many different books in the native tongue, and a learned German, is now publishing a work in nine large volumes, which contains only the names of the titles of Arab books.

We love our language, and think very highly of its beauty, and force, and finish. But it sinks into insignificance before the beauty and force and finish of the Arab tongue. The latter is so nicely adjusted in all its parts, like the frame of a building, every mortise is fitted to every tenon; and our language, as compared with the Arab, is little better than patois. It is besides, the language of the Turk of Malay, of the Tarter, the East Indian, the Chinese.^[3]

"Bangor Daily Whig and Courier", September 4, 1841

ROBINSON'S NEW AND SPLENDID WORK ... ... ...

Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arab Petraea, Journal of travels in the year 1838, by E. Robinson, D.D. and the Rev Eli Smith. 3 vols.^[4]

"The Jeffersonian Republican", July 27, 1842

This newspaper contains a long article entitled "A Compliment to American Authorship" about the book :Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arab Petraea, Journal of travels in the year 1838 to which Dr. Eli Smith was a contributor.^[5]

"The Evening Post", August 4, 1842

DEATH OF MRS. ELI SMITH. -- Private letters from the Rev. Eli Smith and Dr. De Forrest, of the Syrian mission, confirm the newspaper accounts of the death of the wife of the first named gentleman, one of the American missionaries at Beyroot.^[6]

"The New York Tribune", February 28, 1843

Literary Notices ... ... ...

BIBLIOTHECA SACRA, OR TRACTS AND ESSAYS ON TOPICS CONNECTED WITH BIBLICAL LITERATURE AND THEOLOGY. Editor: EDWARD ROBINSON, D.D. No 1. February 1943. New York and London: Wiley & Putnam.

This is the title of work only of interest to Biblical students but presenting matter which for them must be valuable and constructive. ... ... ... The first article is a compilation by the Editor of various communications received from Rev. Eli Smith and Rev. S. Wolcott, upon the geography of the Holy Land.^[7]

"The Evening Post", September 3, 1845

The Civil War in Mount Lebanon, it appears, by a recently published letter from the distinguished Missionary, Rev. Eli Smith, has resulted very favorably to American missions in Syria. He says:

"This war has resulted like the former, in completely destroying the power of the Maronite clergy in this part of Lebanon. They were recovering their power, and rising rapidly in the opposition to us. The Maronite Patriarch has sunk under disappointment, and died a few days ago. And Bishop T., who stirred up such a ferment against us, and who has been active in these disturbances, has been deposed by the Pope. Moreover, that party is Hasbalya who opposed us and stoned our people, has been driven out of the place by the Druzes, and great numbers of them killed. The whole combination is dispersed. These things look as if Providence was preparing the way for an unrestricted publication of the gospel in this country.

"I cannot conclude without alluding to the death of the old Maronite Patriarch. What a lesson does that event teach us! After having martyred that faithful witness, Asaad Shidak, caused the Bible often to be burned, had missionaries insulted and stoned, and boasted that he had at last left no spot open for them to enter the Mount; he finds himself stripped of all of his power; missionaries established permanently in the midst of his flock; and his own favorite Bishop constrained to give orders for their protection; his people once and again ravaged and ruined in wars which his own measure have hastened, if they have not originated; and finally, he sinks himself under his disappointment, and dies. How signally has the blood of the martyred Asaad been avenged upon him, even in his life!"^[8]

"The Somerset Herald", August 4, 1846

In an article entitled "The Nestorians", it is noted that: ... ... ... "The Nestorians of the Plain of Ooroomiah, are the remains of the original Nestorian Christians. The first European who visited them was Sir Robert Ker Porter, in 1819; in 1831 they were visited by Drs. Grant and Rev. Eli Smith, and a German missionary from Basle. Dr. Grant found that the Mahomedan Masque in Ooroomiah was an ancient Nestorian church. In all the surrounding villages he found churches glad to receive instruction. An American mission has been established there. They live under the Persian government by which they are severely oppressed."^[9]

"The New York Tribune", November 13, 1846

DEPARTURE OF MISSIONARIES. -- Rev. Eli Smith, so long and so well known as one of the ablest missionaries of the American Board to Syria, embarked on Thursday last from this port, with Mrs. Smith, in the ship Arcole, bound to Marseilles. The prayers of many who love the cause of missions, we trust, will follow them to this important field of labor. The ship was detained in the lower bay until Tuesday morning of this week.^[10]

"The Spirit of the Age", October 10, 1851

In an article on temperance the following reference was found: ... ... ...

"In the region of Syria, we have the authority of the Rev. Eli Smith of the deadly influence of even the purest wine. Of the inebriating effects, says he, of the wines of the Mediterranean, we have often powerful evidence. On first going to Malta, at the beginning of the temperance reformation, with the impression I had received here, that there was no danger from the pure wine of those countries, I fell in with what I found to be the prevailing custom, and took a little wine with my dinner. At length I found an intimate friend falling into habits of intoxication from using the common Massala wine of Sicily. I then gave up my wine; and so far as I know, all my brethren abstain from the use of it, as a temperance measure. In preparing a tract on temperance, for circulation in Syria, we have included wine with brandy as one of the causes of intemperance, to be avoided."^[11]

"The Weekly Wisconsin", July 18, 1855

AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY. -- ... ... ... from Rev. Eli Smith, D.D., of Beirut, saying he had completed the translation of the Arabic Testament. Dr. Robinson, for the Committee on Versions, also read a more recent letter from Dr. Smith, stating that since the completion of the Arabic Testament, the Pentateuch, and several of the smaller books of the old Testament have been translated; ... ... ...^[12][13]

Sources

Eli Smith and the Arabic Bible by Margaret R. Leavy http://www.library.yale.edu/div/pub/OccPub4.pdf

Guide to the Eli Smith Papers at the Houghton Library, Harvard University http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~hou00061

http://tinyurl.com/lflwole

The Whitney Family of Connecticut and its Affiliations, Google book reference: http://tinyurl.com/q8h9ogg

Personnel Card for Rev. Eli Smith, D.D. of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.^[14]

American Board in Turkey, "Personnel records for Eli Smith," in Digital Library for International Research Archive, Item #15611, http://www.dlir.org/archive/items/show/15611 (accessed August 19, 2014).

