Frederick Smyth (1732–1815) was the last royal chief justice of New Jersey. He was an outspoken opponent of the American Revolution who was particularly concerned with the importance of the law during this period of resistance to governmental authority. Smyth was one of Governor William Franklin's most trusted allies. However, despite his unwavering loyalty to the British crown, the chief justice remained in the United States until the end of his life.

Frederick Smyth was born in the county of Norfolk, England, in 1732. In 1756 George II appointed him commissioner for taking oaths for court. Three years later he left England to serve as a barrister in Barbados. In 1762 he was appointed attorney general and notary public for the islands of Martinique. He returned to England in 1763, after a brief stay on Barbados.

In 1764 George III appointed Smyth as chief justice of New Jersey. At around the same time Smyth also became a member of the provincial council. The young lawyer – he was only thirty-two years old when he assumed these distinguished offices – soon became one of Governor William Franklin's (1731-1813, APS 1768) closest confidents. Indeed, as one historian put it, "If Franklin was the captain of the New Jersey ship of state during the pre-Revolutionary era, Chief Justice Frederick Smyth was the first mate." Smyth arrived in the province just as the imperial crisis began to take shape.

Throughout his life, Smyth remained a firm loyalist. However, this did not mean that he supported every colonial policy. For example, in 1765 Smyth met with members of the New Jersey bar to discuss possible responses to the Stamp Act. At a statewide meeting, the lawyers had pledged their commitment to a kind of passive resistance to the act by refusing to make use of the stamps. They also informed Smyth that it would be incompatible with the chief justice's judicial duties to distribute the stamps, as the law required. Smyth, who not only personally disliked the Stamp Act but also sought to remain on good terms with the lawyers, made no effort to change the bar's resolution, thus essentially rendering the act nugatory.

In 1768, only about three years after his arrival in North America, Smyth and Governor Franklin attended a meeting of British representatives and members of the Six Nations at Fort Stanwix, New York, as representatives of the province of New Jersey. The proceedings resulted in the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, which established the boundary line between Indian lands and British colonial settlements.

In the late 1760s and early 1770s, as Smyth's conservative views became increasingly unpopular even in the generally loyalist province of New Jersey, he repeatedly appealed to Britain for an increase in salary. The provincial assembly refused such a grant "unless he showed himself willing to hold his commission during good behavior." In 1772 Lord North agreed to pay his salary which by then was apparently no longer covered by the local legislature.

That same year Smyth was one of several supreme court chief justices appointed to the Royal Commission of Inquiry that investigated the burning of the British revenue cutter Gaspée off the coast of Rhode Island. The vessel had been looted and burned by American patriots after she had run aground in pursuit of a smuggling vessel, near the town of Warwick, Rhode Island. The commission was charged with determining whether there was sufficient evidence for a trial of suspected culprits in England. However, faced with massive popular resistance and an almost complete lack of cooperation by local citizens, the justices ultimately declared in their report to London that they were unable to deal with the case.

On several occasions during the 1770s, Smyth lectured grand juries from the bench on the virtues of the British constitution and the importance of the law. Such was the case in November 1774, when a group of Americans expressed their opposition to the Tea Act by seizing and burning a cargo of tea in the little town of Greenwich, Cumberland County. The tea, which had been shipped on the British brig Greyhound, belonged to the East India Tea Company. The captain had secretly stored the cargo in the cellar of a local Tory. When local citizens found out about this, they planned and executed a Tea Party that was modeled after the Boston Tea Party of December 1773.

In his charge to the grand jury that was summoned to investigate the incident, Chief Justice Smyth warned that the "real tyranny" at their doors was more dangerous than the "imaginary tyranny three thousand miles distant." The grand jury disagreed; it issued a statement in which it severely rebuked the justice for aiding the "actual tyranny, at a distance of three thousand miles away." Not surprisingly the jurors refused to find any bills of indictment. A second lecture by Smyth on the dangers of mob violence and wanton destruction of property failed to change their minds. They still refused to indict any of the participants.

By the spring of 1776, Smyth had emerged as the leading opponent of the American Revolution in New Jersey. In a speech to the Middlesex County grand jury in April 1776, Smyth stressed the importance of the law in time of Revolution and denounced the movement of secession from Britain. As a staunch defender of the British constitution he warned of the "artful designing Men," who, "in the rage of faction, sedition and Licentiousness" worked "to alienate our minds from a love of, and veneration for our excellent constitution." Generally, Smyth was not so much concerned with specific actions of discontent than with their implications for government and the law.

