James Smith

JAMES SMITH was born in Northern Ireland in 1719, however the exact date of his birth is uncertain, as he never told it. When James was ten, his father brought his family to Pennsylvania in 1729 and engaged in farming on the Susquehanna River. James received his early education from a Presbyterian tutor who taught him Latin, Greek, and surveying. Later he was educated at the College of Philadelphia, studied law with his brother in Lancaster and was admitted to the bar when he was twenty-six years old.

James settled first in Shippensburg as a lawyer and surveyor, and afterward in York, where for many years he was the sole practitioner at the bar. During this period of his life he gained a reputation as a bit of an "eccentric" and a man who was very fond of the bottle. "He loved wine, and drank much of it," a neighbor said. He was quite the humorist and an excellent storyteller. He had "an uncouthness of gesture, a certain ludicrous case of countenance, and a drawling mode of utterance, which taken in conjunction with his eccentric ideas, produced an effect irresistibly comical."

Smith prospered as a lawyer, and then at the age of forty, married a girl from New Castle, Delaware, Eleanor Armor, who was twenty years his junior. He also engaged in extensive iron manufacturing on Codorus creek, and at the beginning of the Revolution possessed considerable property.

Smith for a long time did not display even a remote interest in politics, preferring to help raise his five children and develop his flourishing law practice. However, when Parliament closed the port of Boston for dumping tea in the harbor, Smith actively opposed the British by raising he first volunteer company in the state for the purpose of resisting Great Britain, and was a member of the convention to consider the expediency of abstaining from importing any goods from England. He was later elected as the battalion's colonel.

In July 1776, while representing York County at the Pennsylvania constitutional convention, he was selected to attend the Second continental congress. He did attend as a recognized supporter of independence and signed the Declaration. He remained in congress until February 1777, and again from December 1777 through 1778. He was not conspicuous, but his speeches were frequently enlivened by humor.

James Smith held several state posts after leaving congress, and he was re-elected to that body in 1785, but refused the office because of his advanced age. While he did continue to practice law for a few more years, he completely discontinued his political activities. 

James Smith died in York on July 11, 1806, at the age of eighty-seven.

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