This Eli Smith is a descendant of Thomas and Elizabeth Patterson Smith. Kitty Smith

Death

Dr. Eli Smith's death is noted in the New York TImes in a list of deceased Yale alumni.^[15]

Death Notices

"The Richmond Dispatch", February 27, 1857

DEATH OF REV. ELI SMITH. -- The most severe affliction has befallen the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions, in the death of the Rev. Eli Smith, D.D., one of their most prominent missionaries in Syria, who died a short time since in Beirout. He died of cancer in the stomach. The tumor was found to be the size of a goose's egg. Dr. Smith had been married three times.^[16]

"The Adams Sentinel", March 2, 1857

Death of a Missionary. -- The American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions have received intelligence of the Rev. Eli Smith, D.D., one of the most prominent missionaries in Syria, who dies a short time since in Beyrout. In addition to his missionary labors, Dr. Smith was engaged in translating the scriptures into Arabic. He had completed the New Testament, the Psalms, and part of the Pentateuch. The deceased was the son of a clergyman in Connecticut, and has been engaged in missionary work for many years.^[17][18]

"The Times-Picayune", March 7, 1857

The Rev. Dr. Eli Smith, the oldest American missionary in Syria, and a distinguished Arabic scholar, died at Beirut on the 20th of January.^[19]

Children's Marriage

New Haven Co., Connecticut, USA, "Massachusetts, Marriages, 1841-1915," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N4HG-9S8 : accessed 22 May 2015), Eli Smith in entry for Wm. D. Curtis and Sarah B. Smith, 14 Nov 1897; citing v 469, p 68, l 20, New Haven, Connecticut, State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm 1,843,701.

Amherst, Hamshire Co., Massachusetts, USA, Massachusetts, Marriages, 1695-1910," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FHT4-9GR : accessed 22 May 2015), Elias Smith in entry for Theodore L. Stiles and Sarah B. Smith, 22 Aug 1872; citing reference 767; FHL microfilm 186,126.

Children's Death

Lenox, Berkshire Co., New York, USA, "Massachusetts, Deaths, 1841-1915," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NWNR-MRY : accessed 22 May 2015), Eli Smith in entry for Sarah Butler Smith Curtis, 10 Jan 1905; citing Lenox, Massachusetts, v 55 cn 127, State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm 2,070,884.

Footnotes

1. ↑ Dictionary of American biography by American Council of Learned Societies, Published 1943. Vol 17 page 257
2. ↑ "The Evening Post", New York, New York, March 16, 1840, page 10, http://www.newspapers.com/clip/3210294//
3. ↑ "Freeman and Messanger", Lodi, New York, June 18, 1840, page 1, http://www.newspapers.com/image/37017671
4. ↑ "Bangor Daily Whig and Courier", Bangor, Maine, September 4, 1841, page 4, http://www.newspapers.com/clip/3210331//
5. ↑ "The Jeffersonian Republican", Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, July 27, 1842, page 1, http://www.newspapers.com/image/77817601
6. ↑ "The Evening Post", New York, New York, August 4, 1842, page 2, http://www.newspapers.com/clip/3210417//
7. ↑ "The New York Tribune", New York, New York, February 28, 1843, page 1, http://www.newspapers.com/clip/3217053//
8. ↑ "The Evening Post", New York, New York, September 3, 1845, page 2, http://www.newspapers.com/clip/3217262//
9. ↑ "The Somerset Herald", Somerset, Pennsylvania, August 4, 1846, page 1, http://www.newspapers.com/image/85291348
10. ↑ "The New York Tribune", New York, New York, November 13, 1846, page 4, http://www.newspapers.com/clip/3217385//
11. ↑ "The Spirit of the Age", Raleigh, North Carolina, October 10, 1851, page 3, http://www.newspapers.com/clip/3217440//
12. ↑ "The Weekly Wisconsin", Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 18, 1855, page 3, http://www.newspapers.com/clip/3210130//
13. ↑ A similar article in "The Poughkeepsie Eagle", Poughkeepsie, New York, August 25,1855, page 1, http://www.newspapers.com/clip/3210167//
14. ↑ Thank you to WikiTree user G.E. Gaffin for providing this link.
15. ↑ "The New York Times", New York, New York, July 29, 1857, page 2, http://www.newspapers.com/image/20340776
16. ↑ "The Richmond Dispatch", Richmond, Virginia, February 27, 1857, page 1, http://www.newspapers.com/clip/3217539//
17. ↑ "The Adams Sentinel", Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, March 2, 1857, page 2, http://www.newspapers.com/clip/3210185//
18. ↑ A very similar article - the only addition being the cause of death as stomach cancer is found in the "The Pittsburgh Gazette", Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, March 3, 1857, page 1, http://www.newspapers.com/clip/3217595//
19. ↑ "The Times-Picayune", New Orleans, Louisiana, March 7, 1857, page 1, http://www.newspapers.com/clip/3210234//

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Cathryn Hondros for starting this profile. Click the Changes tab for the details of contributions by Cathryn and others.