. The life and times of Thomas Smith, 1745-1809, a Pennsylvania member of the Continental congress . igonier. In a letter to his motherthree years later. Colonel Smith, in telling of his variouspublic ofBces, last of which he mentioned his membershipof Congress, says: Although the Public Offices which Ihave borne were not profitable; yet the last, by obligingme to remain two years in Philadelphia, gave me an op-portunity of often seeing a young Lady with whom I hadbeen acquainted for some years. ^ The beautiful Wissa-hickon had no doubt been the scene of many a courtshipbefore, as it has been
. The life and times of Thomas Smith, 1745-1809, a Pennsylvania member of the Continental congress . igonier. In a letter to his motherthree years later. Colonel Smith, in telling of his variouspublic ofBces, last of which he mentioned his membershipof Congress, says: Although the Public Offices which Ihave borne were not profitable; yet the last, by obligingme to remain two years in Philadelphia, gave me an op-portunity of often seeing a young Lady with whom I hadbeen acquainted for some years. ^ The beautiful Wissa-hickon had no doubt been the scene of many a courtshipbefore, as it has been since that of Congressman Smithand Mr. Van Derens eldest daughter, Letitia, but it neverwitnessed a truer one. Dr. William Smith, since the Assembly had takenaway what ought to have remained his life-work, had gone ^ Letter dated Carlisle, December 3, 1784, addressed to hismother, Mrs. Elizabeth Lawrence, in Cruden, Aberdeenshire, Totlie care of Dr. P. Smith at Slanes Castle. De Renne Papers,Wormsloe, Savannah, Georgia. Miss Van Deren was born in Octo-ber, 1759, and was now twenty-two years The Wissahickon Aiiiiil Scenes of Colonel Smiths Courtship Half-tone of Photograph by Ran CONGRESS AND ITS FINANCES 147 to Chestertown, Maryland, where he was rector and headof the Kent County School, which was soon to become Wash-ington College. From there he came to Philadelphia for thepurpose of solemnizing the marriage of his brother. ^ Theceremony occurred on Thursday, November 29. 1781,when the Wissahickon was robed in all its autumnal Smith took a vacation, his place at the StateHouse being temporarily taken by Judge Wynkoop. Littlerecord of either wedding or honeymoon has been kept,but a far better one has been, namely, his own estimateof his wife, written to his mother in the letter above quotedafter three years of married life. To say she is beautiful,he writes, would be saying little, for although she has avery large share of it, it will fade by age; but the be
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