Athenaeum Rectory

Athenaeum Rectory. School and Headquarters. After the Rev. Franklin Gillette Smith took charge of the Columbia Female Institute in 1837, he moved his wife and family into the rectory (completed in 1835) to your left. In 1852, he started his own school here, the Columbia Athenaeum. When the Civil War began, despite having been born in Vermont he considered himself a Southerner and supported the Confederacy., He outfitted a company of the 2nd Tennessee Infantry at his own expense. Two of Smith's sons , Robert D. and William A. Smith , served in the Confederate army, while Smith joined the Home Guard. Smith fled Columbia in 1862 when the Union army entered the city, and his wife Sarah operated the school thereafter. Smith marched away with the 2nd Tennessee Infantry and went into battle with them once. He later went to Memphis and then to Mobile, Alabama, where he designed and tested submarines as a scientist. In 1864, the Confederate government granted him a patent for a sea-going vessel., The Grove, a few hundred yards ahead of you, served as a camp for each army at different times. In 1862, Union Gen. James S. Negley used this "study" building as his headquarters, and Gen. John M. Schofield did likewise in 1864. In 1863, Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest was given a reception in the Rectory's parlors. The neighboring Female Institute, which stood behind you, was used as a hospital., The Athenaeum school buildings, which stood to your right, were sold to the city in 1904 and razed in 1915. The Columbia Female Institute burned in 1959., Captions: , Left: Four of the Rev. Smith's children in front of their portrait: Robert D., Fannie, Frank H., and William Austin Smith. Frank was too young to enlist. Fannie Smith married Union Capt. Lewis M. Hosea in 1865. They met when he was camped here and his commander ordered him to assure the Rectory's occupants that they would be safe. All images courtesy Athenaeum Rectory , Center: The Rev. Franklin G. Smith , Right: Ground Plan of the Athenaeum, Columbia Tenn.