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

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. 

Jack Joins the Navy

  • In 1841, Jack Wilkes approached his mother about joining the Navy. Although she opposed the idea, Jane Renwick Wilkes sought the help needed to obtain his commission and painstakingly made the uniform for her fourteen-year-old son.  His father Charles was still away at sea, and was heartbroken to receive word that Jack was now a Midshipman. 

1853 July 8

This page is an example of a crossed letter. To save money on postage, nineteenth-century correspondents would sometimes write over a page they had previously covered with text. The second time the handwriting would go up and down instead of left to right. With a little practice one can read it.

The first seven lines of Jack's letter to Jeanie are shown in the image at the head of this page. A transcription follows:  

Washington July 8th 1853 

My dear Jeanie,           

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