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Dearest Jeanie... Highlights of the Wilkes - Smedberg Papers (1853-1913)

The Wilkes Family

Israel Wilkes (1722-1805) was the son of an English distiller, Israel Wilkes, and his wife Sarah Heaton Wilkes. His uncle was the famous British radical, John Wilkes. Israel, the younger, married Elizabeth DePonthieu (1727-1802), and the couple settled in New York City. They had three children including John de Ponthieu Wilkes (1755-1818) who married Mary Seton (1767-1801) in 1782. John was a successful banker and  became a prominent  fixture in New York society. John Wilkes and Mary Seton Wilkes had five children.

Honeymoon

From the “Autobiography of Mrs. John Wilkes (nee Jane Renwick Smedberg) Charlotte, NC 1903.” (typescript in Wilkes-Smedberg Papers, Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room):

The Renwick-Wilkes Connection

Jane Jeffrey Renwick  (pictured) and Lieutenant Charles Wilkes married on April 26, 1826. The couple  eventually settled in Washington, DC, where they raised their four children:

Jane Wilkes Statue

 In 2014, a small group of people gathered for the unveiling of a statue of Jane Renwick Smedberg Wilkes. Those attending the ceremony on the Little Sugar Creek Greenway knew they were there to honor her contribution in establishing Charlotte’s first two hospitals. Still, people ask, “Who was this woman?” To historian Dan Morrill, she was among the most important women in Charlotte history, second only to Bonnie Cone in her influence on the city. (Dan Morrill, Historic Charlotte (Charlotte, NC: Historic Charlotte, Inc., 2001) p.85) 

Jeanie's Early Years

With the death of her husband, Isabella Smedberg, seen here on the left with her two youngest children, Renwick (right) and Charlie (left), found her financial circumstances reduced. Nevertheless, she managed to maintain some social standing, continued to make social calls with either her older daughter Agnes or her youngest daughter Jeanie. In addition, she was able with the assistance of her brother, Professor James Renwick, to send four of her six sons to Columbia College (after 1896, “Columbia University”). All four graduated and entered into a profession. 

Jack at Saint Catherine's Mills Near Charlotte

 The Saint Catherine Mine was located just south of the Third Ward of Charlotte. It lay beyond the city limits when John Wilkes arrived in 1854. It corresponds to a location between the football stadium and I-277 today. Jack wrote the following words to accompany his sketch: There is a ground plan for you to study over & though not in a proper relative scale, the positions of the house is about correct the line going from e to b shows the bounds of the lawn towards the pond.

United States Exploring Expedition

(Oil painting of the ship U.S.S. Vincennes, attributed to Charles Wilkes) In 1838, Lieutenant Charles Wilkes led the first US expedition to Antarctica. The flora, fauna, maps and other findings from the Exploring Expedition (or Ex Ex, as it was known in the family) made up the first exhibit at the Smithsonian Institute – the building designed by his nephew, James Renwick, Jr.   

Dearest Jeanie

Dearest Jeanie… Highlights of the Wilkes - Smedberg Papers (1853-1913)

 

 

 

Jeanie's World

Jeanie spent winters in New York, attending balls, weddings, and the opera. She went on calls with her mother and sister.  The family attended The Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church. From time to time, she would visit her cousins Janey and Eliza Wilkes in Washington, DC. In the summer, the Smedberg family joined countless New Yorkers in packing up the entire house to escape the heat in the  mountains of New York. The  Smedberg family, of course, returned to Devasego.

The Renwick-Smedberg Connection

  • Charles Augustus Smedberg (1781-1845) (shown here at age 45) was born in Sweden. His family were prominent bankers and merchants. He came to New York in 1812 as a representative of the Bank of England. 
  • While in New York City, he met and married Isabella Renwick and like many enterprising young men became an importer or merchant of goods from overseas. The family lived among other leading merchants along Beech Street in what is now lower Manhattan.