Smith Bishop Holt was named for his maternal grandfather, Hiram Smith Bishop. Smith is an unusual first name today, but in his day people were often given maternal surnames as first names. His family and friends called him "Smithie" when he was young. Later he would often style himself as "S.B. Holt". Use of initials instead of names was also common in those days.

Smith graduated from the Oregon State Normal School at Monmouth (now known as Western Oregon University) in 1904 and began a teaching career. He also worked as a bookkeeper at a sawmill for a few years.

When his parents retired, he assumed control of their farm west of Scio, and ran a successful dairy operation for over 20 years, specializing in a herd of Jerseys which naturally yielded high butterfat, and also produced higher-than-average skim milk content.

Smith married Eveline O'Brien on June 6, 1917. Their one child was Thomas Melvin Holt, named for his grandfather, Thomas Manley Holt. All three participated in farm chores including hand-milking of the Jersey cows.

After Melvin graduated from high school in 1935 and began pursuing an accounting career, Smith and Eveline sold the dairy farm and began operating the Farmers Union Co-op store in Salem. They lived in Salem for awhile and then in Rickreall into the mid-1960s.

Upon retirement in 1946, Smith did extensive gardening as a hobby, and ran a business selling fuchsia plants, while Eveline won blue ribbons at the Polk County Fair for the various jams, jellies and preserves she made from fruits and berries raised in their garden.

In the mid-1960s they bought a house in Albany. Eveline suffered a stroke around that time, and then a fatal heart attack in the summer of 1968. Smith sold the house and moved into assisted living in the early 1970s. He passed away in the fall of 1977.