Smithson Bequest Referred to House Committee

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

Full Record

View Full Record