Robert Smyth (11/3/1757- 11/26/1842)

Also Known As: Robert Smith
Reader
Borrowing activity from 3/22/1791 to 2/17/1792.

Robert Smith (November 3, 1757 – November 26, 1842) was the second United States Secretary of the Navy from 1801 to 1809 and the sixth United States Secretary of State from 1809 to 1811. He was the brother of Senator Samuel Smith.

Smith was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. During the American Revolutionary War, he served in the Continental Army and participated in the Battle of Brandywine. He graduated from Princeton in 1781 and began to practice law in Maryland. Smith became the Presidential Elector in the Electoral College for Maryland in 1789, then a member of state's senate from 1793 to 1795, and finally a member of Maryland's house of delegates from 1796 to 1800. President Thomas Jefferson appointed him as Secretary of the Navy in July, 1801 after William Jones declined the position. On March 2, 1805, the Senate confirmed the appointments of Smith as United States Attorney General and Jacob Crowninshield as Secretary of the Navy. However, Crowninshield declined his appointment, so Smith briefly served as both Attorney General and Secretary of the Navy. Eventually, President Jefferson appointed John Breckinridge to replace Smith as Attorney General and Smith resumed his role as a full-time Secretary of the Navy. Smith finally left the office of Secretary of the Navy with the end of President Jefferson's administration on March 4, 1809. Jefferson's successor, President James Madison, immediately appointed Smith as Secretary of State, an office which he held from March 6, 1809 until his forced resignation on April 1, 1811.

Smith was closely allied with his brother, Maryland Senator Samuel Smith. He bitterly opposed Treasury Secretary Albert Gallatin. Madison thought he could be his own Secretary of State, but Smith so often pursued opposite policies that Madison finally demanded his resignation. In Madison's April 1811 “Memorandum on Robert Smith” the president offered a laundry list of Smith's shortcomings: he questioned Smith's loyalty; he found Smith's diplomatic correspondence wanting; he had been indiscreet in conversations with the British; and he had opposed the Administration's efforts to secure concessions from Britain and France by limiting trade. Apparently Smith was bewildered by these and other charges leveled by Madison and published an exoneration of himself, "Robert Smith's Address to the People of the United States," an attack on Madison's foreign policy. Madison offered Smith the post of ambassador to Russia, currently then held by John Quincy Adams. Smith considered the offer, but in the end, he refused the post.

Smith became the president of the not-yet-fully-organized American Bible Society in 1813. In 1818, he became the founding president of the Maryland Agriculture Society and afterwards retired to a more private life where he enjoyed his wealth. Robert Smith died in Baltimore, Maryland, on November 26, 1842. The USS Robert Smith was named for him.

Robert Smyth Library Average
Circulation records from 1793-1799 are lost.
Books by subject area
As classified in the 1813 Library Catalog.

