On April 20, 1854, we were married in the old house, 22 Beach St., New York… by Dr. Jas. W. Alexander of the 5th Avenue Presbyterian Church; Edmund Wilkes and Laura Renwick, James R. Smedberg and Janey Wilkes were our attendants, and about 60 guests, family and intimates. The early spring had been very forward, but a few days before the 20th, we had a heavy snow fall …I think that was the time your father had to come over…in a sleigh, as the tunnels were so blocked with snow…
In late 1853, Charles Wilkes entered into an agreement with a firm in New York and established The Capps Gold Mine, Company. The property was part of the estate of his wife's uncle, James Renwick. It was decided that Jack Wilkes would manage the production at St. Catherine's Mill which was located just outside of Charlotte, North Carolina. At the time, the railroad finally reached what was then a small town with dirt roads that became impassable in bad weather. Jack took on the task of preparing the residence on the property for his new bride.
Postcard of Devasego Falls near the Smedberg's summer home.
The summer of 1853 found Jeanie in the Catskills at the Smedbergy's summer house Devasego in Greene County, New York. Here she passed the days entertaining friends, horseback riding, picnicing, minding her younger brothers as well as her nieces and nephews. Her letters from this time period are filled with a longing to be with Jack and for him to find employment that would enable them to marry.
In December of 1849, Lieutenant Jack Wilkes spent Christmas with the Smedberg family on his way to join the USS Marion. He will be at sea for almost three years in the Pacific. From that year on until 1851, Jeanie spent every summer with the Wilkes family in Washington, DC. During this time she met Stephen A. Douglas; Harriet Lane Johnson, niece of President James Buchanan; Sophie Alexander, Mrs. Andrew Jackson, and General Jack Gibbon.
In 1854, a young couple stepped off a train in Charlotte, North Carolina. Their names were Jane Renwick Smedberg and John Wilkes. Family and friends called them Jeanie and Jack. The bride had grown up in New York City, and the groom had grown up in Washington, DC, until he joined the Navy in his teens.
In 1854, a young couple stepped off a train in Charlotte, North Carolina. Their names were Jane Renwick Smedberg and John Wilkes. Family and friends called them Jeanie and Jack. The bride had grown up in New York City, and the groom had grown up in Washington, DC, until he joined the Navy in his teens.
Jane Jeffrey Renwick, grandmother to both John Wilkes and Jane Smedberg
William Renwick was born in Manchester, England on April 26, 1769. He came to America in 1783 and was naturalized in 1786. He married Jane Jeffrey on August 15, 1791. She was born in Ruthwell, Scotland on May 29, 1774. Scottish poet Robert Burns wrote the poem, “A Blue-Eyed Lassie” in her honor. William Renwick was a merchant and died in Greenwich Village in 1808. Jane Jeffrey Renwick died on October 6, 1850. Their children:
Israel Wilkes (1722-1805) was the son of an English distiller, Israel Wilkes, and his wife Sarah Heaton Wilkes. His uncle was the famous British radical, John Wilkes. Israel, the younger, married Elizabeth DePonthieu (1727-1802), and the couple settled in New York City. They had three children including John de Ponthieu Wilkes (1755-1818) who married Mary Seton (1767-1801) in 1782. John was a successful banker and became a prominent fixture in New York society. John Wilkes and Mary Seton Wilkes had five children.
Jane Jeffrey Renwick (pictured) and Lieutenant Charles Wilkes married on April 26, 1826. The couple eventually settled in Washington, DC, where they raised their four children: