Smithson Bequest Referred to House Committee

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Summary

The matter of the disposition of the bequest of James Smithson, recently awarded to the United States by the English Court of Chancery, is referred to a special committee of the United States House of Representatives, with former President John Quincy Adams presiding.

Subject

  • Adams, John Quincy 1767-1848
  • Smithson, James 1765-1829
  • Great Britain Court of Chancery
  • United States President
  • United States Congress

Category

Chronology of Smithsonian History

Notes

  • Rhees, page 146, gives December 7 as date for House proceedings and December 10 as date for Senate proceedings.
  • Goode, George Brown, ed. The Smithsonian Institution, 1846-1896, The History of Its First Half Century. Washington, D.C.: De Vinne Press, 1897., p. 31, 833
  • Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution for the year 1879, p. 173-74
  • Rhees, William Jones. The Smithsonian Institution: Documents Relative to Its Origin and History: 1835-1899, Vol. 1, 1835-1887. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1901., p. 145-146

Contact information

Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Institution Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu

Date

December 10, 1838

Topic

  • Smithson Bequest
  • Act to establish the "Smithsonian Institution," for the Increase and Diffusion of Knowledge Among Men

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