Smyth's judicial service closed with the 1776 term. Two years later he inquired whether he should return to Britain; Henry Clinton (1730-1795), the British Commander-in-Chief for North America, recommended that he stay. In fact, Smyth subsequently moved to New York City, where he and Clinton were members of the so-called Carlisle Commission, a peace commission led by Frederick Howard, the 5th Earl of Carlisle (1748-1825). The following year, Smyth was told that Loyalists could not be compensated by the Ministry for all of the losses they had sustained. However, Lord George Germain informed him that his allowance would be continued.

After the Revolution, Smyth relocated to Philadelphia. In 1784 he married Margaret Oswald, the daughter of James and Mary Oswald of Philadelphia. (Margaret's sister Elizabeth was married to Benjamin Chew (1722-1810, APS 1768), Pennsylvania Chief Justice from 1774 to 1776.) He joined the Society of the Sons of St. George in 1791, and he was a supporter of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Smyth died in Philadelphia in 1815.

The Philadelphia city directories from 1795 to his death listed Smyth as a "gentleman." His obituary in Poulson's American Daily Advertiser noted that he had "filled the station of Chief Justice, with fidelity to the old government, yet without making one personal enemy in the new." He lived well in the new nation, spending his summers at his country seat, called "Roxborough," near Germantown, in "elegant retirement, and liberal hospitality." He was able to afford a comfortable lifestyle in part because the British Government never discontinued payment of his salary.

The collection consists of 59 items, many of which relate to Smyth's legal career in New Jersey before and during the American Revolution. The material, which is in English, is dated between 1756 and 1816, with the bulk from the 1770s and 1780s. A typed table of contents is available in the box.

The first item in the collection consists of the certificate of the appointment of Smyth by George II as commissioner for taking oaths at court (1756). Other certificates in the collection also document Smyth legal career, from his appointment as commissioner to that of barrister in Barbados, to attorney general and notary public for Martinique to the last royal chief justiceship of New Jersey. Smyth assumed his post as New Jersey's chief justice just as the imperial crisis was beginning. His appointment in 1764 was greeted with general approval. The Burlington County Grand Jury welcomed him to the colony [1764], and a group of attorneys, including Philip Kearney, petitioned the provincial legislature to retain this "gentleman of character" as chief justice, as opposed to other persons, "whose private Characters & Abilities made them the Scorn of the People" (June 1765).

The increasing tensions between England and her colonies are well documented in the collection. For example, a letter from the Grand Inquest of Monsmouth county notes in response to a "Riotus" meeting that they were "sensible That Mobbing & Riots, are not the Proper Methods to Aleviate that Burthen, But Rather to Increase it" ([1765]. A letter from the Council of New Jersey informs the king of "the happiness which necessarily results to the Inhabitants of this province from your Majesty's gracious condescension in assenting to the repeal of the late American Stamp Act" [1766].

Items that deal with tensions over the seizure of suspected contraband and American merchant vessels include a writ of prohibition that required the Rhode Island Court of Admiralty to refrain from prosecuting the merchant Nathaniel Shaw unless it "be by twelve good & lawful Men of our said County of Newport" (30 November 1772). A related document is the order to John Andrews to "forthwith and without Delay… restore … to Nathaniel Shaw the Molasses & Coffee" he had seized earlier (11 March 1773). Charles Dudley warned Smyth to avoid getting Andrews into more difficulties (undated). Another detailed letter from Dudley sheds light on the famous burning of the British revenue cutter "Gaspée" off the coast of Rhode Island. Smyth was one of several Supreme Court chief justices appointed to the Royal Commission of Inquiry that investigated the burning, and Dudley provided him with an overview of this and earlier conflicts over the seizure of vessels. For example, Dudley described the violent "liberation" by the people of the sloop Liberty that had been seized in 1769 for smuggling contraband. The British cutter that had captured the sloop had been completely destroyed in what Dudley described as an "enormous and daring Act, so publicly done, and so unnoticed by the Civil Authorities." Dudley also explains to Smyth some of the characteristics of the law and government of Rhode Island that make enforcement of the laws challenging, including the fact that the Naval officer charged with upholding the law is not only a merchant but also the son of the governor (12 June 1773).

