A Guide to the Andrew F. Smyth Papers

Biographical Note

Andrew Farney Smyth (1817-1879), riverboat captain, surveyor, mill owner, farmer, merchant, and judge, was the second eldest son of Andrew and Susannah Smyth. After living in Pennsylvania and Tennessee, the family settled down near Moulton, Alabama, in 1817. Andrew F. Smyth moved to Jasper county, Texas, in 1835, and initially aided in managing the affairs of his brother George W. Smyth, a congressman and signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence and Constitution. Andrew gradually found his own success, first as a surveyor then as a grist and sawmill owner, employing 80 people full time at the Smyth Mills by 1855. Andrew entered a brief and ill-fated partnership between 1855 and 1859 with W. A. Ferguson to operate a general store that nearly resulted in Andrew's bankruptcy, but with his family and friends’ financial assistance, he was able to buy out Ferguson and turn Smyth's Mercantile into a profitable business.

Andrew is best known as a riverboat captain, a business he began in 1838 by building flatboats to ship cotton down river, then selling both the cotton and the timber of the boat upon arrival at the Gulf of Mexico. Around 1850, Andrew acquired the keelboat Jasper, for transporting cotton to the Gulf. Upon retirement, the Jasper's hull was used to build a house on the Smyth acreage along the Angelina River. Andrew captained his first steamboat, Camargo, beginning in 1862, but persistent mechanical problems compelled him to replace it with the newly built Laura in the early 1870s. The best-known ship on the Neches for 25 years, the Laura hauled cargo and provided the first dependable passenger transportation in lower east Texas.

In 1844, Andrew married Emily Allen (1827-1907), daughter of Benjamin and Nancy Allen. The couple had six children, all of whom Emily corresponded with regularly: Frances, Andrew C. “Buddy” or “Constantine,” Araminta “Mintie,” Susannah “Susan” or “Coo”, Nancy “Nannie,” and George W. “Buck,” II (not to be confused with Andrew F.’s brother George W. Smyth, Sr., or his son George W., Jr.). After his father's death, George II formed the George W. Smyth & Co. partnership with his mother and brother Andrew, in order to handle the business affairs of the family, including the land, the Smyth & Seale General Merchant Store & Sawmill, and the steamer Laura, now captained by M. C. Smyth.

In 1861, Nancy Smyth (1846-1892) married Elisha D. Seale (1833-1911), son of Lewis Seale and grandson of Joshua Seale. Elisha was a well-respected teacher and served briefly as a school supervisor at the Jasper Collegiate Institute before the Civil War caused the school to close. Elisha had a close relationship with his mother-in-law Emily Smyth, and referred to her affectionately as “Ma” and “Little Mother.” Elisha and Nancy had fifteen children: Emma “Emily”, Francis “Jimmie”, Henry M., Andrew G., Basco, Esther “Essie”, David W. “Watts”, Ruth, Minnie, Susan E. “Coo”, Lewis J., William, Nancy, Mary “Mame”, and Grace. Ruth went on to become a pharmacist and owned R. Seale & Co. Drugs, raising chickens on the side for additional income. William, a contractor and timberman, was actively involved in the American Lumberman Society during the 1920s. Both Esther and William Seale became interested in family genealogy. In 1966, Wiliam’s son, Dr. William Seale, Jr., published the biography, Texas Riverman: The Life and Times of Captain Andrew Farney Smyth.

Scope and Contents

The Andrew F. Smyth Papers, 1799-1800, 1832-1990 [bulk 1840s-1940s], consist of correspondence, Legal and financial documents, photographs, publications, and other material, which document the business activities and personal lives of five generations of the Andrew F. Smyth family, including his children, grandchildren, brother George W. Smyth’s family and son-in-law Elisha D. Seale’s extended family. Series include: I. Smyth Family Papers, II. Seale Family Papers, III. Assorted Family Papers, IV. Unidentified Family Papers, V. Photographs, VI. Newspapers, VII. Artifacts, and VIII. Confederate States of America Money.

The bulk of the first series, Smyth Family Papers, 1835-1909, 1923, and undated, document the land surveying and river transportation trade of Andrew F. Smyth, the relationships between Emily A. Smyth and her six children, and the business activities of George W. Smyth II and Co. Within the series are also the papers of other family members, including Andrew’s brother and sister-in-law George W. and Frances Grigsby Smyth, Sr., his children Araminta Wagley and Andrew C. Smyth, his son-in-law Nathan M. Hart’s family, and assorted family members.

The Andrew F. Smyth Papers, 1835-1880, 1896, and undated, document Smyth’s activities as land surveyor, sawmill owner, judge, and steamboat captain. Of note is a June 1, 1860, sealed certificate signed by Governor Sam Houston appointing Andrew F. Smyth subengineer of the Neches-Angelina navigation improvement project. Included are many hand-drawn survey plats created by Andrew F. Smyth for land surveying and as part of the Neches-Angelina project. Correspondence, Legal documents, and Financial documents relate to his business ventures as well as his private life. Also, some of the ledger books have entries written by family members, including one nearly twenty years (December 1896) after Andrew’s death in 1879.

The Emily Allen Smyth Papers, 1847-1904, and undated, contain primarily Emily’s correspondence with her five children, and business and Legal documents relating to the shipping business, her pension and inheritance, and the rental of her properties.

The second series, Seale Family Papers, 1799, 1858-1927, 1942-1976, and undated, highlights the Legal and financial activities of schoolteacher Elisha D. Seale, his grandfather Joshua Seale and father Lewis P. Seale, his wife Nancy Smyth Seale, his brother William F. Seale, and many of Elisha and Nancy’s children and grandchildren, including druggist Ruth Seale, William Seale, Sr. and Jr., Esther Seale Hooks, Esther Hooks Walker, and others. Receipts, bills, warranty deeds, probate records, business and personal correspondence, and genealogical documents also illuminate the activities of the Seale Family.

The third series, Assorted Family Papers, 1838, 1849-1851, 1861, 1890-1902, and undated, contains the Legal and financial documents of the Allen and Grigsby Families and Horace A. Glenn, a cousin of Emily Allen Smyth.

Material without a known author or with an author of unknown relation to the Smyth and Seale families form the fourth series, Unidentified Family Papers, 1800, 1832-1923, [ca. 1959], and undated. It is comprised of correspondence, Printed material divided by subject, Legal and financial documents, survey material, Creative works, and handwritten notes.

The Photographs series, [ca. 1850s]-1990, includes prints, cased daguerreotypes, tintypes, negatives, and one glass ambrotype, of Smyth family members, Seale family members, and unidentified or unrelated people. Although most of the photographs date to the 19th to early 20th centuries, many prints in this collection were made in the latter half of the 20th century from original photographs; most of the dates reflect the original date rather than the reprint dates.

The sixth series, Newspapers, 1846-1925, 1942, and undated, comprises various publications from the United States, primarily in Texas. Listed alphabetically, the date and place of publication is also given when known. Of note are the complete issues of The Christian Herald and Signs of Our Times (NY), July 9, 1885- June 7, 1888. However, most of the newspapers are incomplete issues or news clippings.

The final two series, Artifacts and Confederate States of America Money, have been removed to the Artifact Collection and Money Collection, respectively.

Related Material

Separated Material

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Andrew F. Smyth Papers, 1799-1800, 1832-1990, Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.

Detailed Description of the Collection