James Smith

James Smith ( 1719 (Sources offer a wide range of dates between 1713 and 1722 for Smith's birth, and several acknowledge that his birth date is uncertain.) other sources indicate 1713 and 1720, with degrees of uncertainty. According to John Sanderson, Smith's birthdate "was a secret which he carried with him to the grave, an invincible reluctance to reveal his age, even to his nearest relatives or most confidential friends, being one of his peculiarities which remained after he had long survived the period when vanity or interest could possibly supply a motive for it. It was believed by some members of his family that he was born in the year 1713, while others would place that event eight or nine years later; the truth lies between these two conjectures." The second son in a large family, he emigrated with his family from Ireland to Pennsylvania in 1729, where his father farmed along the Susquehanna River. Smith studied law at the office of his elder brother George, or with a Lancaster attorney named Thomas Cookson, and was admitted to the bar in Pennsylvania.

In York, Smith lived on South George Street, where he owned the block opposite the historic Christ Lutheran Church. His office was located at the intersection of George Street and Mason Alley. Smith married Eleanor Armor ( 1729–July 13, 1818) of New Castle, Delaware, 1757–1760. They had five children born between 1761 and 1769.

Revolutionary activity In 1774, amid growing tensions between colonial governments and Great Britain, and after the blockade of Boston, a Committee for the province of Pennsylvania convened in Philadelphia in July. The pro-independence Smith was one of three committee members who penned instructions to Pennsylvania's deputies to the coming First Continental Congress. He stepped down from Congress in November 1778 and resumed his law practice.

Later life In the 1780s, Smith continued to serve in public office. He was a Pennsylvania state representative in 1780.