James Smithson Last Will and Testament

Read the Last Will and Testament of James Smithson (1765-1826).

James Smithson was the founder of the Smithsonian Institution, and was a chemist and mineralogist in the late 1700s. He made numerous excursions throughout Europe to collect mineral and ore samples. He was made a member of the Royal Society of London in 1787 only a year after he graduated from college.

His Will set up a fund which established the Smithsonian Institution.