Smith Thompson Van Buren
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Smith Thompson Van Buren (16 January 1817-10 December 1876) was the youngest son of U.S. president Martin Van Buren. A lawyer by training, he served as a political aide to his father.
Life and Career[edit]
Born in 1817, Smith Thompson Van Buren was named for Smith Thompson, Martin Van Buren's close friend and mentor. Smith Van Buren's mother Hannah Hoes Van Buren died when he was two years old; with his father away frequently absent due to his political career, Smith was raised by relatives.[1]
Martin Van Buren wanted to make Smith his sole heir on the condition that he and his family move to Lindenwald, his home in Kinderhoook, New York. Smith agreed to do so, with the condition that he could alter the appearance of his father's house.[2] These changes, completed between 1849 and 1850, transformed Lindenwald from Federalist style to Italianate-Gothic Victorian style.[1]
Van Buren died at the Hudson River State Hospital in Poughkeepsie, New York, on 10 December 1875.[1]
Van Buren served as his father's literary executor.[2] Following Smith Van Buren's death, his second wife Henrietta and his son-in-law Stuyvesant Fish Morris donated the bulk of the Library of Congress' collection of Martin Van Buren's papers, including the manuscript copy of his autobiography.[3]
Family[edit]
On 18 June 1842, Smith Van Buren married Ellen King James (1823-1849), the aunt of writer Alice James, writer Henry James, and psychologist William James. Their marriage produced four children:[1]
- Ellen James Van Buren (1844-1929), who married Stuyvesant Fish Morris in 1868.[4]
- Edward L. Van Buren (1848-1873)
- Catharine Barber Van Buren (1849-1908), who married Peyton F. Miller.[5]
- Hannah Van Buren (1846-1846)
In 1855, Van Buren married Henrietta Eckford Irving (1832-1921), a great-niece of Washington Irving. Their marriage produced three children:[1]
- Martin Van Buren (1856-1942)
- Eliza Eckford Van Buren (1857-1942)
- Marion Irving Van Buren (1861-1928), who married Hamilton Emmons.[5]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "Smith Thompson Van Buren - Martin Van Buren National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 2022-12-11.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 A Return to His Native Town: Martin Van Buren's Life at Lindenwald, 1839-1862. National Park Service. 2006. Search this book on
- ↑ "Calendar of the papers of Martin Van Buren". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. p. 5. Retrieved 2022-12-11.
- ↑ "CHILDREN GET MOST OF MORRIS ESTATE; Descendant of President Van Buren Also Remembers Three of Her Grandchildren". Retrieved 2022-12-11.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Hart, Craig (2014-11-01). A Genealogy of the Wives of the American Presidents and Their First Two Generations of Descent. McFarland. p. 231. ISBN 978-0-7864-8367-9. Search this book on
External links[edit]
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