Continental Congressman. A Quaker, he was educated by private tutors and in Quaker schools. He then studied law, became an attorney in 1762, and practiced in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Burlington, New Jersey. He was elected in 1774 as a delegate from New Jersey to the Continental Congress serving until June 1776 when he resigned to succeed his deceased brother as New Jersey State Treasurer (he was replaced in the New Jersey delegation by John Hart, who subsequently signed the Declaration of Independence after it was ratified in in July 1776). He resigned as Treasurer in 1777 and resumed practicing law. He moved to Laurens, New York in 1790, where had built a large estate, Smith Hall, on Lake Otsego, then relocated to Philadelphia in 1799. He became ill while touring the southern United States, and died in Natchez, Mississippi where he was buried. He kept a diary while he was in the Continental Congress, which has serve as a valuable first-hand account of the proceedings of that body.
Continental Congressman. A Quaker, he was educated by private tutors and in Quaker schools. He then studied law, became an attorney in 1762, and practiced in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Burlington, New Jersey. He was elected in 1774 as a delegate from New Jersey to the Continental Congress serving until June 1776 when he resigned to succeed his deceased brother as New Jersey State Treasurer (he was replaced in the New Jersey delegation by John Hart, who subsequently signed the Declaration of Independence after it was ratified in in July 1776). He resigned as Treasurer in 1777 and resumed practicing law. He moved to Laurens, New York in 1790, where had built a large estate, Smith Hall, on Lake Otsego, then relocated to Philadelphia in 1799. He became ill while touring the southern United States, and died in Natchez, Mississippi where he was buried. He kept a diary while he was in the Continental Congress, which has serve as a valuable first-hand account of the proceedings of that body.
Bio by: Bill McKern
Family Members
Parents
Siblings
Advertisement
See more Smith memorials in:
Records on Ancestry
Advertisement
