Wilson in Wilson County, North Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)
Owen L. W. Smith
1851 - 1926
Photographed By Mike Stroud, April 18, 2013
1. Owen L. W. Smith Marker
Erected 2001 by Division of Archives and History. (Marker Number F-64.)
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Churches & Religion. In addition, it is included in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion (AME Zion) Church, and the North Carolina Division of Archives and History series lists.
Location. 35° 43.289′ N, 77° 54.319′ W. Marker is in Wilson, North Carolina, in Wilson County. Marker is at the intersection of Pender Street East and Smith Street East, on the right when traveling south on Pender Street East. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 119 Pender St E, Wilson NC 27893, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Plank Road (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Wilson Hospital and Tubercular Home (about 600 feet away); Charles H. Darden (about 600 feet away); Wilson Normal & Industrial Institute (approx. 0.2 miles away); R.D.W. Connor (approx. ¼ mile away); First ABC Store (approx. ¼ mile
this page online
Regarding Owen L. W. Smith. The State Department was among the first agencies to appoint blacks to positions of prominence and one of the few to continue to do so beyond Reconstruction through World War I. African Americans were part of the diplomatic service, on the ministerial level in Liberia and Haiti (where Frederick Douglass served, 1889-1891) and on the consular level in other countries. Four North Carolinians served as minister resident and consul general (the top diplomatic post) in Monrovia, Liberia. Owen Lun West Smith was the last in that line. It is noteworthy that another North Carolinian, Andrew Cartwright, was a leading A.M.E. Zion missionary in Liberia.
Owen L. W. Smith was born into slavery in Sampson County in 1851. He followed the Confederate Army as a personal servant but by war’s end had joined Federal forces and was part of Sherman’s army at Bentonville and the Grand Parade in Washington, D.C. He taught school briefly and studied at the University of South Carolina, 1874-1876. In 1880 he was converted
Photographed By Mike Stroud, April 18, 2013
2. Owen L. W. Smith Marker
In 1885 Smith took up a pastorate at St. John’s in Wilson where he lived the rest of his life. In 1897 he sought the diplomatic post and received endorsements from the governor, attorney general, congressmen, and others. From a field of forty-three applicants he was the choice of President William McKinley. During his first of four years in Liberia he received an honorary doctorate from Livingstone College. Smith, who failed in efforts to gain other diplomatic postings, died in 1926 and is buried in Wilson. (North Carolina Office of Archives & History — Department of Cultural Resources)
Photographed By Mike Stroud, April 18, 2013
3. Owen L. W. Smith Marker at the intersection of Pender Street and Smith Street
North Carolina Office of Archives & History — Department of Cultural Resources, `
4. Owen L. W. Smith
Credits. This page was last revised on May 10, 2023. It was originally submitted on August 12, 2013, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina. This page has been viewed 588 times since then and 25 times this year. Last updated on May 7, 2023, by Michael Buckner of Durham, North Carolina. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on August 12, 2013, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.
