James Smith (Pennsylvania politician)

James Smith (September 17, 1719[1][2] – July 11, 1806), a Founding Father of the United States, was an Irish/American lawyer and a signer to the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Pennsylvania.

James Smith
Born1719
Ulster, Ireland
DiedJuly 11, 1806 (aged 87)
York, Pennsylvania, US
Resting placeFirst Presbyterian Churchyard,
York
Known forsigner of the United States Declaration of Independence
Signature

He was born in Ireland; his family immigrated to Chester County, Pennsylvania, in 1729.[1] Smith attended the Philadelphia Academy.[3] He studied law at the office of his brother George and was admitted to the bar in Pennsylvania, initially practicing near Shippensburg and later near York.[4] He became captain of the militia there. He was appointed to the provincial convention in Philadelphia in 1775, to the state constitutional convention in 1776, and was elected to the Continental Congress, where he signed the Declaration of Independence. He was reelected to Congress in 1785 but declined to attend because of his advanced age.

Smith died on July 11, 1806, and is buried in York, Pennsylvania, First Presbyterian Churchyard. The University of Delaware has a dormitory on its North Campus bearing his name.

See also

References
  1. Wilson, James Grant; Fiske, John, eds. (1888). Appleton's Cyclopædia of American Biography: Vol V. Pickering–Sumter. D. Appleton and Company. p. 1559. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
  2. Maszczak, Steve. "Smith, James". Literary and Cultural Heritage Map of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania State University. Archived from the original on October 22, 2015. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
  3. "Smith, James, (1713–1806)". Biographical Dictionary of the United States Congress. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
  4. Losser, B.J. (1857). Biographical Sketches of Signers of the American Declaration of Independence. New York: Derby & Jackson. p. 120. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  • Lawyers and Leaders: The Role of Lawyers in the Development of York County, Pennsylvania, 2005, ISBN 978-0-9766629-0-7, York County Bar Association by Georg R. Sheets
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