James Smith
JAMES SMITH was born in Ireland, but at what period has not been ascertained. His father was a respectable farmer, who removed to America with a numerous family, and settled on the west side of the Susquehanna river. After being qualified for the profession of the law, Mr. Smith took up his residence as a lawyer and surveyor, near the present town of Shippensburg; but he subsequently removed to the flourishing village of York, where he continued the practice of his profession during the remainder of his life. On the commencement of the difficulties with the mother country, he resolutely enlisted himself on the patriotic side and became an uncompromising opposer of the insulting aggressions of the British government. He was chosen a delegate to all the patriotic meetings of the province, and was always in favor of the most vigorous and decided measures. He was the first one who raised a volunteer corps in Pennsylvania, in opposition to the armies of Great Britain; and was elected captain, and afterwards colonel of a regiment. In January, 1775, he was a delegate to the Convention for the Province of Pennsylvania, and concurred in the spirited declarations of that Assembly. In the month of July, a Convention was held in Philadelphia, for the purpose of forming a new Constitution for Pennsylvania. Of this body, Mr. Smith was a member, and by it he was chosen a delegate to Congress. He continued to represent his constituents for several years in the great national assembly, and was always active and efficient in the discharge of his duties. On withdrawing from Congress, in November, 1788, he resumed his professional pursuits, which he continued to exercise until the year 1800, when he withdrew from the bar, having practised the law for about sixty years. He died in the year 1806.