Mishew Edgerton Smith
{{Short description|American debutante (1935–1981)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Mishew Edgerton Smith
| birth_name = Mishew Ellen Edgerton
| image =
| image_size =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1935|05|29}}
| birth_place = Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1981|09|01|1935|05|29}}
| death_place = Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S.
| resting_place = Historic Oakwood Cemetery
| spouse = Alton Battle Smith
| parents =
| children =
| education = Ravenscroft School
Holton-Arms School
Junior College of Washington
| occupation = socialite
| relatives =
}}
Mishew Ellen Edgerton Smith (May 29, 1935 – September 1, 1981) was an American debutante and socialite. In 1953, she was selected by the Terpsichorean Club to lead the North Carolina Debutante Ball.
Early life and family
Smith was born Mishew Ellen Edgerton on May 29, 1935, in Raleigh, North Carolina, to Mishew Ellen Rogers Edgerton and Norman Edward Edgerton.{{cite news |last= |first= |date= April 21, 1956|title= Miss Edgerton Is Wed In South: Methodist Church in Raleigh, N.C., Scene of Marriage to Alton Battle Smith|url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1956/04/21/86560296.html?pageNumber=20|url-status= |work= The New York Times|location= New York City|archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date= December 19, 2024}} She grew up at Tatton Hall, her family's palatial mansion on Oberlin Road.{{Cite web|url=https://ncarchitects.lib.ncsu.edu/buildings/B002870|title=Tatton Hall}} They were members of Carolina Country Club.{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/listofsociety19500unse/listofsociety19500unse_djvu.txt|title=The List of society, 1954|date=December 20, 1954|publisher=New York : Society Listing, Inc. National|via=Internet Archive}} Her father was a prominent businessman who owned the Raleigh Bonded Warehouse and served as president of the Raleigh Chamber of Commerce, president of the Raleigh Kiwanis Club, and president of the Raleigh Shriners. Her grandfather, Noah Edgerton, owned a cotton mill in Selma, North Carolina.{{Cite web |title=NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES Raleigh Bonded Warehouse |url=https://files.nc.gov/ncdcr/nr/WA2675.pdf |website=files.nc.gov}} Her grandmother was a niece of the philanthropist Richard Stanhope Pullen of Pullen Plantation.
Smith was educated at the Ravenscroft School in Raleigh, the Holton-Arms School in Maryland, and Junior College of Washington.
Adult life
In September 1953, she was presented to society at the North Carolina Debutante Ball, where she was selected as head debutante.{{cite news |last= Cameron|first= Dotty|date= August 8, 1954|title= State's Top Social Event: Debutante Register Features North Carolina's Ball|url= https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-news-and-observer-history-of-terps-c/68942907/|url-status= |work= The News & Observer|location= Raleigh, North Carolina|archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date= December 19, 2024}} She wore a gown designed by Willie Otey Kay for the occasion.
On April 20, 1956, she married Alton Battle Smith, the grandson of Senator Willis Smith, at Edenton Street United Methodist Church.{{Cite web |date=1956-04-16 |title=Shady Grove WSCS Elects Year's Officers |url=https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn92074106/1956-04-16/ed-1/seq-3/ocr.txt |website=newspapers.digitalnc.org}} The ceremony was officiated by Bishop Paul Neff Garber of the North Carolina Annual Conference and Rev. Dr. Howard P. Powell. A reception was held at Tatton Hall. The couple honeymooned in Montego Bay, Jamaica.
She was a member of the Junior League of Raleigh and, prior to her marriage, was a member of the Spinster's Club of Washington, D.C. Like her parents, she was a benefactor of Edgerton Memorial United Methodist Church in Selma.{{Cite web|url=https://www.edgeumc.org/ourhistory|title=Our History|website=edgeumc}}
She had a son, Alton Battle Smith Jr., who inherited her father's company, and a daughter, Mishew Edgerton Smith, who followed in her footsteps as a lead debutante at the North Carolina ball.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-times-news-miss-mishew-edgerto/13704038/|title=Miss Mishew Edgerton Smith of Marion, Assistant leader of the 1977 Debutante Ball|newspaper=The Daily Times-News |date=August 29, 1977|pages=5|via=newspapers.com}}
Smith died in Raleigh on September 1, 1981, and was buried in Historic Oakwood Cemetery. A pair of 18th-century Delftware vases that once belonged to Smith were donated in her memory to the Joel Lane House Museum.{{Cite web|url=https://www.joellane.org/history/collection/pair-delft-vases|title=Pair Delft Vases | Joel Lane Museum House|website=www.joellane.org}}
References
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Category:American United Methodists
Category:Burials at Historic Oakwood Cemetery
Category:Members of the Junior League