John T. L. Preston and Francis H. Smith correspondence

Creator:

Preston, John T. L. (John Thomas Lewis), 1811-1890 and Smith, Francis H. (Francis Henney), 1812-1890

Extent:

6 items

Scope and content:

Correspondence between Francis H. Smith, who became VMI's first Superintendent, and John T. L. Preston relating to the organization and opening of VMI. Includes four letters from Preston to Smith and one letter from Smith to Preston, in which he accepts the job offered by the Board of Visitors to serve as Superintendent (originally called Principal Professor). One related letter is from Francis H. Smith to William Atkinson or Atkison, in which Smith asks for advice about VMI's job offer.

Biographical / historical:

John Thomas Lewis Preston (1811-1890), was one of the founders of the Virginia Military Institute. He served at VMI as a member of the first Board of Visitors (1839) and as a Professor of Modern Languages from 1839 to 1875. During the Civil War he was on the staff of General Stonewall Jackson.

Major General Francis Henney Smith (1812-1890) was appointed VMI's first Superintendent in 1839. An 1833 graduate of West Point, he had previously served briefly in the United States Army and was a Professor of Mathematics at Hampden-Sydney College (Virginia) when he accepted the position as head of the newly established VMI. He served for fifty years, from the Institute's infancy, through the Civil War, and through the difficult post-war period. He is known as the "builder and rebuilder of VMI." Smith retired on January 1, 1890 and died only a few months later, on March 21, 1890.

Subjects:

Virginia Military Institute—Board of Visitors
Virginia Military Institute—History—19th century
Correspondence
Records (documents)

Names:

Preston, John T. L. (John Thomas Lewis), 1811-1890
Smith, Francis H. (Francis Henney), 1812-1890

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