LXXXV.
LXXXV. GEORGE WILLIAM SMITH.
LXXXV. Lieutenant-Governor
and
Acting Governor.
LXXXV. November 25, 1811, to December 26, 1811.
George William Smith is believed to have been
descended from Major Lawrence Smith, of early colonial distinction,
while his immediate progenitor was Merewether
Smith, who was born about the year 1730, at the family seat,
"Bathurst," in Essex County, Virginia.
Merewether Smith was an ardent patriot, and figured as
such, from 1766 until 1790, in many important stations during
that eventful period. He married first in 1760, Alice,
daughter of Philip Lee (third in descent from the emigrant,
Richard Lee), and their son, George William Smith, was
born at "Bathurst" in 1762. This latter, the subject of the
present sketch, was married February 7, 1793, to Sarah,
daughter of Colonel Richard Adams, one of the most patriotic
and influential citizens of the City of Richmond.
George William Smith represented the County of Essex
in the House of Delegates in 1794, after which he entered
upon a lucrative practice of law in Richmond, taking a high
rank in his profession. He was elected from this city to the
Legislature, from 1802 until 1808, and in 1810 was appointed
a member of the State Council. As senior member of that
body, or Lieutenant-Governor, upon the resignation of Governor
James Monroe, he succeeded him, November 25, 1811, as
the chief executive of the state.
But Governor Smith's term of office was short, and his
career painfully ended by the memorable calamity of the
burning of the Richmond theatre. This harrowing event
took place on Thursday night, December 26, 1811. The
theatre was crowded with the young, the gay, the fair,
together with the honored and the influential of the state,
and the terrible ending of the evening shrouded Richmond
in mourning. The Governor had reached a place of safety
outside the burning building, but returning to rescue his
little son, who had been separated from him by the throng,
he fell a victim to the sacrificial passion of a parent's love.
Seventy persons are known to have perished in this horrible
holocaust, but it was thought that many more were reckoned
among the fated in that ill-starred audience.
On the 30th of December intelligence of this tragedy was
communicated to the Senate of the United States, and a resolution
was adopted that the Senators should wear crape on
the left arm for a month. A similar resolution was adopted
in the House of Representatives.
Monumental (Episcopal) Church was erected on the site
of the theatre in 1812, and the remains of the unfortunate
victims are buried in the portico of the edifice, beneath a
marble monument inscribed with their names.
