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Size | 70 items |
Abstract | Robert W. Smith was a merchant and plantation owner who conducted the bulk of his affairs in Dallas County, Ala., and Mobile County, Ala. Smith amassed a considerable fortune selling sacking and rope. After 1849, he retired from the mercantile trade and removed to Pleasant Hill Plantation in Dallas County. During the Civil War, he raised and financed a cavalry unit (the Crocheron Light Dragoons) that saw action at Shiloh. After the war, he returned briefly to mercantile pursuits in order to recoup his fortunes. The papers of Robert W. Smith are primarily receipts relating to the purchase of slaves; deeds to land in Dallas County, Ala.; lists of slaves owned by Smith and his wife, Sarah Hunter Smith; correspondence relating to the purchase a slave named Lucy from a New Orleans slave trader; and a request that Smith act as a second in a duel. In addition, the collection contains a transcription of a letter from Robert W. Smith to his brother, Colonel Francis Lee Smith of Alexandria, Va.; printed obituaries for Smith and his father-in-law, John S. Hunter; and a transcription of reminiscences of Smith's daughter, Fannie Eleanor Smith, about her childhood experiences at the Harrison Place Plantation, Dallas County, Ala. |
Creator | Smith, Robert W., d. 1889. |
Curatorial Unit | Southern Historical Collection |
Language | English. |
Processed by: John Foster, September 2000
Encoded by: John Foster, September 2000
Updated by: Laura Hart, June 2021
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Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
Robert W. Smith was a merchant and later a plantation owner who divided his time between Mobile, Ala., and Pleasant Hill Plantation in Dallas County, Ala. Smith moved to Montgomery, Ala, at the age of 17 after working as a clerk in Alexandria, Va.. for two years. Smith fought in the Seminole War in 1834 with the Montgomery True Blues. He later attained the rank of lieutenant colonel with the First Alabama Volunteers in the period between the Seminole War and his departure from the United States Army in 1839. After leaving military service, Smith amassed a considerable fortune selling bagging and rope. In 1849, he married Sarah Hunter, daughter of Colonel (and later Judge) John S. Hunter of Dallas County, Ala. He then retired from mercantile pursuits and spent the years until the beginning of the Civil War at Pleasant Hill Plantation in Dallas County, Ala.
At the outbreak of the war, Smith raised a cavalry regiment from Dallas and Mobile counties. Dubbed the Crocheron Light Dragoons, the unit was equipped mostly at Smith's personal expense. The unit was attached to Bragg's army, serving as his bodyguard during the battle of Shiloh. Smith was cited for bravery and was later made military governor of Corinth, Miss. At the close of the war, Smith returned to mercantile pursuits to recoup his fortunes. He died in 1889.
Back to TopThe papers of Robert W. Smith of Mobile, Ala., and Pleasant Hill Plantation, Dallas County, Ala., are primarily receipts relating to the purchase of slaves; deeds to land in Dallas County, Ala.; lists of slaves owned by Smith and his wife, Sarah Hunter Smith; correspondence relating to the purchase a slave named Lucy from a New Orleans slave trader; and a request that Smith act as a second in a duel. In addition, the collection contains a transcription of a letter from Robert W. Smith to his brother, Colonel Francis Lee Smith of Alexandria, Va.; printed obituaries for Smith and his father-in-law, John S. Hunter; and a transcription of reminiscences of Smith's daughter, Fannie Eleanor Smith, about her childhood experiences at the Harrison Place Plantation, Dallas County, Ala.
Back to TopArrangement: chronological.
The papers of Robert W. Smith of Mobile, Ala., and Pleasant Hill Plantation, Dallas County, Ala., are primarily composed of receipts relating to the purchase of slaves; deeds to land in Dallas County, Ala.; lists of slaves owned by Smith and his wife, Sarah Hunter Smith; correspondence relating to the purchase a slave named Lucy from a New Orleans slave trader; and a request that Smith act as a second in a duel. In addition, the collection contains a transcription of a letter from Robert W. Smith to his brother, Colonel Francis Lee Smith of Alexandria, Va.; printed obituaries for Smith and his father-in-law, John S. Hunter; and a transcription of reminiscences of Smith's daughter, Fannie Eleanor Smith, about her childhood experiences at the Harrison Place Plantation, Dallas County, Ala.
Folder 1 |
Receipts |
Folder 2 |
Correspondence |
Folder 3 |
Lists and deeds |
Folder 4 |
Transcribed documents |
Reel M-4959/1 |
Microfilm copy of collection, 1836-1865 |