J. Smith Futhey

J. Smith Futhey (September 3, 1820 – November 26, 1888) was an American historian and presiding judge of the 15th judicial district comprising Chester County, Pennsylvania, from 1879 until his death.

Life and career Futhey was born and raised in West Chester, Pennsylvania, eldest of five children born to Margaret (née Parkinson) and Robert Futhey. The family was of Scotch-Irish ancestry. Futhey's great-grandfather, Samuel Futhey, held three enslaved people as of 1780. His cousins included state legislator Samuel Futhey Dale.

Futhey studied law briefly at Dickinson College, He practiced law for decades and became "one of the most distinguished men in Chester County." He served as president of the Penn Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Chester County in the 1870s and served as a founding director of the National Bank of Chester County in 1864. The county bar eulogized his integrity, industry, and benevolence.

Publications Futhey was an enthusiastic and competent amateur historian, and with Gilbert Cope, he authored History of Chester County, Pennsylvania, with Genealogical and Biographical Sketches (Philadelphia: Louis H. Everts, 1881). "It is to him [Futhey] that the people of Chester County, as well as historians generally, are mainly indebted for information in regard to the early history of the county in all its varied lines," wrote Wilmer W. Thomson in 1898.

With his friend William Darlington, Futhey published "Notae Cestrienses," consisting of commentaries about notable people from Chester County, in the form of a column in a local newspaper. His other publications include "History of Upper Octorara Presbyterian Church" (1870), "History of Educational Institutions of Chester County" (1877), and "Historical Address on the 100th Anniversary of the Paoli Massacre" (1878).