THE RELATION OF RICHARD RUSH TO THE 

 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 



By CYRUS ADLER 

 (With One Plate) 



Three names are connected for all time with the establishment of 

 the Smithsonian Institution : James Smithson, the founder ; Richard 

 Rush, the agent appointed by the United States to secure the bequest ; 

 and Joseph Henry, the first Secretary and organizer of the Insti- 

 tution. 



In the publications of the Institution and in public documents 

 there are numerous references to the relation of Richard Rush to 

 the establishment, yet nowhere have these been brought together in 

 any succinct form. Moreover, the Institution has recently come into 

 possession of some unpublished material bearing on the subject, and 

 I therefore propose to give in the following pages a statement con- 

 cerning the part which Richard Rush had in securing the bequest 

 and in aiding in the organization of this unique establishment. 



Richard Rush, himself a famous man, was the son of an equally 

 distinguished father, Dr. Benjamin Rush, and the family name has 

 been honorably connected with Pennsylvania, as colony and State, 

 since 1683. Benjamin Rush was a conspicuous figure of the Revo- 

 lutionary period and one of the most distinguished inhabitants of 

 Pennsylvania of his time. He was a medical professor in the Uni- 

 v^ersity of, Pennsylvania, a well-known practitioner of medicine, an 

 accomplished scholar, a member of the Continental Congress, a 

 signer of the Declaration of Independence, and the first to hold the 

 position of Surgeon-General of the American Army. 



I cannot refrain, before proceeding to the subject of this paper, 

 from quoting two paragraphs out of the "Commonplace Book" of 

 Doctor Rush relating to his son Richard :^ 



November 23, iSii. 

 This day it was announced in the "National InteUigencer" that my son 

 Richard Rush was appointed Comptroller of the United States, and to my 



' "A Memorial containing Travels Through Life or Sundry Incidents in the 

 Life of Benjamin Rush, Born Dec. 24, 1745 (Old Style) died April 19, 1813. 

 Written by himself also Extracts from his Commonplace Book as well as 

 A Short History of the Rush Family in Pennsylvania. Published privately 

 for the benefit of his Descendants. By Louis Alexander Biddle. Lanoraie, 

 1905." 



235 



