John Henry Smythe (1844 - 1908)

Born 14 Jul 1844 in Richmond, Virginia

Descendants

Died 5 Sep 1908 at age 64 in Hanover, Virginia

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Biography

John Smythe is Notable.

John H. Smythe was the United States ambassador to Liberia from 1878 to 1881 and from 1882 to 1885. He was active in politics and a leader in many African-American causes. Later in his life he was president of a Reformatory School outside of Richmond, Virginia. John was also the first African-American student admitted to the Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia. ^[1]

John Henry Smythe was born on July 14, 1844, in Richmond, Virginia, to Sully and Ann Eliza Smythe. Though Sully was a slave, Eliza was a free African American woman, and thus John was born free. Sully died in 1857 and Ann Eliza died in 1883.

John was sent to Philadelphia as a youth for his education, where he was a student at the Academy of Fine Arts and graduated from the Institute for Colored Youths. He pursued an acting career in England for a few years before returning to the United States. He graduated from Howard University Law School in 1870.^[2]

John married Fannie E. Shippen in 1870 in Washington, DC. ^[3] In 1900 John and Fannie were living in Henry, Hanover County, Virginia with two guardians. John was head of the reformatory school there.^[4] In 1874 they opened a Freedmen's Bank Account in Wilmington, North Carolina for their 1-yr old daughter, Clara Hortense.^[5]

Smythe was a Presbyterian in religion. He died in Richmond, Virginia on September 5, 1908 at the home of his daughter, Dr. Clara H. Smythe. ^[6] He was buried in National Harmony Memorial Park in Hyattsville, Maryland.^[7]

An elementary school for black children in Norfolk, Virginia was named for Smythe.

John Henry Clavell Smythe, a Sierra Leone Creole flight navigator in World War II, barrister, Attorney-General, was a grandson and namesake of John H. Smythe. Son of Sully and Ann Eliza (Goode) Smyth.^[8]

Sources

1. ↑ Wikipedia entry for John H Smythe
2. ↑ Villanova University bio for John Henry Smythe
3. ↑ Marriage: "District of Columbia, U.S., Compiled Marriage Index, 1830-1921"
   Original data: District of Columbia, Marriages, 1830-1921. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013; FHL Film Number: 2107689
   Ancestry Record 60261 #15674 (accessed 19 November 2023)
   John H Smyth marriage to Fannie Ellen Shippman on 23 Dec 1870 in District of Columbia.
4. ↑ 1900 Census: "1900 United States Federal Census"
   Year: 1900; Census Place: Henry, Hanover, Virginia; Roll: 1712; Page: 22; Enumeration District: 0023
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 7602 #71740510 (accessed 19 November 2023)
   John M Smith (53), married, President, head of household in Henry, Hanover, Virginia. Born in Virginia, USA.
5. ↑ Bank Records of child Clara Hortense Smyth: "U.S., Freedman's Bank Records, 1865-1874"
   The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC; Registers of Signatures of Depositors in Branches of the Freedman's Savings and Trust Company, 1865-1874; ARC Identifier: 566522; Record Group Number: 101; Record Group: Records of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, 1863-2006
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 8755 #60181916 (accessed 19 November 2023)
   Name: Jno H Smyth; Gender: Male; Relation to Head: Father; Spouse: Frannie E Smyth; Child: Clara Hortense Smyth; Description: Roll 05: Washington, District of Columbia; May 24, 1872-Jul 22, 1874; Household (Name)
   Age
   Relationship: Clara Hortense Smyth 1 Self (Head)
   Jno H Smyth Father
   Frannie E Smyth Mother.
6. ↑ Death: "District of Columbia, U.S., Select Deaths and Burials Index, 1769-1960"
   Original data: District of Columbia, Deaths and Burials, 1840-1964. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013; FHL Film Number: 2078822
   Ancestry Record 60260 #544727 (accessed 19 November 2023)
   Hon John Henry Smyth death 5 Sep 1908 (age 64) in Richmond, Virginia.
7. ↑ Burial: "U.S., Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current"
   Original data: Find a Grave. Find a Grave®. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi; URL: Find A Grave: Memorial #225707014
   Ancestry Record 60525 #195252764 (accessed 19 November 2023)
   John Henry Smyth burial (died on 3 Sep 1908) in National Harmony Memorial Park Cemetery, Hyattsville, Prince George's County, Maryland, United States of America. Born on 14 Jul 1844.
8. ↑ Dictionary of American biography by American Council of Learned Societies, Published 1943. Vol 17 page 375

See also:

• Wikidata: Item Q28017941