Wake County, NC - Bicentennial File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Barbara Kawamoto Reprinted with permission of the News & Observer and cannot be reproduced without permission. Helping Women Set the Spiritual Tone for Society The News & Observer December 29, 1991 Raleigh 200/The New Capital Aldert Smedes Priest-Educator 1810-1877 ‘He recognized that a woman who could and would, should pursue higher studies.’ - Martha Stoops, St. Mary’s historian quoting students. By Treva Jones In the spring of 1862, the mayor of Raleigh got orders to seize St. Mary’s School buildings for use as a Confederate hospital. Rector Aldert Smedes, who had founded the girls’ school 20 years before, went to Goldsboro and discussed the matter with Confederate Gen. Theophilus Hunter Holmes, and an unfinished building at the chartered but as yet unopened Peace Institute, later known as Main Hall, was chosen instead. During the war, Smedes foraged for food and supplies for his students, and raised school fees from $115 to $300 for a 5-month term to cover the wartime costs. St. Mary’s was one of few Southern schools open throughout the war. Once closed, many never re-opened. Smedes, a dedicated teacher-administrator and gifted preacher, was an adopted son of North Carolina. He was born in New York City, of solid Knickerbocker stock, on April 20, 1810. He entered Columbia College at 13, but when his family moved to Kentucky, completed his education at Translyvania University. He read law and was admitted to the bar, but changed course and entered the priesthood. He graduated from General Theological Seminary in 1832 and that year was ordained a deacon. From 1832 until 1836, Smedes was assistant rector to the Rev. Thomas Lyell at Christ Church in New York City. He married Sarah Lyell, the rector’s daughter. In 1837, he was rector of a church in Schenectady, N.Y. Forced to give up the parish in 1839 because of a chronic throat ailment, Smedes returned to New York City to help his mother, just widowed, run a day school for girls. Still worried about his health, Smedes looked farther south. At a church convention in New York in 1841, he met Episcopal Bishop Levi Silliman Ives of North Carolina. Ives was looking for a schoolmaster, Smedes for a School. Smedes rented the buildings of the defunct Episcopal School for boys in Raleigh, and started an institution. An advertisement in southern papers and church publications stated his purpose: "this institution is to furnish a thorough an elegant education, equal to the best that can be obtained in the City of New York or in any Northern School." From the rising bell at 5:30 a.m. until 9 p.m. prayers, St. Mary’s girls led a regimented life, including walking hours, study hours, chapel services, classes, recitations and two hours of sewing every Saturday. They weren’t allowed to read fiction except on Saturdays. Smedes was the school’s administrator, preacher, recruiter and business manager. He taught Bible, chemistry, mathematics, philosophy, astronomy and sometimes Latin and French. He personally interviewed each of the 1,900 students enrolled there during his 35 years. Smedes was aiming at a level higher than most female academies of the time. St. Mary’s historian Martha Stoops quotes a student of the 1860s, who said of Smedes, "He recognized that a woman who could and would, should pursue higher studies." In a sermon entitled, "She Hath Done What She Could," he said women had a high mission. They set society’s spiritual tone. A woman, he said, must be trained "in the knowledge and love of her duties towards God and man . . . If she will do what she can . . . she can do almost what she will for the moral and spiritual welfare of the world." Smedes and his wife had nine children. One son, Lyell, died at 25 of disease; another, Ives, died at 20 after he was wounded at Chancellorsville, and a third, Edward, died when he was shot through the heart at Spotsylvania. When Sherman’s troops entered Raleigh, Union officers camped on the St. Mary’s campus. Smedes invited them to come inside and fed them, "ham, potatoes, pickles, and everything," according to an entry from a Civil War diary. Smedes was diagnosed with Bright’s disease in 1876. On April 24, 1877, he taught his last class and took to his bed. He died the next day. Tributes poured in from all over the South. He was buried in Oakwood Cemetery. In 1910, the school’s remodeled main building was named Smedes Hall in his honor. ============================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. The electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. ==============================================================