SMITH, S. M. (SIDNEY MYERS), 1813-1862
S. M. Smith diaries, 1840-1851, 1862.

PITTS THEOLOGY LIBRARY MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION NUMBER 341

LANGUAGE: Materials in English.

ACCESS: Access is unrestricted.

REPRODUCTION: All requests subject to limitations noted in departmental policies on reproduction.

COPYRIGHT: Information on copyright (literary rights) available from repository.

CITATION:  S. M. Smith diaries, MSS 341, Archives and Manuscripts Dept., Pitts Theology Library, Emory University.  

Sidney Myers Smith was born in Franklin County, Georgia, on April 22, 1813. He was the son of John M. Smith, a Methodist minister who founded Mount Gilead Methodist Episcopal Church South in Fulton County, and John’s wife Nancy.

According to a biographical sketch written by Smith’s brother, Peyton Pierce Smith, Sidney Myers Smith was licensed as a preacher on October 14, 1835. He joined the Georgia Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in December 1839. Smith served as an itinerant preacher for about 15 years, then located on December 19, 1855. Although he lacked formal education, his sermons were well-received and he was a popular preacher.

Smith married Aseneth W. Boring on January 15th, 1833, and was the father of seven children. He died in Savannah on November 4, 1862.

Source of biographical information: Memorial Sketch of the Rev. Sidney Myers Smith by P. P. Smith (Box 1, Folder 3).

Two bound volumes of manuscript diaries by Sidney Myers Smith, covering the years from 1840-1851. Most of the entries are brief, indicating where Smith preached as an itinerant minister within the Georgia Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church (which became part of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South following the 1844 split within U.S. Methodism). At the end of each year Smith listed the names of all the people he received into the church that year, as well as all the people he baptized.

The first diary volume bears a stamp indicating that it was microfilmed by the Georgia Department of Archives and History on May 13, 1964.

Also included with the diaries is a memorial sketch of Smith’s life, written by his brother Peyton P. Smith.

Box	Folder		Description/Dates

1	1		Diary, 1840-1846
1	2		Diary, 1847-1851
1	3		Memorial Sketch of Sidney Myers Smith, circa 1862