Smith was born on October 19, 1855, in Jay, New York, the son of Eli Smith, a blacksmith,[1] and Mary Atwood.[2]
Smith initially worked as an assistant for his father. He became a teacher when he was 19, and then attended the academy in Elizabethtown. In 1877, he began attending University of Michigan Law School. He graduated from there with an LL.B. and was admitted to the Michigan bar in 1879. After a trip west he returned to Jay. In 1882, he moved to Wells and taught school.[1] After reading law under T. D. Trumbull of Jay, he was admitted to the New York bar in 1883. A few months later, he was elected county judge. After his term as judge expired in 1890, he moved to Johnstown and practiced law with Philip Keck.[3]
In 1901, Smith was elected to the New York State Assembly as a Republican, representing Fulton and Hamilton Counties. He served in the Assembly in 1902[4] and 1903.[5] He was elected mayor of Johnstown from 1914 to 1915 and again from 1918 to 1919. He also served as city attorney for many years, retiring in 1930 at the age of 75.[2]
While living with his sister Sarah Fletcher in Bloomingdale, Smith suffered a stroke. His daughter Marion then brought him to her home in Mount Stewart, Prince Edward Island, Canada where he lived for the last several weeks of his life. He died at Marion's home there on June 24, 1937.[2] He was buried in the Central Cemetery in Jay.
