Editing James Smithson (section)

==Legacy and the Smithsonian==
Later in the year of his death the United States government was informed about the bequest when [[Aaron Vail]] wrote to Secretary of State [[John Forsyth (politician)|John Forsyth]].<ref name=inform>{{cite book|last=Rhees|first=William Jones|title=The Smithsonian Institution: Documents Relative to Its Origin and History: 1835–1899, Vol. 1, 1835–1887|year=1901|publisher=Government Printing Office|location=Washington, D.C.|pages=8–9|url=http://siarchives.si.edu/collections/siris_sic_639}}</ref> This information was then passed onto President [[Andrew Jackson]] who then informed [[United States Congress|Congress]]; a committee was organized, and after much debate the Smithsonian Institution was established by legislation.<ref name=jackson>{{cite book|last=Rhees|first=William Jones|title=The Smithsonian Institution: Documents Relative to Its Origin and History: 1835–1899, Vol. 1, 1835–1887|year=1901|publisher=Government Printing Office|location=Washington, D.C.|pages=125|url=http://siarchives.si.edu/collections/siris_sic_640}}</ref> In 1836 President Jackson sent [[Richard Rush]], former Treasury Secretary, to England as Commissioner to proceed in Chancery Court to secure the funds. In 1838 he was successful and returned, accompanied by 104,960 [[gold sovereign]]s (in eleven crates) and Smithson's personal items, scientific notes, minerals, and library.<ref name=effects>{{cite web|title=Smithson's Legacy and Effects Arrive in NY|url=https://siris-sihistory.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?&profile=all&source=~!sichronology&uri=full=3100001~!645~!0#focus|work=Chronology of Smithsonian History|publisher=Smithsonian Institution Archives|access-date=5 April 2018}}</ref><ref name=gold>{{cite book|last=Goode|first=George Brown|title=The Smithsonian Institution, 1846–1896, The History of Its First Half Century|year=1897|publisher=De Vinne Press|location=Washington, D.C.|pages=30|url=http://siarchives.si.edu/collections/siris_sic_467}}</ref> The gold was transferred to the treasury in [[Philadelphia]] and was reminted into $508,318.46.<ref name=effects/> The final funds from Smithson were received in 1864 from Marie de la Batut, Smithson's nephew's mother. This final amount totalled $54,165.38.<ref name=final>{{cite book|last=Rhees|first=William Jones|title=The Smithsonian Institution: Documents Relative to Its Origin and History: 1835–1899, Vol. 1, 1835–1887|year=1901|publisher=Government Printing Office|location=Washington, D.C.|pages=116–117|url=http://siarchives.si.edu/collections/siris_sic_678}}</ref>

On 24 February 1847 the Board of Regents, which oversaw the creation of the Smithsonian, approved the seal for the institution. The seal, based on an [[engraving]] by [[Pierre Joseph Tiolier]], was manufactured by Edward Stabler and designed by [[Robert Dale Owen]].<ref name=SMC>{{cite book|last=Rhees|first=William J.|title=Journals of the Proceedings of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution 1846–76, Reports of Committees, Statistics, Etc.|year=1879|publisher=Smithsonian Institution|location=Washington, D.C.|pages=445–446|url=http://siarchives.si.edu/collections/siris_sic_477}}</ref> Although Smithson's papers and collection of minerals were destroyed in a fire in 1865, his collection of 213 books remains intact at the Smithsonian.<ref name=SIAmain/><ref name=grave>{{cite web|last=Stamm|first=Richard E.|title=The Italian Grave Site|url=http://www.si.edu/oahp/Smithsons%20Crypt/The%20Italian%20Grave%20Site.html|work=Mr. Smithson Goes to Washington And the Search for a Proper Memorial|publisher=Smithsonian Institution|access-date=7 May 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120702025300/http://www.si.edu/oahp/Smithsons%20Crypt/The%20Italian%20Grave%20Site.html|archive-date=2 July 2012}}</ref><ref name=science>{{cite web|title=A Man of Science|url=http://www.sil.si.edu/Exhibitions/Smithson-to-Smithsonian/who_04.html|work=From Smithson to Smithsonian|publisher=Smithsonian Institution|access-date=7 May 2012}}</ref> The Board of Regents acquired a portrait of Smithson dressed in [[Oxford University]] student attire, painted by James Roberts, that is now on display in the crypt at the [[Smithsonian Castle]].<ref name=portrait>{{cite web|title=Purchase of Smithson Portrait|url=http://siarchives.si.edu/collections/siris_sic_313|publisher=Smithsonian Institution Archives|access-date=7 May 2012}}</ref> An additional portrait, a miniature, and the original draft of Smithson's will were acquired in 1877; they now reside in the [[National Portrait Gallery (United States)|National Portrait Gallery]] and [[Smithsonian Institution Archives]], respectively.<ref name=secondportrait>{{cite web|title=Smithson Portrait and Papers Purchased|url=http://siarchives.si.edu/collections/siris_sic_94|work=Record Unit 7000, Box 3, Folder 7|publisher=Smithsonian Institution Archives|access-date=7 May 2012}}</ref> Additional items were acquired from Smithson's relatives in 1878.<ref name=batut>{{cite web|title=Smithson Artifacts Obtained from de la Batut|url=http://siarchives.si.edu/collections/siris_sic_367|work=Record Unit 7000, p. Box 3, Folder 7|publisher=Smithsonian Institution Archives|access-date=7 May 2012}}</ref>

