Margaret Bayard Smith

Margaret Smith

Margaret Bayard Smith (20 February 1778 – 7 June 1844) was a successful author and politician in a time when women lived under strict gender roles. Her writings and relationships shaped both politics and society in early Washington. Mrs. Smith began writing books in the 1820s: a two-volume novel in 1824 called A Winter in Washington, or Memoirs of the Seymour Family, another novel in 1825, What is Gentility?. She also wrote several biographies including Dolley Madison. Her literary reputation, however, comes primarily from a collection of her letters and notebooks written from 1800 to 1841 and published in 1906 by Gaillard Hunt as The First Forty Years of Washington Society.

Family and Marriage

She was born in Pennsylvania to Colonel John Bubenheim Bayard and Margaret Hodge. Her father was with George Washington at Valley Forge when she was born, the seventh of eight children. Also included in the family were three orphaned children of Col. Bayard's twin brother, Dr. James Asheton Bayard who had married Margaret Hodge's sister, Ann Hodge. One of the orphaned children was the lawyer and politician James A. Bayard. Margaret married Samuel Harrison Smith on 29 September 1800.

Their first child Julia Harrison Smith was born in 1801 and soon after the family bought a farm, Turkey Thicket, three miles from town (now part of Catholic University). They renamed the farm Sidney. In 1804 another daughter, Susan Harrison Smith, was born. In 1810 a son, Jonathan Bayard Smith and in 1811 another daughter, Anna Maria Harrison Smith.

Political Life

Samuel Harrison Smith was a well known editor and publisher who befriended Thomas Jefferson when they both acted as officers of the American Philosophical Society. When the young couple moved to Washington they immediately became a political power couple. Smith establish the first newspaper in Washington City, the Daily Intelligencer, when the government moved from Philadelphia to Washington. When Jefferson took office, he granted Smith a government contract printing The House of Representatives Journal.^[1] Margaret’s ability to write about her observations made her an ideal partner for Samuel. She often wrote for the paper and other publications, sometimes under her own name, but most often anonymously.

As a woman, her role in the new republic was expected to be exclusively domestic. Mrs. Smith used this role to her advantage by quickly immersing herself in Washington life; befriending local families and politicians and strengthening her relationships with previous acquaintances. Most notably, Mr. and Mrs. Smith became frequent visitors to the White House. Her nearly unlimited access to political figures and inside knowledge of Washington made her an authority on Washington politics and the shaping of the new republic.^[1] Margaret’s letters to her sisters and sisters-in-law were full of insightful details about the political landscape of Washington. Her letters were the first step in establishing herself as a legitimate political thinker. The information in her letters was later published in the Richmond Enquirer and finally in her memoir, which was a political and social exploration of Washington more than a description of her own life.

Margaret Bayard Smith’s true legacy can be seen in her writings on Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the summer of 1809. She was acutely aware of the state of the nation and understood that the citizenry was in need of reassurance regarding the leadership coming from the President’s House. Her commentary during her summer trip firmly established Jefferson’s legacy as president as well as shaped his image as “the Sage of Monticello.”^[1] While visiting Montpelier (the home of James and Dolley Madison) she was a keen observer of Dolley’s hospitality and her political performance as the wife of the President. The ease of Dolley’s entertaining became her trademark and Mrs. Smith wrote about it in great detail.^[2] Margaret was able to subtly manipulate the minds of the American people and reassure them that the government was physically and metaphorically in good hands. Margaret Bayard Smith managed to do all of this in a time when women were confined to play mother and wife at all times.

References

• Mayo, Lida. "Smith, Margaret Bayard" Notable American Women. Vol. 3, 4th ed., The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1975