University of Virginia Library

George William Smith, Lieutenant and Acting Governor,

April 3, 1811-Dec. 5, 1811; Governor,
Dec. 5, 1811-Dec. 26, 1811.

G. W. Smith, as Lieutenant Governor, became acting Governor
on April 3, 1811. He was elected Governor on December
5, 1811, but in a few days lost his life in the burning of the
Richmond Theater, December 26, 1811. He was a son of Col.
Meriwether Smith, a distinguished patriot of the Revolution
and was born in 1762. He was a lawyer, member of the House
of Delegates for Essex, 1790-1793, and for Richmond City,
1801-02, and 1807-08; of the Governor's Council, 1809; Lieutenant
Governor, 1810-1811.

On the lamentable occasion of his death, the theatre was
crowded with six hundred people. A new drama, "Father or

Family Feuds," was presented for the benefit of Henry
Placide, a favorite actor, and it was followed by the pantomime
of "The Bleeding Nun." The curtain had risen on the second
act when a wild cry of fire was heard. There was a rush for
safety, and in the frantic effort to escape many were trodden
under foot and killed. Others were burned to death. Seventy
persons were known to have perished. The fate of Lieutenant
James Gibbon of the United States Navy, son of the hero who
led "the forlorn hope" at Stony Point, and his betrothed
bride, the lovely Miss Conyers, was most touching. They died
locked in a mutual embrace. Benjamin Botts, one of Aaron
Burr's lawyers and father of John Minor Botts, lost his life
in endeavoring to save that of his wife. The same fate befell
Governor Smith, who had reached a place of safety outside of
the burning building, but returned to rescue his little son,
John Adams Smith. The Senate and House of Representatives
of the United States adopted a resolution to wear crape
on the left arm for a month.

The Monumental Church (Episcopal) was erected in 1812
upon the site of the ill-fated theatre; and a marble monument,
inscribed with the names of those who lost their lives, is still
to be seen in the portico of the church under which the unfortunate
victims were interred.