Smith was born in January 1824 in Spartanburg, Spartanburg County, South Carolina to James Wilson and Susanna, whose maiden name may have been Camp. Smith grew up in the Spartanburg area and married Charlotte Williams on 19 September of 1843 in Spartanburg. She was born in September 1818 in Spartanburg and was the daughter of Edward Williams Jr. and Elizabeth Roberts. She was also older than Smith, who was just 19, while Charlotte was 25. They had 6 children, all of which lived into adulthood. About 1856, Smith and Charlotte moved with their family to what was then called the Ruhama Baptist Church Community in Jefferson County, Alabama. This would be in the same county as Birmingham, Alabama and is located in the middle of the state. Charlotte died a few years later in September 1859 at age 41, but we don't know where she was buried. It was no doubt somewhere near their home and perhaps even in the Ruhama Baptist Church cemetery, although there is no longer a cemetery by that name. Smith married a second time to Harriett Rachel Ginn on 1 April 1860 in Barstow County, Georgia. She had been previously married to a Mr. Green, by whom she had 3 children. She and Smith had a daughter together in 1865. Smith served as a private in Captain Hulsey's Guards Regiment of the Alabama Infantry of the Confederacy Army from April 1864 to April 1865. By the time of the 1870 census, Smith and Harriett were living in Rockville, but still in Jefferson County. Smith is listed as a millwright. Millwrights, at that time, were specialized carpenters who completely designed and constructed mills. Having a working knowledge of driveshafts, bearings, gearing and mechanical belts, they executed every type of engineering operation in the construction of these mills. Smith used his knowledge to build a four poster cord bed for his daughter, Missiniah, as a wedding gift in 1872. The bed evidently went to her daughter, Ada Elizabeth, who passed it on down to her son, Gaines Gravlee, and today it is used in the home of Jonathan Gaines Gravlee, Gaines' grandson. A cord bed does not use wood slats, but ropes or cords instead to support the mattress. Smith bought some land in Jefferson County in November 1875 and he and Harriett are found living there on the 1880 census. Smith is still listed as a millwright. By 1886, Smith and Harriett have moved and have joined the New Prospect Baptist Church in Haleyvillle in Winston County, Alabama; this is the next county to the north of Jefferson county and Haleyville is in the northwest corner. Smith and Harriett are found on the 1900 census in that same county and he is listed as a farmer, who owned his own farm free of mortgage. He died the next year in March in Haleyville and is buried in the New Prospect Baptist Church's cemetery. In 1897, Smith applied for a pension as a veteran of the Civil War, which was approved. After his death, Harriett had to re-apply in 1901 for a widow's pension, which was also approved. She died in July 1903 in Haleyville and was buried in the same church cemetery with Smith.