Born in
Trenton, New Jersey, he graduated from
Princeton College in 1755, was a teacher in that institution from 1755 to 1758, studied medicine, and commenced practice in Trenton. In 1768 he was elected to the
American Philosophical Society. He was a colonel in the
Hunterdon County Militia in 1776 and 1777, serving with Lieutenant Colonel
Abraham Hunt, and was elected as a
Federalist to the Fourth Congress, serving from March 4, 1795 to March 3, 1797. Smith was appointed by President
George Washington a commissioner to treat with the
Seneca Indians in 1797, and was an
associate justice of the
Supreme Court of New Jersey from 1777 to 1804. He was the first president of the Trenton Banking Co. from 1805 to 1807. He died in
Trenton, New Jersey on August 29, 1807. Interment was in the First Presbyterian Churchyard. ==References==