Smith was born in
Sharon in the
Connecticut Colony, the son of Cotton Mather Smith, a
Puritan minister who moved from
Massachusetts to Connecticut. Smith completed preparatory studies and graduated from
Yale College in 1783. After graduation, he studied law and was
admitted to the bar. He began the practice of law in Sharon in 1787. Smith married Margaret Evertson and they had one son together. He entered politics as a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1793. He served in the State House in 1793, 1796 and 1800. In 1800 he served as
speaker of that body. Smith was chairman of the Committee on Claims in the Seventh through Ninth Congresses. After serving in Congress, Smith served as an associate judge of the Superior Court and Supreme Court of Errors from 1809 to 1811. and was elected a member of the
American Antiquarian Society in 1813. He served as president of the
American Bible Society from 1831 until his death in 1845. Smith died on December 7, 1845, in Sharon. He is interred in Hillside Cemetery.
Smith's home in Sharon is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places. ==Popular culture==