Book Review of The Richmond Theatre Fire, Part 2 of 3 parts

Continuing with the review of this fascinating book:

December of 1811 was a momentous month for George William Smith. December 5^th saw him officially sworn in as governor of Virginia, after having served as interim governor for some months. On the day after Christmas, he decided to take his wife, Lucy, and several of his children for a special evening at the theater to celebrate.

So, on the evening of December 26, 1811, “the newly minted governor of Virginia, was among the audience with his family.” Seated in boxes seven and eight with other wealthy dignitaries and bejeweled gentry, the governor was dressed formally “with his tall collar secured with his distinctive stock buckle.”

This stock buckle proved to be important later. After the fire, Governor George William Smith’s body was one of the few identified. A Richmond resident who witnessed what was left of the governor’s body being carried from the smoking ruins wrote, ‘His remains I saw taken from the ruins were a crisped lump.’  The stock buckle he wore helped to identify that crisped lump as what was left of the governor’s body.

“Perhaps the greatest blow in 1811 for Richmond---and for the state of Virginia---was the loss of its leader, Governor George William Smith.”

“A collaborator and peacemaker, the former state legislator from Essex County took firm political stands while leaving ‘not one enemy behind,’ according to his heartfelt obituary.”

“Most accounts concurred that Governor Smith emerged from the fire alive. They also reported that he looked around in search of someone and then reentered the burning building, where he met his death. The person for whom the forty-nine year old father was searching remained unclear.”

Many believe he was looking for his young son and rushed in to save him, but whatever the governor’s reason for going back into the theater, that decision cost him his life.

[Note: The governor’s wife and his children survived the fire.]

“Without Smith’s guidance, the executive branch nearly fell apart in the week after the fire.”  There was much confusion about what to do about a new chief executive and how to proceed in the state government of Virginia.

 “Governor George Smith‘s family did not escape hardship after the fire. His wife Lucy F. Smith was left with eight children from his previous marriage to the deceased Sarah Adams, and she must have found it necessary to obtain an infusion of cash to sustain the household.”

“By January 28, Governor Smith’s valuables were scheduled for auction, as this announcement indicates:

All the Household and Kitchen furniture of the late GEORGE W. SMITH, Esq., consisting of  a tableboard, a Mahogany Settee and Chairs, Bed-steads with Curtains, Tables, Chairs, Table and Tea China, &c, &c. Three family slaves.

“This auction was deemed necessary despite an act of the Assembly passed on January 21 allocating monies to the Smith family---the only example of state aid to victims of the Richmond Theater fire.”

The legislature voted to pay Lucy F. Smith and the children of the deceased governor $1,946 for his earlier service as lieutenant governor and interim governor.