In August 1856, in recognition of its increased stature, 

 the Garden was officially named the United States Botanic 

 Garden, its maintenance was for the first time specifically 

 placed under the jurisdiction of the Joint Committee on the 

 Library, and regular annual appropriations were begun. 

 Although the Garden since 1843 had been under the 

 "direction and control" of the Joint Committee, responsibility 

 for its maintenance had rested with the Commissioner of 

 Public Buildings. 4 



THE WILLIAM SMITH YEARS (1853-1912) 



Meanwhile, in 1853, a twenty-two-year-old Scotsman, 

 William R. Smith, on the recommendation of the eminent 

 botanist Sir Joseph Hooker, was hired as a gardener and 

 embarked on a career with the Garden that would span more 

 than half a century. A decade later, Smith became the first 

 superintendent of the Garden. 



Smith brought considerable experience to his new 

 position. While still a teenager, he was an assistant to the 

 gardener for Lord Elcho at Haddington. Subsequently, he 

 became a student at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew After 

 graduating from Kew Gardens in 1852, Smith left for 

 Philadelphia, where he worked with the famous gardener 

 Dudassie on Chestnut Street. A short time later, he received 

 his appointment to the United States Botanic Garden. 5 



4 11 Stat. 104; U.S. Congress, House, Committee on the Library, United 

 States Botanic Garden, Preliminary Report and Memorandum on the U.S. 

 Botanic Garden and Kindred Institutions Together with Certain Recom- 

 mendations Looking Through Its Improvement as a Scientific, Educa- 

 tional, and Aesthetic Accomplishment, Committee Print, 73d Cong., 2d 

 Sess., Washington: U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1934, p. 16; U.S. Congress, Joint 

 Committee on the Library, The Botanic Garden and Its Relationship to 

 the Joint Committee on the Library, Washington: U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 

 1912, pp. 6-7; and H.P. Caemmerer, Washington: The National Capitol, 

 Washington: U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1932, p. 186. 



5 Answers Last Call: Passing of William R. Smith at the Age of 

 Eighty-Four, Washington Sunday Star, July 7, 1912, p. 2, pt. 1; Catherine 

 Francis Cavanagh, A Great Champion of Burns and Masonry, New Age 

 Magazine, v. 14, January 1911, p. 60; and James MacPherson Jarrett, Wil- 

 liam Robertson Smith— Founder of the Saint Andrew's Society of Washing- 

 ton, D.C., Newsletter of the Saint Andrew's Society of Washington, D.C., 

 No. 123, July 1974, p. 4. 



32 



