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Wilkes Early Years

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. 

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.   

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.

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. 

Wilkes Family Tragedy

In the spring of 1848, the recently promoted  Commodore Charles Wilkes and his youngest son, Edmund, traveled south to investigate the estate of his uncle, William Renwick, who had left behind an interest in a gold mine near Charlotte, North Carolina. 

Jack was still away at sea.