Benjamin Smith (1717–1770) was an American slave trader, planter, shipowner, merchant, banker and politician who served as speaker of the South Carolina House of Assembly from 1755 to 1763.

Biography

He was born in St James Goose Creek near Charles Town and was the son of Thomas Smith and Sabina Smith, both of English descent; his father was a planter from

Nevis Nevis is a small island in the Caribbean Sea that forms part of the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain of the West Indies. Nevis and the neighbouring island of Saint Kitts constitute one country: the Federation of Saint Kitts and Ne ...

in the

British West Indies The British West Indies (BWI) were colonized British territories in the West Indies: Anguilla, the Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Montserrat, the British Virgin Islands, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grena ...

, while his mother belonged to one of the oldest and most prominent families of South Carolina, as a daughter of the

landgrave Landgrave (german: Landgraf, nl, landgraaf, sv, lantgreve, french: landgrave; la, comes magnus, ', ', ', ', ') was a noble title used in the Holy Roman Empire, and later on in its former territories. The German titles of ', ' ("margrave"), a ...

, judge and important colonial leader Thomas Smith II and a granddaughter of two royals governors, Thomas Smith and Joseph Blake. He was also descended from governors

John Yeamans Sir John Yeamans, 1st Baronet (bapt. 28 February 1611 – 1674) was an English colonial administrator and planter who served as Governor of Carolina from 1672 to 1674. Contemporary descriptions of Yeamans described him as "a pirate ashore." ...

and James Moore. Benjamin Smith was also the uncle of North Carolina governor Benjamin Smith. He was one of the most prominent merchant bankers in the colony in his lifetime. He inherited a two-thousand-acre plantation located in the St James Goose Creek parish. He also owned the Accabee plantation on the Ashley River and several other properties, including a town house with twelve slaves in Charleston. The town house, the family's primary residence, was built in the 1740s and is located on 49 Broad Street in Charleston; it is now known as the Benjamin Smith House. He was active in the

slave trade Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

and the

fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mos ...

, and owned seven ships with some other merchants. He held numerous civic offices and served in the Royal Assembly from 1747 to 1765, including as Speaker for many years. He also funded a "negro school" run by the priest

Alexander Garden Alexander Gardens (russian: Александровский сад) was one of the first urban public parks in Moscow, Russia. The park comprises three separate gardens, which stretch along all the length of the western Kremlin wall for between ...

.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, 9781625854070 Benjamin Smith was married to Mary Wragg, a daughter of Judith DuBose and

Joseph Wragg Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

, who was for some decades the largest slave trader in North America. They were the parents of Judith Smith (1766–1820), who was married to the revolutionary officer and lieutenant governor of South Carolina

James Ladson James Henry Ladson (1753 – 1812) was an American politician, wealthy plantation owner from Charles Town and officer of the American Revolution. He served as the Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina from 1792 to 1794, and was a member of the ...

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Benjamin People from Charleston, South Carolina 18th-century American slave traders American bankers American people of English descent 1717 births 1770 deaths 18th-century American politicians Politicians from Charleston, South Carolina

Benjamin Benjamin ( he, ''Bīnyāmīn''; "Son of (the) right") blue letter bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3225/kjv/wlc/0-1/ H3225 - yāmîn - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) was the last of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel (Jacob's thir ...