Benjamin Smith (merchant)

Benjamin Smith

Benjamin Smith (born September 2, 1717 in Berkeley County , South Carolina , † July 23, 1770 in Newport , Rhode Island ) was an American merchant , banker , shipowner , plantation owner , slave trader and politician from Charles Town (now Charleston) in the British South Carolina Colony. He was one of the most prominent commercial bankers of his time in the colony. He was a member of the Royal Assembly (Parliament) from 1747 to 1765 and was its President ( Speaker ) from 1755 to 1763 .

His father, Thomas Smith, was a plantation owner and was born on Nevis . His mother Sabina Smith was the daughter of the colonial official and Landgrave Thomas Smith II and granddaughter of the Governor and Landgrave Thomas Smith I and granddaughter of the Governor Joseph Blake. His ancestors came from England and had arrived in the West Indies and North America in the 17th century.

Smith owned two large plantations and several other properties. He lived mostly in a town house in Charles Town, now known as the Benjamin Smith House . He was very actively involved in the slave trade and owned a number of ships. He also financed the so-called "Negro School" in Charleston.

Benjamin Smith was married to Mary Wragg, daughter of Joseph Wragg , who was the largest slave trader in North America for decades, especially in the 1730s.

Individual evidence

^ The Nine Lives of Robert Deans: A Cabinetmaker and Master Builder in Edinburgh, Charleston, and London, 1740-1780.
^ Alan D. Watson: General Benjamin Smith: A Biography of the North Carolina Governor. McFarland, 2014, ISBN 978-0-7864-8528-4 , p. 5.
↑ Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress)
^ Dorothy Middleton Anderson, Margaret Middleton Rivers Eastman: St. Philip's Church of Charleston: An Early History of the Oldest Parish in South Carolina. Arcadia Publishing, 2015, ISBN 978-1-62585-407-0 .

personal data
SURNAME	Smith, Benjamin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Assembly, Royal; Speaker, Benjamin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American merchant, banker, shipowner, plantation owner, slave trader and politician
DATE OF BIRTH	September 2, 1717
PLACE OF BIRTH	Berkeley County , South Carolina
DATE OF DEATH	July 23, 1770
Place of death	Newport , Rhode Island

[1] The Nine Lives of Robert Deans: A Cabinetmaker and Master Builder in Edinburgh, Charleston, and London, 1740-1780.

[2] Alan D. Watson: General Benjamin Smith: A Biography of the North Carolina Governor. McFarland, 2014, ISBN 978-0-7864-8528-4 , p. 5.

[3] Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress)

[4] Dorothy Middleton Anderson, Margaret Middleton Rivers Eastman: St. Philip's Church of Charleston: An Early History of the Oldest Parish in South Carolina. Arcadia Publishing, 2015, ISBN 978-1-62585-407-0 .