History of Saint James’: The Smith family

Chalices donated by Mary Amelia Smith and Thomas Smith in the early 1910s.

Over 100 years ago, a pair of engraved silver chalices was given to Saint James’ Warrenton by Mary Amelia Smith (1825-1911) and her brother, Col. Thomas Smith (1836-1918).

The two chalices, each with a hallmark, are engraved as follows:

M. A. S.

to

St. James Church

Warrenton VA

***

T. S.

to

St. James Church

Warrenton VA

A reference to the two chalices is found in Vestry minutes of Nov. 9, 1915: “Mrs. Don Richards presented a Communion Service in memory of her son. It was noted that two chalices from the Smith family were in use, and that this gives an extra set.”

The Smith family

According to church records, Mary Amelia and Thomas Smith were the surviving children of former Virginia Gov. William “Extra Billy” Smith (1797-1887) and Elizabeth Bell Smith. They lived on Culpeper Street at Monte Rosa, now known as Neptune Lodge, and at the California House at the corner of Hotel and Court streets in Warrenton.

To explain their father’s nickname: William Smith was involved in early 19th century economic expansion and established a mail coach service from Fairfax to Culpeper in 1827. Aggressively extending this system from Washington, D.C. to Milledgeville, Georgia, he soon obtained so many extra payments under postal contracts that he became known as “Extra Billy” Smith. Twice governor of Virginia, he was also a U.S. congressman, a forty-niner, a Confederate general and a ship owner. He led a remarkable life and at his death was one of the most revered figures in Virginia. Before lying in state in the Capitol in Richmond, his funeral took place at Saint James’ Warrenton on May 19, 1887.

Mary Amelia Smith and Thomas Smith

Mary Amelia Smith

Mary Amelia was baptized at Saint James’ on Feb. 6, 1888, according to church records. Not much is known of her early life. In time, she became known for her outspokenness, brisk energy and initiative — for devotion to her family and the Confederacy. Author and local historian, M. Louise Evans, wrote in 1955: “As small children … we were taken out to “Monte Rosa” when it was the home of Miss Amelia Smith, to call on the venerable old lady, who in our minds really represented the entire Confederacy.”

Thomas Smith

Following an early education in Warrenton, Thomas graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1856. Next, he studied law at the University of Virginia and then established a practice in Charleston, Virginia (now West Virginia), until the outbreak of the Civil War. Thomas fought valiantly in the Confederate service and was severely wounded. After the war, he became a distinguished Warrenton lawyer and judge; his portrait hangs in the Fauquier County Courthouse. In 1894, Thomas married Elizabeth Fairfax Gaines, daughter of Judge William H. Gaines. The Rev. George Washington Nelson, rector of Saint James’, officiated at the marriage, assisted by three other clergymen.

In 1913, Thomas’s wife, Elizabeth Fairfax Gaines Smith, gave the church bell to the newly rebuilt Saint James’ Church, dedicating it to her parents and brother. To this day, the gifts of silver and bell represent the devotion of the Smith family, and enhance the beauty of the special place where we come together to worship and join in fellowship.