US Is Notified of the Smithson Bequest
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PrintAaron Vail, Charge d'Affaires of the United States in London, writes to Secretary of State John Forsyth, to inform him that an Englishman named James Smithson has left a bequest to the people of the United States to found in Washington an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge. Vail was notified by Smithson's solicitors, Messrs. Clarke, Fynmore & Fladgate.
Chronology of Smithsonian History
Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Institution Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu
July 28, 1835