Image: Receipt for a Library Company share, 1733.

We continue our monthly “Shareholder Spotlight” series by taking a closer look at Share #1138 and its first owner, S. Decatur Smith (1820-1908).

Shareholders have always been the backbone of the Library Company of Philadelphia. Starting with the first group of fifty tradesmen who formed the library in 1731, shareholders have provided crucial financial support each year for our mission to “pour forth benefits for the common good.”

We keep careful track of who has owned each historic share, and our list of 9,800+ shareholders includes signers of the Declaration and Constitution, merchants, doctors, soldiers, scientists, artists, philanthropists, politicians, and much more.

Share #1138

This share was first issued to S. Decatur Smith (1820-1908) on January 6, 1865, just a few months before the end of hostilities in the U.S. Civil War. The share was apparently issued after Smith made a gift to the building fund.

The Library Company had been raising funds since the 1850s for a new “fire proof” building to replace its home located near 5th and Chestnut Streets. A register of subscriptions to the fund explains that the directors “felt for a long time serious apprehensions” because its building had become “so completely surrounded by stores and workshops, in some of which hazardous trades are carried on, that it has become exceedingly insecure.”[i]

The building fund eventually helped construct a new circulating branch at Juniper and Locust Streets. That building opened in 1880, supplementing the main Ridgway branch at Broad and Christian Streets.

Smith’s gift to the building fund began a long affiliation with the Library Company. He owned the share for the next forty-three years.

Smith was “engaged in the glass and iron business” according to his obituary, but he was also a published composer.[ii]

Image: Two of S. Decatur Smith’s compositions are included in a collection of vocal and instrumental music compiled by Anne M. H. Brewster (1819-1892). Both items are inscribed in the top right corner, “with regards of S. Decatur Smith.” S. Decatur Smith, Jr., “Two ‘Pegasus’ Songs,” Music by S. Decatur Smith, (Philadelphia, [1886]). Sheet music. Gift of Anne Hampton Brewster. S. Decatur Smith, “Welcome to Spring,” (Philadelphia, 1885). Sheet music. Gift of Anne Hampton Brewster.

Library Company records do not provide more detail about his involvement with the institution. But after his death, Smith’s Library Company share was among the assets listed in his estate’s inventory and appraisement.[iii]

His estate continued to maintain the share after his death, but the share was eventually listed in Library Company records as “forfeited” in April 1919. It was restored in November 1919, and later again listed as forfeited in April 1930.

The share was reissued as share #1358 on August 9, 1935 and acquired by “Howard Goodhart.” This is almost certainly Howard Lehman Goodhart (1884-1951), whose daughter graduated from Bryn Mawr College that same year.[iv]

Goodhart was a retired stock broker based in New York. He was a collector of incunabula, which are early printed works that date to before the year 1500. He ultimately donated more than 900 incunabula to Bryn Mawr, where he also donated a memorial fund that supported construction of an auditorium.[v]

Goodhart maintained his Library Company share for the rest of his life.

The share has been owned by only two people in its history.

Not yet a shareholder?

Share #1138 is currently available. We work hard to match potential shareholders with historic shares that match their interests, and we would love to match you with S. Decatur Smith’s share or another option.

You can become a Library Company shareholder with an initial gift of $500. To learn more, visit our website or reach out to our Development Office at [email protected].

—–

[i] Chronological Share and Directors Register, volume 193, Library Company of Philadelphia records (MSS00270), Library Company of Philadelphia. Fund to Erect a Fire Proof Building, volume 120, Library Company of Philadelphia records (MSS00270), Library Company of Philadelphia.

[ii] “S. Decatur Smith, Composer, is Dead,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, March 20, 1908.

[iii] S. Decatur Smith will in Philadelphia Wills, No 726-745, 1908. Courtesy of AncestryLibrary.com.

[iv] Howard’s daughter was Phyllis Goodhart Gordan (1913-1994), who was also a collector and a noted scholar of Renaissance-era manuscripts.

[v] Daniel J. Crosby, “Fifteenth Century Printed Books at Bryn Mawr (BMC),” TriCollege Libraries https://guides.tricolib.brynmawr.edu/c.php?g=542610 (accessed September 15, 2025). “H. L. Goodhart, 67, A Retired Broker,” The New York Times, August 11, 1951.