James Smith (September 17, 1719 – 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 Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. He was born in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

; his family immigrated to Chester County, Pennsylvania, in 1729. Smith attended the Philadelphia Academy. 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 York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

. He became captain of the militia there. He was appointed to the provincial convention in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

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.

References

* ''Lawyers and Leaders: The Role of Lawyers in the Development of York County, Pennsylvania'', 2005, , York County Bar Association by Georg R. Sheets

External links

* http://www.libraryireland.com/biography/JamesSmith.php
Biography by Rev. Charles A. Goodrich, 1856
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, James 1719 births 1806 deaths People from Ulster American Presbyterians Presbyterians from Pennsylvania American people of Scotch-Irish descent Continental Congressmen from Pennsylvania Signers of the United States Declaration of Independence Foundrymen Irish writers University of Pennsylvania alumni Politicians from York, Pennsylvania Politicians from Chester County, Pennsylvania 18th-century Irish people 19th-century Irish people Founding Fathers of the United States

See also

References

External links