University of Virginia Library

FRANCIS HENRY SMITH

Smith Hall appropriately extends in visible
form the prolonged and distinguished
connection of Francis Henry Smith with
the University of Virginia. He was a student
at the University from 1849 to 1851,
and received the then somewhat rare degree
of M.A. in course. He was an assistant
to the Professor of Mathematics from 1851
to 1853, Professor of Natural Philosophy
from 1853 to 1907 (over half a century),
and Emeritus Professor in residence from
1907 until his death in 1928—an uninterrupted
connection of nearly four score
years.

He was born in Leesburg, Virginia, 14
October 1829, his parents on both sides being
descended from colonial settlers. He
was a student in Leesburg Academy and at
Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut,
where he was a member of the
class of 1850. Though his stay at Wesleyan
was for only two years, he was, on the completion
of his college course at Charlottesville,

elected to the Middletown chapter of
Phi Beta Kappa.

His services as a Professor were in depth
as well as in length, and they contributed
solidly to the University's reputation for
thoroughness and scholarship. He was serious
in purpose and of gentle manners, a
scholar of broad learning, and a lucid and
eloquent lecturer. His appreciation of the
abilities of his associates in the Faculty was
a contribution to morale, a vital force for
faculties as well as for football teams. His
writings were not prolific, but included an
Outline of Physics and three treatises on
the harmony of Science and the Bible. He
was a strong supporter of the Young Men's
Christian Association and of the University
Chapel, and for twenty years he was a member
of the governing board of the Miller
Manual Labor School in Albemarle County.
During the War of 1861–1865 he and
Commodore Matthew Fontaine Maury
were elected by the Confederate Congress
to be Commissioners of Weights and Measures.
Honorary degrees were conferred upon

him by Hampden-Sydney, Emory and
Henry, and Randolph-Macon in Ashland
(LL.D.) and by Sewanee (D.C.L.).

In 1853, the year he became Professor of
Natural Philosophy, he married Mary
Stuart Harrison, a daughter of Professor
Gessner Harrison. Their daughter, Eleanor,
extended the family relationships of
"the Lawn" by becoming the wife of Professor
Charles William Kent. Another
daughter, Rosalie, regained the surname
Harrison by marriage to Dr. Isaac Carrington
Harrison. One son, Captain George
Tucker Smith (familiarly known as "the
Admiral"), was a surgeon in the United
States Navy, and another son, James Duncan
Smith, gained distinction as an artist.
It was in Pavilion V, under the care of Mrs.
Kent, that the end came for Professor
Smith on 5 July 1928, one year, three
months, and nine days short of one hundred
years. It was Dean Metcalf's remark,
from the office of the Department of Graduate
Studies in the neighboring Pavilion
III, that Francis Smith, that radiant spirit,

had appeared "to be coming down in person
to posterity."