James Smith
Born: c. 1719
Died: July 11, 1806
Colony/State: Pennsylvania
Occupation / Public Role: Lawyer, surveyor, military officer, legislator, delegate to the Continental Congress
Contribution to the Founding Era: Delegate to the Continental Congress, signer of the Declaration of Independence, organizer of Pennsylvania militia forces, and Revolutionary-era public leader in Pennsylvania.
James Smith was born in Ireland, probably around 1719, and immigrated to Pennsylvania with his family as a boy. He received a classical education, attended the Philadelphia Academy—later the University of Pennsylvania—and studied law under his older brother George Smith. He was admitted to the bar in 1745 and first practiced near Shippensburg before later moving to York, Pennsylvania.
Before independence, Smith built a career that mixed law, surveying, and military service. The U.S. House history office notes that he worked as a surveyor in Cumberland County, practiced law, and later became involved in the manufacture of iron after moving to York. As imperial tensions deepened, he emerged as a Patriot leader in Pennsylvania and took part in the colony’s revolutionary political bodies.
Smith served in the Pennsylvania state convention in 1775 and was elected to the Second Continental Congress in 1776. He signed the Declaration of Independence as one of Pennsylvania’s delegates. The National Archives lists him as 57 years old in 1776 and identifies his occupation as lawyer.
He also played a military role during the Revolution. The U.S. House states that Smith organized the Pennsylvania militia and the two regiments of the Flying Camp at Perth Amboy, New Jersey, in 1776. Later, he served as a brigadier general of state militia, showing that his contribution to independence was not limited to voting and signing. He was one of those founders who kept one foot in the courtroom and the other in the field, which is a decent way to stay busy during a revolution.
After the Declaration, Smith remained active in public life. The U.S. House records that he served in the Continental Congress from 1776 to 1778, later sat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1780, and served as a state councilor. Afterward, he returned to the practice of law in York. He died there in 1806 and was buried in the First Presbyterian Churchyard.
James Smith is one of the less famous Pennsylvania signers today, but he was hardly decorative. He was an Irish-born lawyer who helped organize militia forces, served in Congress, signed the Declaration, and helped hold Pennsylvania’s Revolutionary machinery together. Not flashy, but very much part of the engine.
Related Links
- Signers of the Declaration of Independence
- Declaration of Independence
- George Clymer
- Benjamin Franklin
- Robert Morris
- George Taylor
- James Wilson