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Robert Smyth Library Average
Full Title Author Volume Date Out Date In Rep. Fine Ledger
Transcribed: Tales of CastleStéphanie Félicité, comtesse de GenlisVolume 23/22/17913/24/1791
Transcribed: Harris' VoyagesVolume 13/22/17914/7/1791
Transcribed: "Stéphanie Félicité, comtesse de GenlisVolume 33/24/17913/26/1791
Transcribed: Brydone's TourPatrick BrydoneVolume 13/26/17914/7/1791
Transcribed: ZoriadaAnne Hughes4/7/17914/16/1791
Transcribed: Modern TimesJohn TruslerVolume 14/7/17914/16/1791
Transcribed: Julia de RoubigneHenry MackenzieVolume 14/16/17914/19/1791
Transcribed: Loveil's AdventuresVolume 14/16/17914/19/1791
Transcribed: EleonoraJohann Wolfgang von Goethe4/19/17914/26/1791
Transcribed: EmiliaMrs. Burke4/19/17914/26/1791
Transcribed: Ann. Reg. 1&2Robert DodsleyVolume 17594/26/17914/30/1791
Transcribed: Ann. Reg. 1&2Robert DodsleyVolume 17604/26/17914/30/1791
Transcribed: " 3Robert DodsleyVolume 17614/30/17915/3/1791
Transcribed: Cook's VoyageJames CookVolume 15/3/17915/5/1791
Transcribed: " 6Robert DodsleyVolume 17645/3/17915/5/1791
Transcribed: "James CookVolume 25/5/17915/14/1791
Transcribed: Ann. Reg. 5Robert DodsleyVolume 17635/5/17915/14/1791
Transcribed: Cook's VoyageJames CookVolume 15/14/17915/26/1791
Transcribed: Cook's VoyageJames CookVolume 25/14/17915/26/1791
Transcribed: Fielding's WorksHenry FieldingVolume 55/31/17916/12/1791
Transcribed: Fielding's WorksHenry FieldingVolume 45/31/17916/12/1791
Transcribed: "Henry FieldingVolume 16/12/17916/22/17913p
Transcribed: "Henry FieldingVolume 26/12/17916/22/17913p
Transcribed: Vicar Bray6/22/17917/9/17913p
Transcribed: Julia MandevilleFrances Moore Brooke6/22/17917/9/1791
Transcribed: Marmontel's TalesJean-François MarmontelVolume 17/9/17917/13/1791
Transcribed: Empire MoroccoLouis de ChénierVolume 17/9/17917/13/1791
Transcribed: Marmontel's TalesJean-François MarmontelVolume 27/13/17917/15/1791
Transcribed: Marmontel's TalesJean-François MarmontelVolume 37/13/17917/15/1791
Transcribed: Bach. SalamancaAlain René Le SageVolume 17/15/17917/16/1791
Transcribed: Centlivre's PlaysSusanna CentlivreVolume 27/15/17917/16/1791
Transcribed: Naval HistoryGeorge Berkley7/16/17918/17/17914p
Transcribed: Dean ColerainAbbé PrévostVolume 17/16/17918/17/1791
Transcribed: FieldingHenry FieldingVolume 37/19/17917/20/1791
Transcribed: "Henry FieldingVolume 47/20/17917/22/1791
Transcribed: "Henry FieldingVolume 27/22/17917/23/1791
Transcribed: "Henry FieldingVolume 17/23/17917/24/1791
Transcribed: "Henry FieldingVolume 67/24/17917/26/1791
Transcribed: Mod. TimesJohn TruslerVolume 17/26/17917/26/1791
Transcribed: Farquhar's worksGeorge FarquharVolume 17/26/17917/29/1791
Transcribed: RecessSophia LeeVolume 17/29/17917/31/1791
Transcribed: Fairy TalesVolume 17/31/17918/5/1791
Transcribed: Robertson's Charles 5William RobertsonVolume 18/5/17918/7/1791
Transcribed: "William RobertsonVolume 28/7/17918/9/1791
Transcribed: "William RobertsonVolume 38/9/17918/10/1791
Transcribed: "William RobertsonVolume 48/10/17918/11/1791
Transcribed: Wilson Pelew IslandsGeorge Keate8/11/17918/14/1791
Transcribed: Rabelais WorksFrançois RabelaisVolume 18/14/17918/16/1791
Transcribed: Gay's PlaysJohn Gay8/16/17918/19/1791
Transcribed: Watson's Hist. P. 2Robert WatsonVolume 18/19/17918/20/1791
Transcribed: More's FranceJohn MooreVolume 18/23/17919/3/1791
Transcribed: More's FranceJohn MooreVolume 28/23/17919/3/1791
Transcribed: Caroline of LichtfieldThomas Holcroft; Isabelle de Montolieu Volume 19/4/17919/6/1791
Transcribed: TriumvirateRichard GriffithVolume 19/4/17919/6/1791
Transcribed: CarolineThomas Holcroft; Isabelle de Montolieu Volume 29/6/17919/11/1791
Transcribed: "Richard GriffithVolume 29/6/17919/11/1791
Transcribed: Dean ColerainAbbé PrévostVolume 19/11/17919/15/1791
Transcribed: Sorrow WerterJohann Wolfgang von GoetheVolume 19/11/17919/15/1791
Transcribed: Fool QualityHenry BrookeVolume 19/15/17919/21/1791
Transcribed: "Henry BrookeVolume 29/15/17919/21/1791
Transcribed: "Henry BrookeVolume 39/21/17919/24/1791
Transcribed: "Henry BrookeVolume 49/21/17919/24/1791
Transcribed: LouisaElizabeth Helme9/24/179110/4/1791
Transcribed: " conHenry BrookeVolume 49/24/179110/4/1791
Transcribed: MatildaLadyVolume 110/4/179110/12/1791
Transcribed: Lady WoodfordLady WoodfordVolume 110/4/179110/12/1791
Transcribed: BollingbrokeHenry BolingbrokeVolume 110/12/179110/23/1791
Transcribed: Devil on SticksWilliam Combe; Alain René Le SageVolume 110/12/179110/23/1791
Transcribed: Roderick RandomTobias George SmollettVolume 110/23/179110/30/1791
Transcribed: Roderick RandomTobias George SmollettVolume 210/23/179110/30/1791
Transcribed: "Henry BolingbrokeVolume 210/23/179110/23/1791
Transcribed: "Henry BolingbrokeVolume 310/23/179110/23/1791
Transcribed: Kirby's PerspectiveJohn Joshua KirbyVolume 210/30/179111/11/1791
Transcribed: Baron TottFrançois TottVolume 111/17/179111/20/1791
Transcribed: Wilkes WorksJohn De Ponthieu WilkesVolume 111/17/179111/26/1791
Transcribed: Romance Real LifeCharlotte Turner SmithVolume 111/20/179111/27/1791
Transcribed: Moore's FranceJohn MooreVolume 111/27/179112/3/1791
Transcribed: Moore's FranceJohn MooreVolume 211/27/179112/3/1791
Transcribed: Bellamy's LifeGeorge Anne BellamyVolume 112/3/179112/6/1791
Transcribed: Wilke's WorksJohn De Ponthieu WilkesVolume 212/3/179112/6/1791
Transcribed: Bellamy "George Anne BellamyVolume 212/6/179112/19/1791
Transcribed: Bellamy "George Anne BellamyVolume 312/6/179112/19/1791
Transcribed: Man FeelingHenry Mackenzie12/9/179112/19/1791
Transcribed: Fontaine's TalesJean de La Fontaine12/19/17911/3/17922p
Transcribed: Arabian NightsVolume 112/19/17911/3/17922p
Transcribed: Letters from a ladyMrs. Vigor12/25/17911/31/1792
Transcribed: Unf. Young Nob.12/25/17911/31/1792
Transcribed: Memoirs De La MotteJeanne de Saint-Rémy de Valois1/31/17922/9/1792
Transcribed: Jewish SpyJean-Baptiste de Boyer, Marquis d'ArgensVolume 11/31/17922/9/1792
Transcribed: Arnl. Reg. 4&5Robert DodsleyVolume 17622/9/17922/15/1792
Transcribed: Arnl. Reg. 4&5Robert DodsleyVolume 17632/9/17922/15/1792
Transcribed: " 2&3Robert DodsleyVolume 17602/15/17922/17/1792
Transcribed: " 2&3Robert DodsleyVolume 17612/15/17922/17/1792
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