Frances Kirby Smith
Frances Kirby Smith (1785–1875) was the mother of U.S. Civil War general Edmund Kirby Smith and a confederate spy who orchestrated transport of mail and military intelligence to the Confederate troops. She is listed as a Great Floridian as part of the Great Floridians 2000 program.[1]
Smith was born in Connecticut and married Judge Joseph Lee Smith. They moved to St. Augustine soon after their marriage in about 1820 and were in the city during the Union occupation of Fort Marion (Castillo de San Marcos). Smith got mail out to Confederate soldiers and entertained the Union officers to learn of plans and pass on the information. She was about 80 years old at the time.[1]
Following the spring 1863 Federal government order calling for removal of Southern sympathizers. Smith eventually returned to St. Augustine and lived for another decade: "a Confederate supporter until the end." She was a critic of Reconstruction and the "loss of true Southern gentility". Various local documents record her as "brilliant and spirited, full of fire and ambition throughout her long life".[1]
Frances Kirby Smith's house during the early part of the Union occupation of St. Augustine, now known as the Segui-Kirby Smith House, was at 6 Artillery Lane in St. Augustine and is now the St. Augustine Historical Society research library.[2] Kirby was exiled from the city for spying. Two bronze statues in the garden and a plaque inside commemorate her life.[3] A historical marker at the Segui-Kirby Smith House at 12 Aviles Street, now the site of the St. Augustine Historical Society Research Library, commemorates her life.[4]
References
- 1 2 3 Francis Kirby Smith City of St. Augustine
- ↑ http://www.staugustinehistoricalsociety.org
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