The circumstances of his birth seem to have created in him a desire for posthumous fame, although he had established quite a reputation in the scientific community and lived proud of his descent.<ref>Appleton's Cyclopædia of American Biography, Vol. V, Pag. 598. D. Appleton & CO., New York, 1887.</ref> Smithson once wrote:
<blockquote>The best blood of England flows in my veins. On my father's side I am a Northumberland, on my mother's I am related to kings; but this avails me not. My name shall live in the memory of man when the titles of the Northumberlands and the Percys are extinct and forgotten.<ref>Dictionary of National Biography, Vol. LIII, Pag. 173. Edited by Sidney Lee. Smith, Elder & CO, London 1898, The Macmillan CO.</ref></blockquote>

===Relocation of Smithson's remains to Washington===
[[File:James Smithson remains - IMG 1940.JPG|thumb|left|upright|Smithson's crypt in Washington]]
Smithson was buried in Sampierdarena, [[Genoa]], Italy. The United States consul in Genoa was asked to maintain the grave site, with sponsorship for its maintenance coming from the Smithsonian Institution. Smithsonian Secretary [[Samuel P. Langley]] visited the site, contributing further money to maintain it and requested a plaque be designed for the grave site. Three plaques were created by [[William Ordway Partridge]]. One was placed at the grave site, a second at a Protestant chapel in Genoa, and the last was gifted to Pembroke College, Oxford. Only one of the plaques exists today. The plaque at the grave site was stolen and then replaced with a marble version. During World War II, the Protestant chapel was destroyed and the plaque was looted. A copy was eventually placed at the site in 1963.<ref name=grave/>

The cemetery where Smithson rested was going to be moved in 1905, for the expansion of an adjacent quarry. In response, [[Alexander Graham Bell]], then a regent of the Smithsonian, proposed that Smithson's remains be moved to the [[Smithsonian Institution Building]]; in 1903, he and his wife, [[Mabel Gardiner Hubbard]], traveled to Genoa to exhume the body. A steamship departed Genoa on 7 January 1904 with the remains and arrived in [[Hoboken, New Jersey]] on 20 January, where they were transferred to the {{USS|Dolphin|PG-24}} for the trip to Washington.

On 25 January a ceremony was held in Washington, D.C., and the body was escorted by the [[Cavalry (United States)|United States Cavalry]] to the [[Smithsonian Institution Building|Castle]].<ref name=arrival>{{cite web|last=Stamm|first=Richard E|title=The Exhumation and Journey to America|url=http://www.si.edu/oahp/Smithsons%20Crypt/Exhumation.html|work=Mr. Smithson Goes to Washington|publisher=Smithsonian Institution|access-date=7 May 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120702025315/http://www.si.edu/oahp/Smithsons%20Crypt/Exhumation.html|archive-date=2 July 2012}}</ref> When handing over the remains to the Smithsonian, Bell stated: "And now... my mission is ended and I deliver into your hands ... the remains of this great benefactor of the United States.” The coffin then lay in state in the Board of Regents' room, where objects from Smithson's personal collection were on display.

===Memorial===
[[File:1896JamesSmithsonGrave.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Smithson's gravestone in the Smithsonian Institution Castle]]
After the arrival of Smithson's remains, the Board of Regents asked Congress to fund a memorial. Artists and architects were solicited to create proposals for the monument. [[Augustus Saint-Gaudens]], [[Louis Saint-Gaudens]], [[Gutzon Borglum]], [[Totten & Rogers]], [[Henry Bacon]], and [[Hornblower & Marshall]] were some of the many artists and architectural firms who submitted proposals. The proposals varied in design, from elaborate monumental tombs that, if built, would have been bigger than the [[Lincoln Memorial]], to smaller monuments just outside the Smithsonian Castle. Congress decided not to fund the memorial. To accommodate the fact that the Smithsonian would have to fund the memorial, they used the design of [[Gutzon Borglum]], which suggested a remodel of the south tower room of the Smithsonian Castle to house the memorial surrounded by four [[Corinthian order|Corinthian]] columns and a vaulted ceiling. Instead of the tower room, a smaller room (at the time it was the janitor's closet) at the north entrance would house an Italian-style [[sarcophagus]].<ref name=proper>{{cite web|last=Stamm|first=Richard E.|title=The Search for a Proper Memorial|url=http://www.si.edu/oahp/Smithsons%20Crypt/Smithson%20Memorial.html|work=Mr. Smithson Goes to Washington|publisher=Smithsonian Institution|access-date=7 May 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120702025337/http://www.si.edu/oahp/Smithsons%20Crypt/Smithson%20Memorial.html|archive-date=2 July 2012}}</ref>

On 8 December 1904 the Italian crypt was shipped, in sixteen crates from Italy. It travelled on the same ship that the remains of Smithson travelled on. Architecture firm Hornblower & Marshall designed the mortuary chapel, which included marble [[laurel wreath]]s and a [[neo-classical architecture|neo-classical]] design. Smithson was entombed on 6 March 1905. His casket, which had been held in the Regent's Room, was placed into the ground underneath the crypt. This chapel was to serve as a temporary space for Smithson's remains until Congress approved a larger memorial. However, that never happened, and the remains of Smithson still lie there today.<ref name=Entomb>{{cite web|last=Stamm|first=Richard E.|title=Smithson's Crypt|url=http://www.si.edu/oahp/Smithsons%20Crypt/Smithsons%20Crypt.html|work=Mr. Smithson Goes to Washington|publisher=Smithsonian Institution|access-date=7 May 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120702025351/http://www.si.edu/oahp/Smithsons%20Crypt/Smithsons%20Crypt.html|archive-date=2 July 2012}}</ref>