Over the course of his career, Smyth delivered several Grand Jury charges in which he laid out his views about the relationship between Britain and her colonies in great detail. While he expressed some sympathy for colonial protests in response to certain acts by Parliament, including the Stamp Act, he was critical of the use of violence and reminded the colonists of their duty to remain obedient to Parliament. The collection contains two speeches delivered to the Grand Jury of Middlesex in April 1775 and in 1776. Smyth lamented the "late transactions in this and the Neighboring Provinces." He praised the British Constitution that included Liberty as the "Birthright of every Subject," and expressed the "hope that every black Cloud which now hangs over the Colonies, will be dispersed—that past Offences will be no more remembered … that the Scepter of Great Britain will continue to be held over the Colonies for their protection and security, and not like a Rod of Correction for the Punishment of Offences" (4 April 1775). A year later Smyth praised the same Grand Jury for their willingness to uphold the law, "notwithstanding the noisy alarms incident to a state of War." Smyth insisted that only deference to British authority will result in "American Liberty," opulence and prosperity (April 1776). The Grand Jury responded to Smyth's remarks with a note that stressed their loyalty to the British King but also emphasized their inability to adopt his "Ideas of English Liberty." Most significantly, whereas Smyth grounded liberty in the law, the jurors grounded it in human nature. Based on the conviction that the ownership of property was tied to liberty, they rejected the notion that Parliament had a right to tax them. (April 1776). However, the reputation of New Jersey as a colony with a sizeable number of loyalists is supported by a petition signed by around 900 freeholders of New Jersey. The group urges the convention of New Jersey not to resort to "separation and independence" which would not only be "highly impolitic, but may be of the most dangerous and destructive consequences (June 1776).

Smyth was able to live comfortably after the province stopped paying his salary in June 1771 due to the fact that Lord North agreed to cover his pay after that date (Robinson to Smyth, 25 March 1772; Smyth to Robinson, 26 March 1772). However, Smyth eventually lost his position as chief justice, and in 1778, he desired to return to England. General Clinton advised him to remain in New York, where Smyth had moved, for his services would be useful there "If a proper disposition for peace and reconciliation should in a future day take place in the Colonies" (17, 21 September 1778). Smyth was subsequently appointed to the Carlisle Commission, formed by the King "to restore to His Peace and Protection, the Inhabitants of the several Colonies in Rebellion" (9, 24 March 1780). Three years later he apparently assisted "Persons without the British Lines," including his old friend Walter Rutherford, to claim property they owned "within said Lines" (15 March 1783).

After the war, Smyth settled in Philadelphia. He evidently had many friends, as is suggested by the letter from Edward Affleck. Affleck not only provides some detail about the departure of loyalists from the United States, including those who "fly to Europe for safety against the present mad rage of the mistaken Americans," but he also includes news about a number of mutual friends in Philadelphia (25 September 1783). That Smyth moved in high social circles is suggested by his friendship with governor John Penn (17 July 1789), his donations to the Academy of the Fine Arts (14 October 1813), and his membership in the Society of St. George (27 April 1791). Finally, the collection includes several items related to Smyth's property and will, such as the letters by Robert Morris (5 January 1786) and Jared Ingersoll (4 April 1789).

Physical description

56 items.

Provenance

Purchased and accessioned, 1958 (1958 1362ms).

Related material

Letter from Smyth to Samuel Meredith, N.Y., 1772, is in Library Company, Read Family Papers, Part 4, Papers of John Read, Jr.

Early American History Note

Frederick Smyth was the Chief Justice of New Jersey before the American Revolution (appointed in 1764). Before that, he lived in England, Barbados, and Martinique. This collection of Smyth papers contains a range of official documents that relate to political and legal matters in New Jersey. The legal documents include petitions, reports to the grand jury, and official pronouncements and commissions. There are also several pieces of private correspondence. Some of the earliest documents contain information on Smyth's career before arriving in New Jersey. There is also a deposition relating to the firing on HMS St. John in Newport, Rhode Island in 1764 and a series of other documents relating to legal and political affairs in Rhode Island during the imperial crisis. Of particular note are two long speeches Smyth delivered before a grand jury in 1775 and 1776 in which he defends the Crown, a response to these speeches from the grand jury defending American rights, and a long letter from Edward Affleck in 1783 describing the British departure from New York City. Smyth stayed in Philadelphia after the war, although he never relinquished his British citizenship, and there are a few documents chronicling his post-war experience.

• General Correspondence
• Legal Records
• Official Government Documents and Records
• Petitions.
• Political Correspondence

• New Jersey -- Politics and government -- To 1775.
• Rhode Island -- Politics and government -- 1775-1865.

• Carlisle, Frederick Howard, Earl of, 1748-1825
• Chew, Benjamin, 1758-1844
• Clinton, Henry, Sir
• Clymer, George, 1739-1813
• Dickinson, John, 1732-1808
• Hopkinson, Joseph, 1770-1842
• Howe, Richard Howe, Earl, 1726-1799
• Ingersoll, Jared, 1749-1822
• Livingston, William, 1723-1790
• Mercer, Hugh, 1726-1777
• Morris, Robert, 1734-1806
• Penn, John, 1729-1795
• Smyth, Frederick, 1732-1815

• American Revolution
• Colony and State Specific History
• Judges -- New Jersey.
• Law
• Legal instruments -- New Jersey.