At left, is Devasego, the Smedberg family’s summer home. The back edition was added after the family sold the house and it was converted into an inn. Jeanie wrote often from Devasego to Jack in Washington, DC. In a letter dated July 10, 1853, she tried to help him work through family duties and career uncertainties that stood as obstacles to their marriage.
The families agreed on April 20, 1854, in New York City for the wedding of John (Jack) Wilkes and Jane (Jeanie) Smedberg. Jack began the long journey from Charlotte in March. As the 20th grew alarmingly near, Jeanie counted on the latest communication technology of her time:
From the “Autobiography of Mrs. John Wilkes (nee Jane Renwick Smedberg) Charlotte, NC 1903.” (typescript in Wilkes-Smedberg Papers, Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room):
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)
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.
