Frances Kirby Smith

Frances Kirby Smith (1785–1875) was the mother of U.S. Civil War general Edmund Kirby Smith and a Confederate spy who orchestrated transport of mail and military intelligence to the Confederate troops. She is listed as a Great Floridian as part of the Great Floridians 2000 program.[1]

Kirby was born in Connecticut and married Judge Joseph Lee Smith. They moved to Saint Augustine soon after their marriage in about 1820, and though Judge Smith died in 1847, Mrs Smith remained in the city after the Union took occupation of Fort Marion (Castillo de San Marcos) in 1862. During the War, Smith got mail out to Confederate soldiers and entertained Union officers to learn of plans and pass on the information.[1] She was exiled following the spring 1863 Federal government order calling for removal of Southern sympathizers. Mrs Smith eventually returned to Saint Augustine and lived for another decade. She was a critic of Reconstruction and the "loss of true Southern gentility". Various local documents record her as "brilliant and spirited, full of fire and ambition throughout her long life".[1]

Frances Kirby Smith's house during the early part of the Union occupation of St. Augustine is known as the Segui-Kirby Smith House at 6 Artillery Lane. It is now the Saint Augustine Historical Society research library. Two bronze statues in the garden and a plaque inside commemorate her life.[2]