William Smith (September 2, 1818 – February 6, 1912) was an American businessman. Born in

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, he set up a successful nursery business in

Geneva, New York Geneva is a City (New York), city in Ontario County, New York, Ontario and Seneca County, New York, Seneca counties in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is at the northern end of Seneca Lake (New York), Seneca Lake; all land port ...

with his brothers in the mid 19th century. He also organised the Standard Optical Company in 1883 and was director of the First National Bank of Geneva.

Astronomy

Smith, like many wealthy people of the period, had an interest in

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...

and

astrology Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of Celestial o ...

. He had an observatory built behind his mansion in Geneva. He later commissioned the Smith Observatory, with a dome built by the

Warner & Swasey Company The Warner & Swasey Company was an American manufacturer of machine tools, instruments, and special machinery. It operated as an independent business firm, based in Cleveland, from its founding in 1880 until its acquisition in 1980. It was fo ...

, and persuaded

William Robert Brooks William Robert Brooks (June 11, 1844 – May 3, 1921) was a British-born American astronomer, mainly noted as being one of the most prolific discoverers of new comets of all time, second only to Jean-Louis Pons. Early life William Robert B ...

, a prolific comet-finder, to direct it, attracting him with the state-of-the-art observatory and a house built for Brooks and his family. Smith also promoted free lectures given by Brooks.

Academic institution

He then became interested in founding a women's college, a plan that he pursued to the point of breaking ground before realizing that the plan was beyond even his means. Meanwhile, president of Hobart College, Langdon C. Stewardson learned of his interest and tried to persuade Smith to become a donor to the financially struggling college. Unable to convince Smith to provide direct assistance to Hobart, Stewardson redirected the negotiations toward founding a coordinate institution for women, a plan that appealed to the philanthropist. On December 13, 1906, he formalized his intentions; two years later William Smith School for Women - a coordinate, nonsectarian women's college - enrolled its first class of 18 students. That charter class grew to 20 members before its graduation in 1912. As well as the observatory on his own property, Smith had the Smith Opera House built in 1894 in downtown Geneva. In 1906, Smith donated it to the college. William Smith died in Geneva on February 6, 1912 at the age of 93, shortly before the charter class of William Smith College was to graduate. Smith left his mansion, the observatory and the house he had had built for Brooks to Hobart College. The house was subsequently bought back by Brooks' daughter, Anna.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, William 1818 births 1912 deaths 19th-century American businesspeople