William Smith (businessman)

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William Smith (September 2, 1818–February 6, 1912) was an American businessman. Born in Canterbury, England, he set up a successful nursery business in Geneva, New York with his brothers in the mid 19th century. He also organised the Standard Optical Company in 1883 and was director of the First National Bank of Geneva. [1]

Canterbury Cathedral city in Kent, England

Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury, a local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour.

England Country in north-west Europe, part of the United Kingdom

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to the west and Scotland to the north-northwest. The Irish Sea lies west of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south. The country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain, which lies in the North Atlantic, and includes over 100 smaller islands, such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight.

Plant nursery facility where plants are propagated and grown to usable size

A nursery is a place where plants are propagated and grown to usable size. They include retail nurseries which sell to the general public, wholesale nurseries which sell only to businesses such as other nurseries and to commercial gardeners, and private nurseries which supply the needs of institutions or private estates.

Contents

Astronomy

From right to left: Smith's mansion, the Smith observatory, and Brooks' house Smith house and observatory (postcard).jpg
From right to left: Smith's mansion, the Smith observatory, and Brooks' house

Smith, like many wealthy people of the period, had an interest in astronomy and astrology. He had an observatory built behind his mansion in Geneva. He later commisoned the Smith Observatory, with a dome built by the Warner & Swasey Company, and persuaded William Robert Brooks, a prolific comet-finder, to direct it, attracting him with the state-of-the-art observatory and a house built for Brooks and his family. Smith also promoted free lectures given by Brooks. [1]

Astronomy natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects

Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It applies mathematics, physics, and chemistry in an effort to explain the origin of those objects and phenomena and their evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, galaxies, and comets; the phenomena also includes supernova explosions, gamma ray bursts, quasars, blazars, pulsars, and cosmic microwave background radiation. More generally, all phenomena that originate outside Earth's atmosphere are within the purview of astronomy. A branch of astronomy called cosmology is the study of the Universe as a whole.

Astrology Pseudoscience to use astronomical events and stellar constellations in relation to earthly conditions

Astrology is a pseudoscience that claims to divine information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the movements and relative positions of celestial objects. Astrology has been dated to at least the 2nd millennium BCE, and has its roots in calendrical systems used to predict seasonal shifts and to interpret celestial cycles as signs of divine communications. Many cultures have attached importance to astronomical events, and some—such as the Hindus, Chinese, and the Maya—developed elaborate systems for predicting terrestrial events from celestial observations. Western astrology, one of the oldest astrological systems still in use, can trace its roots to 19th–17th century BCE Mesopotamia, from which it spread to Ancient Greece, Rome, the Arab world and eventually Central and Western Europe. Contemporary Western astrology is often associated with systems of horoscopes that purport to explain aspects of a person's personality and predict significant events in their lives based on the positions of celestial objects; the majority of professional astrologers rely on such systems.

Smith Observatory and Dr. William R. Brooks House

Smith Observatory and Dr. William R. Brooks House is a historic home and observatory located at Geneva in Ontario County, New York. Both structures were built in 1888. The observatory is a small frame building consisting of a two-story tower flanked by two small wings. The tower contains a 10-inch refracting telescope by Warner & Swasey of Cleveland, Ohio. The east wing contains an intact meridian transit telescope and sidereal pendulum clock. The house is a two-story brick dwelling with a broad range of intact, late Victorian eclectic features.

Academic institution

He then became interested in founding a women's college, a plan that he pursued to the point of breaking ground before realizing that the plan was beyond even his means. Meanwhile, president of Hobart College, Langdon C. Stewardson learned of his interest and tried to persuade Smith to become a donor to the financially struggling college. Unable to convince Smith to provide direct assistance to Hobart, Stewardson redirected the negotiations toward founding a coordinate institution for women, a plan that appealed to the philanthropist. On December 13, 1906, he formalized his intentions; two years later William Smith School for Women - a coordinate, nonsectarian women's college - enrolled its first class of 18 students. That charter class grew to 20 members before its graduation in 1912. [2]

Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Hobart and William Smith Colleges are private liberal arts colleges in Geneva, New York. They trace their origins to Geneva Academy established in 1797. The colleges offer the degrees of bachelor of arts, bachelor of science, and master of arts in teaching.

As well as the observatory on his own property, Smith had the Smith Opera House built in 1894 in downtown Geneva. In 1906, Smith donated it to the college.

William Smith died in 1912 at the age of 93, shortly before the charter class of William Smith College was to graduate. Smith left his mansion, the observatory and the house he had had built for Brooks to Hobart College. The house was subsequently bought back by Brooks' daughter, Anna. [1]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Biographies of William Smith & William Brooks". Smith Observatory, Geneva, NY. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  2. ↑ See article on Hobart and William Smith Colleges
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