L. Windsor Smith – Early 1850s

Part of the ‘Smith family history’ series

In the early 1850s Atlanta was growing rapidly, in no small part due to the railroads converging on the place. However, Atlanta was still notably smaller than Savannah, Augusta, Columbus, and still less than half the size of Macon.

City	1850 U.S. Census Population
Savannah	15,312
Augusta	9,448
Columbus	5,942
Macon	5,720
Atlanta	2,572

Sometime in 1850 William R. Hackley is appointed to replace Larned as U. S. District Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. It is unclear how and to what capacity Larned was still functioning in this role while residing in Atlanta since 1848.

On 10/8/1850, Robert’s sister Mary Kezia Smith is born in Atlanta. The 1850 census for the Smith household was apparently recorded on November 6, 1850, but for some reason Mary is not listed. I thought perhaps she was actually born in 1851, but as far as I can tell all other sources refer to her birth year as 1850.

The Smith household was enumerated for the census on November 6, 1850. The “free inhabitants” were recorded as follows:

Name	Age	Sex	Color	Occupation	Value of Real Estate	Place of Birth
L. Windsor Smith	48	M	W	None	$1,100	NY
Eveline M. Smith	30	F	W			VA
Robert W. Smith	9	M	W			FL
W. B. Ruggles	23	M	W	Printer		NY

My guess is that W. B. Ruggles is William Benjamin Ruggles. Ruggles was probably a boarder, and potentially someone that Larned knew from New York. Ruggles would later serve as an editor of The Daily Intelligencer newspaper alongside Thomas Coke Howard who will be discussed in later posts.

As I indicated, the 1850 federal census is split between “free inhabitants” and the “slave schedule.” I imagine anyone who has ever looked at a U.S. “slave schedule” knows the same feeling of disgust that I have when seeing the name of an enslaver followed by rows of unnamed individuals. Rather than digressing too much I will defer my own thoughts on the matter for now and just try to focus on the facts, regardless of how ugly and disappointing they may be. I will say that my intention behind exploring the Smith family history is not to heroize or mythologize Robert Windsor Smith, for example, in the vein of John James Audubon. For an important perspective on Audubon’s legacy, I highly recommend this article by Dr. J. Drew Lanham: What Do We Do About John James Audubon?

I am confident that the following entry is in fact Larned, despite the somewhat difficult to read writing and the fact that the enumeration is listed in the Decatur district. The “free inhabitants” enumeration has a note immediately preceding the Smith household that says “End Decatur dist.” So I think that clue as well as the fact that he is not listed in the Atlanta district slave schedule (which begins on the next page of the schedule), and the likelihood that the difficult to read name is L. Windsor Smith leads us to the conclusion that Larned was an enslaver. All we know about the enslaved individuals are the recorded age, sex, and color.

	Age	Sex	Color
Enslaved Person 1	28	M	B
Enslaved Person 2	22	F	M
Enslaved Person 3	26	F	B

On July 14, 1851 Larned purchases a storefront property on Whitehall Street in downtown Atlanta from one Robert M. Spencer. This section of Whitehall is now Peachtree Street, and the property is on the block between contemporary Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. SW and Alabama St. SW. Robert M. Spencer was the brother of Larned’s wife (Eveline Spencer Smith), who at the time was living in St. Marks, Florida. I do not know when or why Robert Spencer acquired the Whitehall property.

7/14/1851 deed transcription

DeKalb County Deed Book M, Page 343

In consideration of the sum of five hundred Dollars paid by
L. Windsor Smith to me I Robert M. Spencer of St. Marks Florida
do hereby grant bargain & sell to the said L. W. Smith his heirs & assigns
forever one undivided half of that piece of land in the City of Atlanta
Georgia being the South West half of lot seven of Block four having a
front(?) on White hall street of forty two feet more or less & extending
back at right angles one hundred & eighty five feet more or less

DeKalb County Deed Book M, Page 344

Reference being here(?) to the survey & manuscript map of that part of
said City known as the Mitchell lot to gather(?) with the(?) undivided half of
all the improvements & appurtenances thereon being & thereto belonging.
And for my self my heirs and personal representatives I hereby covenant with
the said Smith his heirs & assigns forever to warrant and defend the said (?)
(?) premises in his & their(?) possession against all persons lawfully claim-
ing the same or any part thereof. Given under my hand & seal at Atlanta
this fourteenth day of July in the year Eighteen hundred & fifty-one.
R. M. Spencer

In Presence of
Marcus A Ball
W. Buell J. P.
Registered July 16th 1851
R. M. Brown clk

This Whitehall storefront would play an important role in reconstruction era Atlanta retail history, but that’s a story for another day. Up next we will look at more family changes in the Smith household in the days leading up to the Civil War.