Elizabeth J. Smith

Elizabeth J. Smith (, Corscaden; 1842 – July 6, 1900) was a Canadian-born American social reformer and newspaper editor and publisher in Rhode Island. Involved in the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), she was particularly engaged with the youth of the temperance movement through the Loyal Temperance Legion. Smith served as editor and publisher of its organ, the Home Guard.

Biography Eliza Jane Corscaden was born in a suburb of Saint John, New Brunswick, Her parents were Robert Corscaden (b. 1811) and Eliza R. (b. 1822).

Returning to her parents' home, she decided not to continue teaching music and voice culture but instead, entered into the work of a religious evangelist. Showing a marked aptitude for pulpit work, she delivered sermons nightly for successive weeks to crowded audiences. Large numbers of converts were added to the churches where she spoke. before it was made national. That organization flourished under her care. Her desire to interest young people in temperance work culminated in the publication of an eight-page illustrated paper, the Home Guard, which increased to 12 pages. Its extensive circulation all over the U.S., in Sunday schools of every denomination, demanded her time and efforts as its editor and publisher. When the effort was made to secure constitutional prohibition in Rhode Island, Smith, as a State lecturer, gave effective addresses in nearly every town and city of the State.

Smith resided in Providence, Rhode Island for over four decades, and died there July 6, 1900.