Thomas Smyth (minister)

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Thomas Smyth (June 14, 1808 – August 20, 1873) was an American Presbyterian minister who led Second Presbyterian Church in Charleston, South Carolina for more than forty years, from 1832 until his death. Born in Belfast, he studied at Belfast College, graduating in 1829. He moved to the United States in 1830, studied at Princeton Theological Seminary, and graduated in 1831; he later received a Doctor of Divinity from Princeton. He began serving at Second Presbyterian Church in 1832 and was ordained in 1834. He married Margaret Milligan Adger on July 9, 1832, and they had nine children. Their son James Adger Smyth became Charleston’s mayor (1896–1903), and another son, Joseph Ellison Adger Smyth, became a prominent industrialist.

Smyth belonged to the Old School wing of Presbyterianism. He wrote many books, and his complete works were published in ten volumes after his death. He was interested in Presbyterian church government and argued that ruling elders and ministers held separate offices. In 1845 he wrote The Name, Nature, and Functions, of Ruling Elders. In 1850 he published The Unity of the Human Races Proved to be the Doctrine of Scripture, Reason, and Science, defending monogenism—the idea that all humans share a common origin—and the humanity of Africans. Colin Kidd called him the most influential defender of monogenesis in nineteenth‑century America.

Smyth took a moderate stance on slavery, advocating humane treatment. In Charleston he was sometimes seen as an abolitionist, while in Britain some thought he supported slavery. He helped establish Zion Presbyterian Church for Black people, which drew criticism from some Southerners. When the Civil War began, he supported the Confederacy. A voracious book lover, he built a library of about 20,000 volumes, most of which he later sold to Columbia Theological Seminary.